Jottings from the Granite Studio

To slake its thirst for natural resources, the PRC–like the Qing Empire whose territorial legacy Beijing continues to claim–looks west.
To satisfy the energy demands of its fast-growing coastal cities, China is building a 4,200-kilometer, or 2,600- mile, pipeline from here that will traverse the craggy steppes and sparsely populated villages of the old Silk Road, [...]

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Quick update 1/13/07: A site called Buzz Feed.com picked up this story but I wanted to point out that the post was discussing a historical situation NOT a prediction for the future. (I’m a historian, not a futurist.) ——————————————————————————–From the Reuters China desk–who must be in the middle of a slow news cycle this week–comes [...]

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Provocative essay in the LA Times last month by Niall Ferguson, author of Colossus: The Price of America’s Empire. Ferguson’s basic argument is that if America wishes to pursue a policy around the world that apes the empires of the past, then it needs to start looking at why those empires did or did not [...]

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