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The relationship between global war & global social unrest is investigated in the recent empirical research by Arrighi & Silver to argue that there has indeed been an intimate link that is traceable back to the late 18th century age of war & revolution in the Atlantic world, & a speeding up of social history that is visible from one world hegemonic transition to the next. The author draws on empirical research on the world historical dynamics of labor unrest to describe the cycle of war & labor unrest that characterized the first half of the 20th century. Comparative analysis of the transition from Dutch to British world hegemony in the late 18th & early 19th century to the transition from British to US world hegemony in the late 19th & early 20th century a reveals the recurrence of a "a vicious cycle" in both transitions, as well as the increased scale, scope, & speed of the cycle. The implications of these past patterns for understanding the dynamics of war, world politics, & social conflict are related to the theory that the role of aggressive new powers seeking to dominate their neighbors has lessened from transition to transition, whereas the role played by the declining hegemon attempting to cement their slipping preeminence into an exploitative hegemony, has increased. The intuitive response of mass social protests to US attempts to convert declining hegemony into empire through military force suggest particular points of strategic bargaining power for movements. The hope is that actors & global protesters will change the course of the United States, & facilitate a relatively smooth transition from the decaying hegemonic order to a more peaceful & equitable world order. References. J. Harwell

Die Finanzkrise von 2008 liefert nach der These der Autoren einen Hinweis darauf, dass sich der "Herbst" der US-amerikanischen Welthegemonie wiederholt. Als die auf dem fordistischen Keynesianismus beruhende materielle Expansion im Weltmaßstab in den 1980er Jahren an ihre Grenzen stieß, verlagerte sich das US-Kapital zunehmend auf Finanzgeschäfte und zog sich aus Industrie und Handel zurück. Durch diese Ausrichtung auf den Finanzsektor gelang es den USA, Kapital aus der ganzen Welt anzulocken und damit die lang anhaltende Hausse am Aktienmarkt sowie eine extreme militärische Aufrüstung zu finanzieren. Unter diesem Druck kollabierte die Sowjetunion, während die USA unter Reagan und Clinton ihre "belle epoque" erlebten. Die Verfechter des "zweiten amerikanischen Jahrhunderts" sitzen jedoch einem Missverständnis auf, denn sie halten den "Herbst" der US-amerikanischen Welthegemonie für einen "neuen Frühling". Zu beobachten ist also das Ende des langen 20. Jahrhunderts, das sich über die Zeitdauer von der Finanzialisierungsphase am Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts bis zur heutigen Aufblähung des Finanzsektors erstreckte. Dieses lange Jahrhundert deckt sich mit dem Aufstieg, der Blüte und dem Niedergang des US-amerikanischen Zeitalters der kapitalistischen Weltgeschichte. Die Autoren gehen in ihrem Beitrag der Frage nach, ob später einmal rückblickend im "Herbst" der globalen ökonomischen und militärischen Macht der USA der "Frühling" einer neuen Hegemonialmacht erkannt werden kann, wie es in den drei vorhergehenden Finanzialisierungsphasen der Fall war. (ICI2)

Contrary to the common thesis in the literature on globalization, that the rapid growth of manufacturing in China has launched a race to the bottom concerning wages and working conditions, the rise of class struggles in China provides evidence in support of the thesis: where capital goes, labor-capital conflict shortly follows. The world historical impact of the rise of class struggle in China is evaluated by looking on different and overlapping responses by capital: geographical relocation (spatial fix), modernizing of technology and work organization, and the trajectory of the product cycle. These analytical tools are used to interpret the findings of recent fieldwork by Zhang in automobile manufacturers in China, which hint to the fact, that a stable social compact is unlikely to be reached in the "standardization phase" of the product cycle. The implications of the further rise of labor unrest in China for the global labor movements are not yet clear. What is missing is a vision of new forms of labor organization in face of the threat of a catastrophic collapse of global capitalism. Adapted from the source document.

The core of this article is a comparative analysis of the double movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century (the belle époque and collapse of British hegemony) with the double movement of the late twentieth and early twenty-first century (the belle époque and current crisis of U.S. hegemony). In both periods the movement toward allegedly self-regulating markets called forth a countermovement of protection. Nevertheless, important differences exist due, first, to differences in the nature of the hegemonic state and, second, to the greater role of subordinate forces in constraining the movement toward self-regulating markets in the late twentieth century.

The core of this article is a comparative analysis of the double movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century (the belle epoque and collapse of British hegemony) with the double movement of the late twentieth and early twenty-first century (the belle epoque and current crisis of U.S. hegemony). In both periods the movement toward allegedly self-regulating markets called forth a countermovement of protection. Nevertheless, important differences exist due, first, to differences in the nature of the hegemonic state and, second, to the greater role of subordinate forces in constraining the movement toward self-regulating markets in the late twentieth century. 1 Table. [Copyright 2003 Sage Publications, Inc.].

A sea change of major proportions is taking place in the historical social system forming the modern world, creating a widespread sense of uncertainty about the present and foreseeable future. In the words of Eric Hobsbawm, as 'the citizens of the fin de siècle tapped their way through the global fog that surrounded them, into the third millennium, all they knew for certain was that an era of history had ended. They knew very little else'.