The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers
Long-term power depends on economic resources and the costs of maintaining military and geopolitical commitments.
Kennedy compares major powers across several centuries.
A commitment can look manageable until several commitments demand resources at once. Kennedy connects geopolitical ambition with the economic capacity needed to sustain it over time.
Economic capacity supports military strength without guaranteeing every victory.
Technology and production alter relative advantages over time.
Political commitments can expand faster than available resources.
Imperial overstretch describes that growing imbalance.
Relative decline is not always collapse. A country can become richer while lose an earlier advantage, which is why the comparison among powers matters more than a single success statistic.
War can accelerate changes already developing economically.
Relative decline differs from absolute economic collapse.
Institutional choices affect how resources become usable power.
The historical pattern is not a mechanical prediction for every state.
The conclusion questions commitments whose costs exceed their sustaining base.
Economic capacity supports military strength without guaranteeing every victory.
At what point do a great power's commitments grow beyond the economic resources needed to sustain them?