Empires, essentially, create order. In their absence, you don't end up with lots of happy, little nation-states full of people sitting around campfires singing John Lennon's "Imagine." What you end up with is civil war, anarchy.
Niall FergusonIf young men have jobs - or the prospects of jobs - they are less likely to take up arms, they are less likely to join the resistance.
Niall FergusonThe Armenian genocide showed what could happen when empires were beaten into nations.
Niall Ferguson