'The imperial character of the contemporary world order' [Review] David Harvey (2003) The new imperialism; Michael Mann (2003) Incoherent empire

The predominant motif in investigations into questions concerning the nature and possibilities of contemporary world order has been that of 'empire'. A small industry of speculations on the imperial nature of our times has appeared since late 2001. To the texts under consideration here (David Harvey's The New Imperialism and Michael Mann's Incoherent Empire), could be added the work of authors such as Alain Joxe (The Empire of Disorder), Emmanuel Todd (After the Empire), Derek Gregory (The Colonial Present), Michael Ignatieff (Empire Lite: Nation-building in Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan), and Niall Ferguson (Colossus: The Rise and Fall of The American Empire), as well as articles in scholarly journals and news media.