Hughes, Matthew. "The Conduct of Operations: Glubb Pasha, the Arab Legion, and the First Arab–Israeli War, 1948–49." War in History 26.4 (2019): 539–562. online True to the normal course followed by nations in decline, internal differences are not reconciled in an attempt to save the nation. On the contrary, internal rivalries become more acute, as the nation becomes weaker. The first stage Glubb identifies is what he calls the “Age of Pioneers”, or the “outburst.” Smaller nations or tribes overrun or displace defensively minded ones. Examples presented in Fate of Empires include the Islamic breakout from the Arabian-peninsula in the 7th century, and conversely the Spanish Reconquista and subsequent empire, seeded from two small Christian territories. Glubb calls the people who drive these outbursts “poor, hardy, often half-starved and ill-clad.” Further, “they abound in courage, energy, and initiative” similar to the salt-of-the-earth militia and ill-trained Continental Regulars who defeated the British Army during the American Revolution.

I try to keep a 9–6 schedule, so I can have some semblance of work-life balance, but that tends to go out of the window when I’m in full-on novel flow. I pulled a 20-hour day when I was finishing The Unquiet Heart – the second book in the series – purely on energy drinks and giant bags of Mini Cheddars. My hands were shaking and I looked grey so I gave up, slathered on an overnight face mask and slept for 11 hours before going to a spin class only to yell at the instructor when she told us to ‘go beyond our limits’ and burst into tears. But, damn it, I kept spinning. I try to be much kinder to myself in general – if I’m not physically and mentally healthy, the work won’t be good and, even if it is, it’s not worth making myself ill over. There’s such a culture of glorifying overwork in the arts, and I’m now on a one-woman mission to stop it. As he notes in his examination of a number of previous empires, the processes of history often repeat themselves. We shouldn't believe that America will automatically avoid the fate of other great empires that declined and fell in the past. No model can describe reality in an absolute way, and this model, like any other, is an approximation of truth. But it can give us a glimpse to certain realities. God is ever so merciful, but His patience in the face of our national sins is wearing thin. He has given His true servants a mission to warn the nations of what is coming (Ezekiel 33:1-9), and that is one of the purposes of this magazine. We want to help you see how prophecies given long ago are now shaping up before our eyes!

Rapid expansion—the rise of Alexander the Great

True, helping the poor shows Christian compassion (Mark 14:7). But such help also can lead to laziness and dependency (2 Thessalonians 3:10-12). Such problems are especially likely when the poor believe state-provided charity is a permanent right or entitlement.

He had already proved his worth in Iraq before- he showed wisdom beyond his years , although he had just come from 4 years on the Western Front. The first thing he did in Iraq and later in Jordan was set up a tent and receive the local notables and people and just listen: imagine if our government did so… then he sparingly and judiciously helped when he could. This paid great dividends when the Ikhwan (Muslim Brotherhood) invaded from Arabia; they rallied around him instead of scattering and the RAF strafed the invaders (Transjordan 1924). a b Kjeilen, Tore. "Sir John Bagot Glubb and the Fate of Empires". Encyclopædia of the Orient. Archived from the original on 10 March 2021 . Retrieved 8 November 2023.Education undergoes the same gradual transformation. No longer do schools aim at producing brave patriots ready to serve their country. Parents and students alike seek the educational qualifications which will command the highest salaries. One minute decides the outcome of a battle, one hour the success of a campaign, one day the fate of empires. But this spirit of dedication was slowly eroded in the Age of Commerce by the action of money. People make money for themselves, not for their country. Thus periods of affluence gradually dissolved the spirit of service, which had caused the rise of the imperial races.

Deciding I should write in a coffee shop/library/museum, and losing two hours to getting ready and wandering from place to place to find the perfect spot. A minor point here, but the North Vietnamese Commies did expand significantly after their victory. They seized South Vietnam (larger than their own country), and also established de facto rule over Laos and eventually Cambodia, which they retain to this day. One would hardly call them a civilization, but still, Glubb had a point Nevertheless, the present flood of immigrants, legal or illegal, equals in impact the wave that arrived at America's shores around 1900. Today, they are far more apt to be a divisive force. Why? Unlike a hundred years ago, America's intellectual elite overall has adopted multiculturalism (the promotion of immigrants maintaining their prior distinct cultures) and has rejected assimilation (adopting the existing national culture) as its ideal.The heroes of declining nations are always the same—the athlete, the singer or the actor. The word ‘celebrity’ today is used to designate a comedian or a football player, not a statesman, a general, or a literary genius. Plotting: The fourth and fifth Sarah Gilchrist books (which aren’t under contract) and another standalone novel I’d like to have completed by the end of the year, set in Edwardian Yorkshire and London.