We investigate how technology has influenced the size of armies. During the nineteenth century the development of the railroad made it possible to field and support mass armies, significantly increasing the observed size of military forces. During the late twentieth century further advances in...

We provide the first systematic examination of the determinants of military mobilization over the very long run. Focusing on a sample of thirteen great powers between 1600 and 2000 we argue that changes in transport and communications technology were the single most important factor in both...

The current pandemic crisis of COVID-19 laid bare considerable flaws of the "modern societies" of the West. Democracies seem ill-equipped to deal with a crisis that needs quick and determined action. To opt for herd immunity as a measure to tackle COVID-19 could be translated into: "we do not...

The First World War was a pivotal event for American political and economic development, particularly in the realm of public finance. For it was during the war years that the federal government ended its traditional reliance on regressive import duties and excise taxes as principal sources of...

Society is self-organising or re-creative in the sense that new emergent structures result from interactions of actors, these structures enable and constrain actions and stimulate further practices. Political self-organisation is a reflexive process where political agents co-ordinate their...

The political crisis of Sudan is amplified everyday with the expansion of civil conflict from Darfur to Southern Kordofan state. The inevitable secession of Southern Sudan is threatened by the chronic crisis of Abyei pocket between the north and the south that saw open war between the two...

Since 2003 American political leaders and lawmakers have been committed to the simultaneous pursuit of tax cuts and military excursions abroad. Just a few decades ago, when military hawks were also deficit hawks, such a position would have seemed incongruous. This essay reviews, War and Taxes, a...

In recent years, numerous lawmakers, policy analysts, and scholars have been decrying the many defects of the present U.S. income tax system. Few have attempted to defend our return-based mass income tax. This essay reviews Learning to Love Form 1040, Lawrence Zelenak’s stirring and persuasive...

The present paper analyzes the impacts of the Southern Sudan secession. It is concluded that the feasible and eminent secession of Southern Sudan, triggered similar process in Darfur region and feasibly other parts of the country. The two newly formed nations can get into a form of Union:...