Prof. Dr. Herfried Münkler says: "In the 1990s, it was generally believed that the era of the great empires had come to an end."
The European colonial empires had disintegrated after the Second World War, and now the last empire had also disappeared with the Soviet Union. But the 21st century has seen the return of empires.

China is organizing spheres of influence as part of its New Silk Road strategy, Russia is relying heavily on military power to reconstruct the old tsarist empire, and US President Trump is openly using methods of blackmail and threats to set money flows into the USA in motion.

He asks: "How can the Europeans, especially the EU, which is not and cannot become an empire, assert themselves in such a world?"

Herfried Münkler was Professor of Political Science at Humboldt University in Berlin. Many of his books are considered standard works.
He has received numerous awards, including the Aby Warburg Foundation Science Prize, the Carl Friedrich von Siemens Fellowship and the Leipzig Book Fair Prize.