Canonical · History & Civilizational Arcs · Book
Asabiyyah: The Cyclical Rise and Fall of Civilizations
Ibn Khaldun · 1377
"Dynasties rise on group solidarity forged by hardship and collapse within three to four generations as comfort dissolves the very bond that built them."
Writing in 1377, Ibn Khaldun mapped a cycle every empire since has repeated: hardened outsiders unite, conquer the soft center, get soft themselves within a few generations, and get conquered by the next hardened outsiders.
Read more about the topic
Up NextSuggested: Continues the theme of History & Civilizational Arcs
Why Nations Fail
"Nations grow rich or stay poor mainly because of their political and economic institutions — whether they're 'inclusive' (broadly distributing power and property rights) or 'extractive' (concentrating both in a narrow elite) — not because of geography, culture, or the knowledge available to their leaders."
Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson · BookContinue→