"A fascinating study that addresses some of the most important economic and geopolitical issues of the day. Deepak Lal's thought-provoking analysis, which displays his customary erudition, forces us to look afresh at questions of governance in the contemporary world. He does so by examining the contribution that empires have made to the structure of
governance over the centuries."--Anne O Krueger, First Deputy Managing
Director, IMF

"Penetrating, engaging, well argued, and decidedly unconventional"- John Mueller, Department of Political Science, Ohio State University

"Perhaps only someone with a background as cosmopolitan as Deepak Lal's and a willingness to trespass across disciplinary boundaries could have written such an insightful, forceful, and iconoclastic defence of imperialism which underlines the close relationship between globalization, prosperity, peace, and empire. Any social scientist working in the United States who is willing to write that the United Nations 'is of little use and in a rational world would be wound up' should not be ignored."--Stephen D. Krasner, Graham H. Stuart Professor of International Relations, Stanford University.

"A brilliant and provocative scourge of pious thinking on international politics"--Paul Collier, University of Oxford.