In this era of ‘globalization’, we hear a great deal about a ‘new imperialism’, the hegemony of global capital and its chief enforcer, the US. Today, with the US promising an endless ‘war against terrorism’ and a policy of ‘pre-emptive defence’, this notion seems more plausible than ever. But what does imperialism mean in the absence of colonial conquest and direct imperial rule? This book explores the new imperialism, and contrasts it with historical Empires, from ancient Rome, through medieval Europe, the Arab Muslim world, the Spanish conquests, and the Dutch commercial empire. Tracing the birth of capitalist imperialism back to the English domination of Ireland, Wood follows its development through the British Empire in America and India. The nature of today’s new capitalist empire is brought into sharp relief – the political reach of imperial power cannot match its economic hegemony, and the global economy is administered not by a global state but by a system of multiple local states, policed by the most powerful military force the world has ever known and enforced according to a new military doctrine of war without end, in purpose or time.