An Economic Inquiry into the Nonlinear Behaviors of Nations

"Innovative and stimulating! Guo introduces a much-needed new perspective on the traditional topic of 'the emergence and fall of empires' that has become a much-discussed important field, given the ongoing reshaping of the international order that is due to the decline of the uni-polar world (dominated by the US), the emergence of a multi-polar world with some new international powers (such as China), and the re-emergence of old powers (such as Russia)." (Paolo Urio, University of Geneva, Switzerland) "Professor Guo explores the dynamics of civilizations from the beginnings to our perplexingly complex world. There are lots of thought-provoking ideas here on the rise and decline of nations as well as on China's current and future place in the world economy. Anyone wishing to understand global developments should give this book serious consideration." (John Komlos, University of Munich, Germany, and Duke University, USA)"/p> "It is interesting to see a Chinese perspective on the questions of deep history that have engaged Jared Diamond, Yuval Harari and David Christian. Guo argues that understanding cyclical threats has been the key to human progress, which is driven by the dialectic of material privation and human ingenuity." (Peter Rutland, Wesleyan University, USA)

This book applies an economic approach to examine the driving forces behind the dynamic behaviors of developing nations. Cultures facing unfavorable physical and environmental conditions developed complex societies to overcome these challenges, while favorable conditions did not incentivize major economic and cultural change.This book applies an economic approach to examine the driving forces behind the dynamic behaviors of developing nations. Taking into account initial conditions and environmental and external factors often oversimplified by historians and anthropologists, Guo finds that the rise and fall of civilizations and nations followed an anti-Darwinian process: physical weakness, rather than strength, induced humans to adapt. Cultures facing unfavorable physical and environmental conditions developed complex societies to overcome these challenges, while favorable conditions did not incentivize major economic and cultural change. Over centuries of economic growth and development, nations and civilizations’ adaptive behaviors have followed a cyclical path at both the country level and in an international context. This interdisciplinary book incorporates elements of history, anthropology, and development into an astute economic analysis that changes the way we think about the origins and evolutionsof civilizations.