000			01636cam a2200265 a 4500
001			061048
005			20231009193117.0
008			120125s2011 nyuab b 001 0 eng
010			_a2010005702
020			_a9780312611699
042			_apcc
050	0	0	_aCB251 _b.M68 2010
082	0	0	_a909.0982 MOR
100	1		_aMorris, Ian _d, 1960-
245	1	0	_aWhy the West rules-- for now _b: the patterns of history, and what they reveal about the future _c/ Ian Morris
250			_a1st ed.
260			_aNew York _b: Farrar, Straus and Giroux _c, 2011.
300			_axvii, 750 p. _b: ill., maps _c; 22 cm.
504			_aIncludes bibliographical references (p. [679]-723) and index.
520			_aArchaeologist Morris draws on his vast knowledge of the ancient world in a risky attempt to make sense of the future as well as our past. He posits four benchmarks for comparing societies: their success or failure in energy capture, organization/urbanization, war making, and information technology/literacy. For each criterion, he provides measures of comparison that allow him to address the question of the West's dominance over the East in the past two centuries and to ask whether the West's lead is sustainable. He admits that the measures he uses are crude but argues that they allow us to examine dynamics of social change from early times onward. He predicts that, barring catastrophe, China will take the lead in 20 to 50 years. Morris's conclusions will provoke controversy, but he asks the right questions.
650		0	_aCivilization, Western
650		0	_aCivilization, Modern
650		0	_aEast and West
942			_cMO
999			_c260449 _d260449