World domination

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World domination (sometimes world conquest, global domination, or colloquially taking over the world), in which a single political authority rules over all the inhabitants of planet Earth, has been attempted by several individuals and political systems throughout history, and remains a popular theme in fiction.

Contents 1 Ideologies advocating world domination 1.1 Religious ideologies advocating world domination 1.2 Political ideologies advocating world domination 2 Arnold Toynbee's concept of a universal state 3 Examples of universal states 3.1 Persian Empire 3.2 Macedonian Empire 3.3 Mauryan Empire 3.4 Roman Empire 3.5 Caliphate 3.6 Mongol Empire 3.7 Ming Empire 4 Examples of global empires 4.1 Portuguese empire 4.2 Habsburg Empire 4.3 Spanish Empire 4.4 French Empire 4.5 British Empire 4.6 Soviet Union 4.7 Japanese Empire 4.8 Nazi Germany 4.9 United States of America (American Empire) 5 Possible future superpowers or means of world domination 5.1 People's Republic of China 5.2 Anarchist world confederation 5.3 World Federation 5.4 Supercomputer world domination 6 Global domination in popular culture 6.1 Alien Invasion 6.2 Robot Domination 6.3 Other Cases 6.3.1 Board Games 6.3.2 Computers 6.3.3 Film 6.3.4 Literature 6.3.5 Music 6.3.6 Television 6.3.7 Video and Computer Games 7 See also 8 References

[edit] Ideologies advocating world domination

[edit] Religious ideologies advocating world domination

Proselytising religions such as Christianity and Islam are universalist, viewing it as their task to convert as many people as possible to their religion, without restrictions on national or ethnic origin. This spiritual domination (see, for example, Kingdom of Heaven) is usually seen by most people to be distinct from a temporal domination, but certain fringe groupings within these religions have an established goal of global theocracy.

[edit] Political ideologies advocating world domination

Similarly, some devoted adherents of many different ideologies, such as anarchism, democracy, communism (especially Trotskyism), Nazism, neoconservatism, social democracy, liberalism or libertarianism view their credo as the ideal form of societal organisation, and actively encourage its implementation throughout the world. The period of the Cold War in particular was seen as a period of intense ideological polarization across the globe, with supporters of the two rival camps expressing hope that their ideology would emerge triumphant over the other and become the pre-eminent form of government worldwide. Elements within the allied blocs led by the Soviet Union and the United States accused each other of having objectives of global domination.

After the end of the Cold War, and the Soviet Union's collapse, Francis Fukuyama in The End of History predicted that liberal democracy would become the favoured form of government throughout the earth. This period was called by some the new world order.

[edit] Arnold Toynbee's concept of a universal state

Before modern times, the reach of political control and military force was limited by rudimentary transportation technologies and knowledge of geography. The Roman Empire had goals of global domination, and indeed the empire was able to conquer most of the "known world" (i.e., the Mediterranean) throughout its long history. The Qin and Han dynasties as well as the Tang of China were also successful in conquering the known world of Chinese civilization. Historian Arnold Toynbee used the term Universal State to refer to an empire like the Roman Empire or Chinese Empire that conquered the entire world known to a particular civilization [3]. ^{[1] [2]}

[edit] Examples of universal states

As noted above, a universal state is an empire that has conquered most of the area known to a civilization.

[edit] Persian Empire

The Persian Empire was the world's first great empire. At its height in 525 BC under Cyrus II the Great, it was the strongest empire in the region with its influence stretching as far as Asia Minor.

[edit] Macedonian Empire

The Macedonian Empire was formed as a result of Alexander the Great's conquest of the Persian Empire. At his death in 323 BC it encompassed most of the world that was known to the ancient Greeks.

[edit] Mauryan Empire

Under Asoka the Great of India, the Mauryas had captured most of ancient India and their rule extended as far as Herat. However, after defeating the Kingdom of Kalinga in 250 BC, the last major Indian empire outside the rule of the Mauryas, and witnessing the bloodshed that resulted from the war, Asoka renounced violence and adopted Buddhism. He became a person who is sometimes regarded as the most enlightened ruler throughout history and envisioned a world governed by the compassionate eightfold path of Buddhism, sending out missionaries from ancient India to as far as ancient Rome, China and Egypt. The influence of Gandharan art extended as far as Eastern Europe.

[edit] Roman Empire

As noted above, the Roman Empire at its height under the emperor Trajan in 117 AD had conquered the entire area of the Greco-Roman civilization, establishing the Pax Romana.

[edit] Caliphate

The Caliphate, which reached its maximum extent in the 8th century.

[edit] Mongol Empire

The Mongol Empire (Mongolian: Их Монгол Улс, meaning "Greater Mongol Nation"; 1206–1405) was the largest contiguous land empire in history, covering over 33 million km² ^[3] (12 million square miles) at its peak, with an estimated population of over 100 million people. This was one-third of the population of Earth, thus making the Mongol Empire the sole superpower of its day. The Mongol Empire was founded by Genghis Khan in 1206, and at its height in 1294 under Kublai Khan, it encompassed the majority of the territories from East Asia to Central Europe. The Mongol Empire was the first empire to use paper money on a large scale (it had been issued on a smaller scale in China as early as the 6th century AD).

[edit] Ming Empire

In the 15th century, the Ming Empire of China was a dominant power in Asia and the Yongle Emperor sent out beginning in 1405 under the command of the admiral and explorer Zheng He vast fleets of ships to explore and trade with Southeast Asia, India, Arabia, and Africa. The expeditions continued until 1433. Had China not abandoned its huge naval/maritime program in the mid 15th century, it is possible China rather than the European powers would have dominated the world in the 16th century.

[edit] Examples of global empires

Since the Age of discovery the entire globe has become known. There have been many global empires since then, but no empire has yet been formed that has embraced the entire world into a universal state.

[edit] Portuguese empire

After the expedition of Vasco da Gama, discoverer of the African way to India, the Portuguese built a huge empire from Portugal to China, building factories in the coasts of all continents and basically controlling the world's economy.

[edit] Habsburg Empire

The Holy Roman Emperor Charles V had control over Austria, Spain, southern Italy, parts of Germany, recent conquests in South America. Least of all was the de jure control of Germany as Holy Roman Emperor.

[edit] Spanish Empire

The nations closest to world domination in territorial terms were both the Kingdoms of Spain and Portugal when they were merged in 1580 (until 1640) during the reign of Philip II. The Spanish Empire covered almost all South and Central America, as well as a large area of southern and western North America, almost all African and Indian maritime territories and other important regions such as the Philippines, Guam, the Mariana and the Caroline Islands in Asia Pacific, and the Netherlands (known as Spanish Netherlands), parts of France and a significant portion of the Italian peninsula, in Europe. Other territories included the Mediterranean islands of Sicily, Sardinia and Malta and the North African cities of Oran, Mers-el-Kébir, as well as Ceuta and Melilla which remain Spanish to this day. The Spanish Empire is also considered the first global empire in history.

[edit] French Empire

The English-led coalition opponents of French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte often claimed that he had sights on global domination, and portrayed him as being the quintessential global conqueror.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] British Empire

The British Empire came closest to achieving global domination, at least in demographic and geographical terms. By the reign of Queen Victoria the British Empire had gained direct political control of about two fifths of the world's population and about one quarter of its land area, and hegemony over nominally independent areas such as parts of China and South America, thus establishing the Pax Brittanica. British imperialist advocate Cecil Rhodes proposed that the United States and the British Empire jointly establish a world government and make English the official world language. The British Empire is generally considered to have arisen as a result of Britain's trade objectives rather than an attempt to establish military dominion, however, and was dismantled after World War II without substantial bloodshed towards the end of the reign of King George VI. The British Empire transformed itself into the Commonwealth of Nations.

[edit] Soviet Union

Since the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks envisioned their regime as the first step to Communism dominating the world. The Comintern was established in 1919 in order to encourage Communist parties across the world and promote international proletarian revolution, although Stalin seemed more interested in consolidating Communist control in the Soviet Union rather than promoting worldwide revolution (Socialism in One Country).

[edit] Japanese Empire

Beginning in 1931 with the invasion of Manchuria, the Japanese Empire then launched an aggressive war of conquest against China and Southeast Asia culminating, under the leadership of Hideki Tojo, in the attack on the United States at Pearl Harbor and the establishment of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere before the Empire's final defeat by the Allies in World War II in 1945.

[edit] Nazi Germany

In World War II, the Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler, the Third Reich, established what they called the New Order and had ambitious plans for directly controlling all of Europe, and then obtaining a position of power that would make them a formidable superpower in global politics. In Hitler's Second Book: The Unpublished Sequel to Mein Kampf, written in 1928, Hitler envisioned an apocalyptic air war of conquest against the United States by his successor in 1980, conducted by a great fleet of German long range bombers. At the time of the initial invasion of Russia (Operation Barbarossa) in June 1941, Hitler had expected to win victory in World War II by 1945, and he then planned, after completing the construction of the Welthauptstadt Germania plan of Albert Speer for Berlin, to hold a great World's Fair in Berlin in 1950 and then retire to his hometown of Linz^[4].

[edit] United States of America (American Empire)

Main article: American Empire

The United States of America is regarded by some critics as an economic empire. Some people refer to it figuratively as The American Empire ^[5]to emphasize the great power and influence of the United States in the world both economically, with its extensive business investments around the world, and militarily with its extensive system of alliances, ostensibly to defend global trade, freedom^[6], and democracy.

Some consider the beginning of the American Empire to be in 1898, in the aftermath of the Spanish American War.^[7]Others date its formation to 12 July 1947 with the signing of the National Security Act of 1947 by President Harry S Truman.^[8][9] Truman then organized the Rio Pact on 2 September 1947, NATO on 4 April 1949, and ANZUS on 1 September 1951, thus uniting many non-communist nations into a single Western Alliance to implement the policy of containment in order to prevent the expansion of the Soviet Union, both in territory and influence.^[10] A primary goal of President Dwight D. Eisenhower and his Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, was to create a Pax Americana in the American sphere of influence. In his final speech in 1960 before leaving office, Eisenhower warned against allowing the military-industrial complex to gain too much power.

In the aftermath of the Cold War, critics of American foreign policy have argued that the United States seeks, or indeed actually has, global hegemony. On September 11, 1990, the President of the United States, George H.W. Bush gave his famous speech, Toward a New World Order[4] to a joint session of the United States Congress. On September 20, 2002, the George W. Bush White House posted on its website the full text of the (at that time) newest National Security Strategy of the United States, composed primarily by prominent neo-conservative Paul Wolfowitz. In this document, the Bush Doctrine of pre-emptive war was outlined.^[11] The Bush Doctrine of pre-emptive war was first put in use on March 20, 2003 with the launching by the United States of the Iraq War.

The economic system of the "American Empire" is generally called neoliberalism, which some critics say is the domination of the economy by multinational corporations but with free competition among them so that new corporations with new inventions and technology that are more efficient can replace older, less efficient corporations.

[edit] Possible future superpowers or means of world domination

[edit] People's Republic of China

The neutrality of this section is disputed. Please see the discussion on the talk page.(May 2008) Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved.

The Chinese economy is growing at a rate of about 8% per year. China is predicted to surpass the United States as the world's largest economy by 2020 (in terms of total GDP; however, in GDP per capita, the US is expected to still have the lead, due to the large population of China). In terms of technology, the Chinese space program intends to execute a manned landing on the Moon by 2025.^{[citation needed]} Chinese business executives are signing contracts for resource extraction on all continents. ^[12] During 2007, China's installed electricity generating capacity grew 17 percent, reaching over 700 gigawatts, second only to the U.S.'s 900+ gigawatts. ^[13] China is also preparing to vastly expand its nuclear power program. ^[14] China's military power is also growing.^{[citation needed]} Critics claim that it is possible for China and the United States to be equal superpowers by 2030^{[15] [16]}

[edit] Anarchist world confederation

Ironically, some calls to unite anti-globalization movements around the globe may be also seen as utopian attempts by anarchists to take over the world from multinational corporations. Anarchists, green anarchists, Greens and Libertarians envision an anarchist world confederation, i.e., the abolition of all presently existing nations and the institution of a worldwide system of about 1,000 locally autonomous province sized local regions or bioregions that are largely self-sufficient and engage in mutually beneficial free trade for needed commodities not produced locally; however, no region would dominate any other region, and although there would be no central authority such as a world parliament, presumably the regions would consult with each other on matters of mutual interest. Some believe it might be necessary to have a small cooperatively managed green world police force like the United Nations peacekeeping forces in order to prevent the possibility of a warlord arising in one of the regions and attempting to dominate other regions (it is presumed that by the time the confederation is set up, there will have been total nuclear disarmament).

Many anarchist, Green, and Libertarain political theorists (such as green anarchist John Zerzan [5]) maintain that an anarchist world confederation is inevitable because after Peak Oil (expected to occur before 2010, and believed by some to have already occurred in 2005), there will not be adequate natural resources for any group to achieve world domination. [6] ^[17] Most anarchists believe that the Peak Oil crisis will result in the collapse of industrial civilization ^{[18] [19]}and thus the collapse of capitalism ^[20] (according to the Olduvai theory the collapse of industrial civilization will be virtually complete by 2030, when 70% of the world's oil supply will have been used up.) ^[21], thereby making anarchism the only viable political system.

The economic system of an anarchist world confederation ^[22] is usually envisioned by anarchists and green anarchists as being anarcho-syndicalism, i.e., a system in which all businesses are owned by the workers, and thus cooperatively managed by the workers themselves; thus, under this system, there are no bosses. ^[23] Libertarians advocate an economic system of laissez-faire capitalism for the confederation. Greens advocate a "mixed economy" with both systems co-existing. [7]

[edit] World Federation

The World Federalist Movement advocates the establishment of a democratic World Federation by mutual agreement of the nations of the United Nations. This World Federation is usually envisioned as being governed by a World Parliament that would meet at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland which would consist of about 1,000 members elected by district, and a World Supreme Court which would meet at the International Court of Justice at The Hague, Netherlands. It is assumed by world federalists that the world federal government will be based on a liberal constitution like the Constitution of South Africa that would guarantee economic rights as well as human rights. ^[24] The executive branch of the World Federalist government would be administered by the head of government, the Prime Minister of the World Parliament; no major World Federalist group has as yet proposed that there be elected also a President of Earth to be the head of state of a United Earth.

[edit] Supercomputer world domination

In 2005, futurist and transhumanist Ray Kurzweil published his book The Singularity is Near. This book maintains that by 2025, most manufacturing will be done on a largely local basis using nanofabricators. Kurzweil further predicts that over the next 40 years, human beings, by the incorporation of nanobots into their metabolisms, will gradually evolve into immortal humanoid androids by 2045, by which time advances in computer technology (it assumed that Moore's Law will continue to hold) will allow the uploading of the minds of the vast majority of the human race (as well as the minds of the numerous humanoid robots that Kurzweil predicts will be in existence by then) into a worldwide supercomputer--an event called by Kurzweil the Singularity. Kurzweil envisions that those who are uploaded into the supercomputer will be able to live forever in virtual reality (possessing virtual reality bodies [ avatars ] that can be morphed into any desired form), as well as possessing vastly expanded super-intelligence. Kurzweil believes that the supercomputer will expand outward into the Solar System and convert a significant percentage of the matter in the Solar System into carbon nanotubes (the material out of which the supercomputer will be made). Within a few decades after the Singulariy, Kurzweil asserts the supercomputer's robot helpers will have established a Kardashev Level II society in this solar system. Then, Kurzweil predicts that the supercomputer will reach out for galactic domination by sending out a massive fleet of small starships manned by swarms of nanobots (programmed to replicate additional supercomputers utilizing the matter of other star systems) to colonize the Milky Way Galaxy. After galactic domination has been achieved, the galactic supercomputer will organize the establishment of a Karadashev Level III society in our galaxy. ^{[25] [26]}

[edit] Global domination in popular culture

[edit] Alien Invasion

Main article: Alien invasion

The alien invasion is a common theme in stories and films, particularly in science fiction, in which a technologically-superior extraterrestrial society invades Earth with the intent to replace human life, or to enslave it under a colonial system, or in some cases, to use humans as food.

[edit] Robot Domination

Another scenario is in which robots growing more advanced or more intelligent than humans and enslaving or destroying the human race (this was the plot of the original 1921 science fiction play which coined the word "robot", R.U.R. by Karel Capek).

[edit] Other Cases

[edit] Board Games

• The popular board game Risk is often labeled as the "world domination game" or the "game of global conquest", though the German version was banned in that country until the goal of the game was changed to 'liberating the world', rather than 'conquering'.
• The board game Summit was a popular game among board game players of the 1960s and 1970s that allowed one to strive for world domination.
• The board game Diplomacy was also a popular world domination game.

[edit] Computers

• Linus Torvalds, developer of Linux, has also described his goals as "world domination, fast." Because of the ubiquity of Microsoft products in the computing world, company founder Bill Gates has often been parodied as seeking world domination.

[edit] Film

• World domination is often perceived to be the most common plot line in the James Bond movie series. However, in actuality, the villain is much more likely to demand ransom money than seek global hegemony, something that has happened only three times. *In Dr. No, the famous spy is already weary of foes who seek to dominate the globe and calls it "the same old dream". In the Austin Powers movie series, arch-villain Dr. Evil attempts to blackmail the world for ransom, but plans to destroy and/or dominate it anyway.
• The 1970 science fiction film The Forbin Project depicts a scenario in which a supercomputer tries to take over the world.
• Cutler Beckett, head of the East India Trading Company and arch-antagonist of the Pirates of the Caribbean films has plans to rid the Earth of pirates and gain worldwide control of the seas for the Company and by effect himself.
• In The Matrix trilogy, which started in 1999, shows a world dominated by intelligent machines around the year 2199. In this dystopia, mankind is used as an energy source for the machines, which systematically breed humans and harvest their biochemical power. The arch-villain of the trilogy, Agent Smith, develops ambitions of world domination in the final film of the series.

[edit] Literature

• The White Witch in The Chronicles of Narnia actually succeeds in taking over Narnia, the world in which the majority of the stories take place.
• In the works of JRR Tolkien the Dark Lord Sauron seeks to rule Middle-earth. His former master, Morgoth succeeded in taking over the majority of Arda.
• Most Dystopian novels such as 1984 by George Orwell and Shade's Children by Garth Nix contain villains who already rule the world and the story concern's the protagonist's quest to overthrow them.
• Lord Voldemort from the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling wants to rule the world and in the final book of the series achieves domination over the majority of the United Kingdom.
• Mulgarath from The Spiderwick Chronicles is obsessed with world domination.
• Fu Manchu from the works of Sax Rohmer aspires to dominate the world.
• Briar Cudgeon, Opal Koboi and most villains from the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer seek world domination although Artemis himself does not.
• Global domination is frequently used in science fiction, or alternate reality, literature as a desirable, praiseworthy, or inevitable step in the progress of human civilization. Others treat it as the sinister ambition of the story's villain. Themes range from inspirational, such as Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek, to critical, such as in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.

[edit] Music

• World Domination was the name of a 1986 single by the dance music group the Belle Stars that reached #5 on the U.S. hit parade.
• World domination is a slang term used in the music industry. If a rock group, solo artist, or DJ has attained a successful career that includes hit singles, gold record or platinum record level CD sales, and going on world tours, they are referred to as having achieved "world domination". Examples of musical artists who have achieved world domination include Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Madonna, Prince, Michael Jackson (in the 1980s), Oasis (in the mid-90's), Queen and U2.
• There is a German band called The World Domination or TWD.
• "World Domination Records" (2001) Publishes and distributes "hip-hop industrial opera" (quotation from Rue Morgue Magazine)

[edit] Television

• Futurama depicts the flag of Earth as being the United States Flag with the planet Earth in the canton. This is a hinting along with the fact everyone, regardless of race, is referred to as Earthicans instead of Americans, that the U.S. took over the Earth and now controls everything, hence the name United States of Earth run by the President of Earth.
• Pinky and the Brain cartoons typically feature Brain trying to take over the world.
• In the television series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, the character of Rita Repulsa repeatedly tries to conquer Earth, using a wide variety of monsters as do the villains in subsequent Power Rangers series.
• Stewie Griffin from the cartoon Family Guy has fanciful dreams of taking over the world.
• Zim from the TV series Invader Zim wants to conquer the world for his leaders, although they have no interest in it.
• Mojo Jojo and most villains from The Powerpuff Girls seek to rule the Earth.
• The Anime series Gundam Wing features the United Earth Sphere Alliance which controls the Earth and is in turn ruled by the Romefeller Foundation.
• In the Doctor Who episode Last of the Time Lords, The Master successfully takes over the planet Earth.
• Xana from the cartoon Code Lyoko is obsessed with world domination.
• Christine Slevil-Lewis-White from The 10th Kingdom seeks domination of the world where most of the events of the story take place.
• Most villain characters in the TV show Xiaolin Showdown want to conquer the world, and Jack Spicer, Chase Young and Wuya have succeeded in doing so.
• Sheldon J. Plankton from the television series Spongebob Squarepants seeks to rule the world, but always fails.

[edit] Video and Computer Games

• A great many video games, often in the strategy genre, have a goal of global domination - for example, Global Domination, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, the Civilization series, Rise of Nations, the SuperPower series of games and, to a lesser extent, the Command & Conquer series. In addition, games such as Day of the Tentacle and Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders feature plots of foiling attempts of global domination.
• Evil Genius, a game developed by Sierra Entertainment in which the player must buy an island and play the role of an evil genius, who has plans (through crime) to take over the world.
• Many games, such as the Pokémon games, the Sonic the Hedgehog series, and some games in the Final Fantasy series, have antagonists with the goal of taking over the world. Usually part or all of the plot of these games involves stopping these persons/organizations. For example, the player must often defeat Team Rocket in the Pokémon games, and in Final Fantasy II, the villain is an emperor with the goal of taking over the world.
• The website Youda Games has two turn-based strategy games where the object is to annihilate your opponents' cities without having your own cities being destroyed. The games are World Domination and its sequel World Domination 2.
• "Assassin's Creed"- In this game Abstergo Industries, which is cover organisation of Templar Order, is trying to dominate the world by using a satellite with a powerful artifact. The main goal of the player (as Desmond Miles) is to stop them.

[edit] See also

• Brave New World
• Conspiracy theory
• Illuminati
• League of Nations
• Megalomaniac
• New World Order--Conspiracy theory
• New World Order--Political theory
• The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
• Supervillain
• Symbolic snake
• Systems theory
• United Nations
• Unrestricted Warfare
• Nineteen Eighty-Four
• World Government
• The Grand Chessboard

[edit] References