I recently came across a fantastic read: “The Origins of Political Order… “ by Francis Fukuyama, volume 1 of a planned 2 volume grand survey of political history.
Fukuyama’s volume 1 is both deep in insights and broad in coverage. Rather than focus on a specific time-place (e.g. Renaissance Europe) or a specific issue (e.g. role of climate or germs or technology on history, etc.), the author uses comparative analysis across history to articulate nuanced interconnectedness of how geopolitical, structural and cultural conditions converge to shape the emergence of political institutions. The author masterfully breaks through the typical ad-hoc and stereotypical dining room table explanations to offer readers true insights. Not only is the book timely and informative but lucid for both serious and lay readers.
If you are intrigued by the following questions, I would highly recommend that you read this gem:
- Why did modern effective political institutions first emerge in Northern European states (England, Holland, etc.) over their larger and more powerful peers (e.g. France, Spain, Ottomans)?
- How did Spain lose its wealth, territories and super-power status while England, a relative second rate power, catapult to became a global hegemony?
- Why was the medieval Catholic Church critical in introducing Law in Western Europe, and why didn’t other major world religions play similar roles?
- Why did Imperial China fail to embark on a path to developing effective modern governments, despite having established a strong state early on?
