World domination (also called global domination,world conquest,global conquest, orcosmocracy) is a hypotheticalpower structure, either achieved or aspired to, in which a single political authority holds power over all or virtually all the inhabitants ofEarth. Historically, world domination has been thought of in terms of anation expanding its power to the point that all other nations are subservient to it. This may be achieved by direct military force or by establishing ahegemony. The latter is an indirect form of rule by thehegemon (leading state) over subordinate states. The hegemon's implied power includes the threat of force, protection, or bestowal of economic benefits. Forces resisting attempted or existing hegemony strive to preserve or restore amultipolarbalance of power.
Various rulers or regimes have tried to achieve this goal in history. Global conquest was never attained. However, the matter is more complex with indirect orinformal domination. Many historians[1][2][3][4] political scientists[5][6] and policy-makers[7][8][9] argue that the United States attained global hegemony since 1945 or 1991, or even the British Empire in the 19th century.[10][11][12]
The theme of world domination has often been used in works offiction, particularly inpolitical fiction, as well as inconspiracy theories (which may posit that some person or group has already secretly achieved this goal), particularly those fearing the development of a "New World Order" involving aworld government of atotalitarian nature.[13][14][15][16][17]
While various empires and hegemonies over the course of history have been able to expand and dominate large parts of the world, none have come close to conquering all the territory on Earth. However, these powers have had a global impact in cultural and economic terms that is still felt today. Some of the largest and more prominent empires include:
By the early 21st century, wars of territorial conquest were uncommon and the world's nations could attempt to resolve their differences throughmultilateral diplomacy under the auspices of global organizations like theUnited Nations,World Trade Organization, or, with equal perspectives, thePope. A more secure strategy wasallying with the United States, as did almost all developed states and many others. The United States, however, undermined its credibility in 2025[29][30][31] when it recognized all Russian conquests in Ukraine.[32][33] Except Russia, the world's superpowers andpotential superpowers rarely attempt to exert global influence through the types of territorial empire-building seen in history, but the world's leading superpower permanently exerts global influence through the type of non-territorial empire-building also seen in history:
History tells us that conquest and annexation are not the only means, or indeed the most frequent and most effective means, by which empires have been built up in the past. The history of the Roman Empire’s growth, for instance, is instructive when one is considering the present-day American Empire’s structure and prospects. The principal method by which Rome established her political supremacy in her world was by taking her weaker neighbors under her wing and protecting them against her and their stronger neighbors; Rome’s relation with these protegees of hers was a treaty relation. Juridically they retained their previous status of sovereign independence.[34]
Domination, according toMichael W. Doyle, is possible without territorial conquest. Some international relations display all features of territorial conquest except a conqueror’s flag.[35] The influence of historical territorial empires is still important and the non-territorial world domination is practiced.
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The aspiration to rule 'the four corners of the universe' has been the hallmark of imperial ideologies worldwide since the beginning of history.[37]
The Egyptian King was believed to rule 'all under the sun.' OnAbydos Stelae,Thutmose I claimed: "I made the boundaries of Egypt as far as the sun encircles."[38]The Story of Sinuke tells that the King has "subdued all that the sun encircles."[39]The Hymn of Victory ofThutmose III and theStelae ofAmenophis II proclaimed that no one makes a boundary with the King and there is "no boundary for him towards all lands united, towards all lands together."[40][41] Thutmose III was also acknowledged: "None presents himself before thy majesty. The circuit of the Great Circle [Ocean] is included in thy grasp."[42]
The prestigious title ofKing of the Universe appeared inAncient Mesopotamia, being used by powerful monarchs claiming world domination, starting with the Akkadian kingSargon (2334–2284 BC). It was used in a succession of later empires claiming symbolical descent from Sargon'sAkkadian Empire.[43] During theearly dynastic period in Mesopotamia (c. 2900–2350 BC), the rulers of the region's city-states (such asUr,Uruk,Lagash,Umma, andKish) would often launch invasions into regions and cities far from their own, generally with negligible consequences for themselves, in order to establish temporary and small empires to either gain or keep a superior position relative to the other city-states. Eventually this quest to be more prestigious and powerful than the othercity-states resulted in a general ambition for universal rule. SinceMesopotamia was equated to correspond to the entire world andSumerian cities had been built far and wide (cities the like ofSusa,Mari andAssur were located near the perceived corners of the world) it seemed possible to reach the edges of the world (at this time thought to be the lower sea, thePersian gulf, and the upper sea, theMediterranean).[44] The titlešar kiššatim was perhaps most prominently used by the kings of theNeo-Assyrian Empire, more than a thousand years after the fall of the Akkadian Empire.[45]
After takingBabylon and defeating theNeo-Babylonian Empire,Cyrus the Great proclaimed himself "King of Babylon,King of Sumer and Akkad,King of the Four Corners of the World" in the famousCyrus Cylinder, an inscription deposited in the foundations of theEsagila temple dedicated to the chiefBabylonian god,Marduk. Cyrus the Great's dominions composed the largest empire the world had seen to that point, spanning from theMediterranean Sea andHellespont in the west to theIndus River in the east.[46]Iranian philosophy,literature andreligion played dominant roles in world events for the next millennium, with the Cyrus Cylinder considered the oldest-known declaration ofhuman rights.[47] Before Cyrus and his army crossed the riverAraxes to fight the Armenians, he installed his son,Cambyses II, as king in case he should not return from battle.[48] However, once Cyrus had crossed the river, he had a vision in whichDarius had wings atop his shoulders and stood upon the confines of Europe and Asia (the known world). When Cyrus awoke from the dream, he interpreted it as signaling a great danger to the future security of the empire, as it meant that Darius would one day rule the whole world. However, his son Cambyses was the heir to the throne, not Darius, causing Cyrus to wonder if Darius was forming treasonable and ambitious designs. This led Cyrus to order Hystaspes to go back toPersis and watch over his son strictly, until Cyrus himself returned.[49] In manycuneiform inscriptions, like theBehistun Inscription, Darius the Great presents himself as a devout believer ofAhura Mazda, perhaps even convinced that he had adivine right to rule over the world,[50] believing that because he livedrighteously byAsha, Ahura Mazda supported him as avirtuous monarch[51] and appointed him to rule theAchaemenid Empire and their global projection,[52] while believing through hisdualist beliefs that each rebellion in his empire was the work ofDruj, the enemy ofAsha.
In the 4th century BCE,Alexander the Great notably expressed a desire to conquer the world,[53][54] and a legend persists that after he completed his military conquest of the knownancient world, he "wept because he had no more worlds to conquer",[55] as he was unaware of China farther to the east and had no way to know about civilizations in the Americas.[56] Derivative characters of Alexander the Great, such asSa'b Dhu Marathid in the south Arabian tradition, were also presented as world conquerors.[57]
After the collapse of theMacedonian Empire, theSeleucid Empire appeared with claims to world rule in their imperial ideology, asAntiochus I Soter claimed the ancient Mesopotamian titleKing of the Universe. However, it didn't reflect realistic Seleucid imperial ambitions at this point after the peace treaty ofSeleucus I Nicator with theMauryans had set a limit to eastern expansion, and Antiochus ceding the lands west ofThrace to theAntigonids.[43]
In Indian mythology,Bharata Chakravartin was the firstchakravartin (universal emperor, ruler of rulers or possessor ofchakra) ofAvasarpini (the present half time cycle as perJain cosmology).[58][59] In aJain legend, Yasasvati Devi, the most senior queen ofRishabhanatha (the first Jaintirthankara), saw fourauspicious dreams one night. She saw the sun and the moon,Mount Meru, the lake with swans, the Earth and the ocean. Rishabhanatha explained to her that these dreams meant that achakravartin ruler will be born to them who will conquer the whole world.[60] Then, Bharata, aKshatriya from theIkshvaku dynasty, was born to them on the ninth day of the dark half of the month ofChaitra.[60] He is said to have conquered all the six parts of the world, during hisdigvijaya (winning six divisions of earth in all directions), and fought his brother,Bahubali, to conquer the last remaining city. The ancient name ofIndia was named "Bhāratavarsha" or "Bhārata" or "Bharata-bhumi" after him.[61][62] The Hindu textSkanda Purana (chapter 37) has it that "Rishabhanatha was the son ofNabhiraja, and Rishabha had a son named Bharata, and after the name of this Bharata, this country is known as Bharata-varsha."[63] After completing his world-conquest, he is said to have proceeded to his capital Ayodhyapuri with a huge army and the divinechakra-ratna (a spinning, disk-like super weapon with serrated edges).[64]
According to legend, KingVikramaditya's Empire[65][66] spread across theMiddle East andEast Asia[67] (even reaching modern Indonesia),[68] with Vikramaditya a greatHindu world emperor (orChakravarti). This probably inspired the imperial pretensions ofChandragupta II andSkandagupta, as the termVikramaditya is also used as a title by severalHindu monarchs. According toP. N. Oak andStephen Knapp, king Vikrama’s empire extended up toEurope and the whole ofJambudvip (Indian subcontinent). But, according to most historical texts, his empire was located in present-day northern India and Pakistan, implying that the historic Vikramaditya only ruledBharat as far as theRiver Indus, as perBhavishya Purana. There is no epigraphic evidence to suggest that his rule extended to Europe,Arabia,Central Asia orSoutheast Asia. (Sources of contemporaneous empires, like theParthians,Kushans,Chinese,Romans andSassanids, don't mention an empire ruling from Arabia to Indonesia.) That part of his rule is considered to be legend, asIndic religious conceptions of theIndian subcontinent as being 'the world' (with the termJambudvīpa used broadly in the same way), and how that translates into folk memories.
TheMahabharata[69] orSomadeva'sKathasaritsagara[70] has pretensions of world domination, as performing somemystic ritual andvirtues would be a signal of becoming emperor of the whole world, just asDharma hasuniversal jurisdiction over all the cosmos. In this epic there was a time when EmperorYudhishthira ruled over 'the world': as from Śuciratha will come the son named Vṛṣṭimān, and his son, Suṣeṇa, will be the emperor of the entire world.[71] There are signs inBāṇabhaṭṭa that an emperor namedHarsha shall arise, who will rule over all the continents likeHarishchandra, who will conquer the world likeMandhatri.[72] But 'the world', in the time ofRamayana in the 12th century BCE andMahabharata in the 5th century BCE, was only India. Some pan-Indian empires, like theMaurya Empire, were seeking domination first of the ancient world known to Indians in theAkhand Bharat, and then throughconflict with theSeleucid Empire.Ashoka the great was a devoutBuddhist and wanted to establish it as a world religion. Also, the first references to aChakravala Chakravartin (an emperor who rules over all four of the continents) appears in monuments from the time of the early Maurya Empire, in the 4th to 3rd century BCE, in reference toChandragupta Maurya and his grandson Ashoka.
In theSinosphere, one of the consequences of theMandate of Heaven inImperial China was the claim of theEmperor of China asSon of Heaven who ruledtianxia (meaning 'all under heaven', closely associated withcivilization and order in classical Chinese philosophy), which in English can be translated as 'ruler of the whole world',[73] being equivalent to the concept of auniversal monarch. The title was interpreted literally only in China and Japan, whose monarchs were referred to asdemigods,deities, or 'living gods', chosen bythe gods and goddesses of heaven.[74] The theory behind this derives fromConfucian bureaucracy: the Chinese emperor acted as theautocrat oftianxia and held a mandate to rule over everyone else in the world, as long as he served the people well. If the quality of rule became questionable because of repeated natural disasters such as flood or famine, or for other reasons, then rebellion was justified. This important concept legitimized the dynastic cycle, or change of dynasties. The center of this world-view was not exclusionary in nature, and outer groups, such asethnic minorities and foreigners who accepted the mandate of the Chinese Emperor (through annexation or living intributary states), were themselves received and included intotianxia. The concept's 'inclusion of all' and implied acceptance of the world's diversity, emphasizing harmonious reciprocal dependence and rule by virtue as a means to lasting peace.[75] Although in practice there would be areas of the known world which were not under the control of the Chinese monarch ('barbarians'), in Chinese political theory the rulers of those areas derived their power from the Chinese monarch (Sinocentrism). This principle was exemplified with thegoal ofQin Shi Huang to "unify all under Heaven", which was, in fact, representative of his desire to control and expand Chinese territory to act as an actual geographic entity. At this time there existed many feudal states that had shared cultural and economic interests, so the concept of a great nation centered on theYellow River Plain (the known world) gradually expanded and the equivalence oftianxia with the Chinese nation evolved due to the feudal practice ofconferring land.[76]
For the emperors of the central kingdom of China, the world can be roughly divided into two broad and simple categories: civilization and non-civilization, which means the people who have accepted the emperor's supremacy, the Heavenly virtue and its principle, and the people who have not accepted it. The emperors recognized their country as the only true civilization in all respects, starting with their geography and including all the known world in aCelestial Empire. China's neighbors were obliged to pay their respects to the 'excellent' Chinese emperors within these boundaries on a regular basis. It is argued that this was the most important element of the East Asian order, which was implicit in the term 'Celestial Empire' in the past.[77] In the 7th century, during theTang dynasty, some northern tribes ofTurkic origin, having been made vassal (as a consequence of theTang campaign against the Eastern Turks), referred toEmperor Taizong of Tang as the 'Khan of Heaven'. The Chinese emperor exercised power over the surrounding dynasty in the name of a Celestial Empire.Ancient Japanese,Korean andVietnamese kings weresubjects of the Chinese emperor. The idea of the absolute authority of the Chinese emperor and the extension oftianxia by the assimilation of vassal states began to fade with theOpium Wars, as China was made to refer to Great Britain as a 'sovereign nation', equal to itself, and to establisha foreign affairs bureau and accommodate the concept ofWestphalian sovereignty in its international affairs in the period ofNew Imperialism.
In theSasanian Empire, the use of the mythologicalKayanian title ofkay, first used byYazdegerd II and reaching its zenith underPeroz I, stemmed from a shift in the political perspective of the Sasanian Empire. Originally disposed towards the west against their rivals from theByzantine Empire, this now changed to the east against theHephthalites. The war against theHunnic tribes (Iranian Huns) may have awakened the mythical rivalry existing between the Iranian Kayanian rulers (mythical kings of the legendaryAvestan dynasty) and theirTuranian enemies, which is demonstrated in theYounger Avesta.[78] The SasanianShahanshah may have believed themselves the heirs of theFereydun andIraj (reinforced because they wereAhura Mazda's worshippers), and so possibly considered both the Byzantine domains in the west and the eastern domains of the Hephthalites as belonging to Iran, and therefore have been symbolically asserting their rights over these lands of bothhemispheres of Earth by assuming the titlekay. This is based on the legend of the Iranian hero-kingFereydun (Frēdōn in Middle Persian), who divided his kingdom between his three sons: his eldest sonSalm received the empire of the west, 'Rûm' (more generally meaning theRoman Empire, theGreco-Roman world, or just 'the West'); the second eldestTur received the empire of the east, beingTurān (all the lands north and east of theAmu Darya, as far asChina); and the youngest,Iraj, received the heartland of the empire,Iran.[78]
The theme of world domination is absent in the earliest Islamic sources,Quran or thehadith. Most warlike passages in Quran appear in defensive context.[79] The motif of world domination appears almost a century after Muhammad during theearly Muslim conquests. Then Islamic thought divided the world intoDar al-Islam coterminous with theCaliphate and the rest of the world calledDar al-Harb (lit. region of war). The latter world has not yet been subjugated and its inhabitants have remained outside the Islamic frontier. Dar al-Islam and Dar al-Harb were considered in a state of war because the ultimate objective of the Caliphate was world conquest. Imperial and expansionist, the Caliphate strived to subjugate other peoples by the means ofjihad. This became the chief preoccupation of the contemporary Islamic jurists, such asAl-Shaybani.[80] The jurists elaborated jihad for the conquest of Dar al-Harb. Originally Quranic defensive war, jihad evolved into offensiveholy war to be waged until the Caliphate attains world domination and converts all mankind into Islam.[81][82] In theory, jihad was a temporary means to attain these ends. With worldwide Dar al-Islam, jihad would lose its raison d'être and pass out of existence. But Dar al-Harb proved to be more permanent and vaster than envisaged by the jurists. The wave of Islamic expansion stopped short of world domination and the Caliphate had to accommodate itself with other nations on grounds other than jihad.[83]
Genghis Khan believed that it was his destiny to conquer the world for his god,Tengri, in a mission to bring the rest of the world under one sword. This was based on hisshamanicbeliefs of the Great Blue Sky that spans the world, deriving his mandate for a world empire from this universal divinity. He came close to bringing the entirety ofEurasia under theMongol Empire and the shamanic umbrella.[84][85][86] BornTemujin, he adopted the name 'Genghis Khan', which means 'universal ruler'. This led to his sons and grandsons taking up the challenge of world conquest.[87]
TheOttoman Empire had claims of world domination through theOttoman Caliphate.Süleyman the Magnificent's Venetian Helmet was an elaborate headpiece designed to project the sultan's power in the context ofOttoman–Habsburg rivalry. The four floors of the Crown also representSuleiman's goal of world conquest[88] by reigning in the north, south, east and west, as well pipping thePope's famoustriple crown. Suleiman's rival,Charles V, was crownedHoly Roman Emperor by PopeClement VII, who wore the triple crown.[88][89]
In the early 17th century, SirWalter Raleigh proposed that world domination could be achieved through control of the oceans, writing that "whosoever commands the sea commands thetrade; whosoever commands the trade of the world commands the riches of the world, and consequently the world itself."[90] In 1919,Halford Mackinder offered another influential theory for a route to world domination, writing:
Who rulesEast Europe commands theHeartland:
Who rules the Heartland commands theWorld-Island:
Who rules the World-Island commandsthe World.[91]
While Mackinder's 'Heartland Theory' initially received little attention outside geography, it later exercised some influence on theforeign policies of world powers seeking to obtain the control suggested by the theory.[92] Impressed with the swift opening ofWorld War II, Derwent Whittlesey wrote in 1942:
The swift march of conquest stunned or dazzled the onlookers… The grandiose concept of the world domination became possible as a practical objective only with the rise of science and its application to mechanical invention. By these means the earth's scattered land units and territories became accessible and complementary to each other, and for the first time theworld state, so long a futile medieval ideal, became a goal that might conceivably be reached.[93]
Yet before the entry of the United States into this War and with Isolationism still intact, U.S. strategistHanson W. Baldwin had projected that "tomorrow air bases may be the highroad to power and domination… Obviously it is only by air bases … that power exercised in the sovereign skies above a nation can be stretched far beyond its shores… Perhaps … future acquisitions of air bases … can carry the voice of America through the skies to the ends of the earth.[94]
Writing in 1948,Hans Morgenthau stressed that the mechanical development of weapons, transportation, and communication makes "the conquest of the world technically possible, and they make it technically possible to keep the world in that conquered state." He argues that a lack of such infrastructure explains why great ancient empires, though vast, failed to complete the universal conquest of their world and perpetuate the conquest. "Today no technological obstacle stands in the way of a world-wide empire [as] modern technology makes it possible to extend the control of mind and action to every corner of the globe regardless of geography and season."[95] Morgenthau continued on technological progress:
It has also given total war that terrifying, world-embracing impetus which seems to be satisfied with nothing less than world dominion… The machine age begets its own triumphs, each forward step calling forth two or more on the road of technological progress. It also begets its own victories, military and political; for with the ability to conquer the world and keep it conquered, it creates the will to conquer it.[96]
However, it has been said that with the full size and scope of the world known, "world domination is an impossible goal", and specifically that "no single nation however big and powerful can dominate a world" of well over a hundred interdependent nations and billions of people.[97]
The above assumption is challenged by scholars of themetric approach to history.Cesare Marchetti andJesse H. Ausubel argued that the size of empires corresponds to two weeks of travel from the capital to the rim using the fastest transportation system available. The airplane permits global empire because any place can be reached within less than two weeks, though for political reasons we may have to wait a couple more generations (from 2013) to see a global empire.[98] Max Ostrovsky stressed that the implication is even more drastic in the progress of communication. The speed of communication in the Inca Empire, for example, was 20 km per hour (running man). Today, information moves at the speed of light. By most cautious extrapolations, he concluded, modern technology allows for an empire exceeding the size or population of Earth multiple times.[99] As US Secretary of Defense,Dick Cheney, estimated, “if we were a true empire, we would currently preside over a much greater piece of the earth’s surface than we do.”[100]
In certainreligions, some adherents may also seek theconversion (peaceful orforced) of as many people as possible to their own religion, without restrictions of national or ethnic origin. This type of spiritual domination is usually seen as distinct from the temporal dominion, although there have been instances of efforts begun asholy wars descending into the pursuit of wealth, resources, and territory. SomeChristian sects teach that a false religion, led byfalse prophets who achieve world domination by inducing nearly universal worship of afalse deity, is a prerequisite to theend times described in theBook of Revelation. As one author put it, "if world domination is to be obtained, the masses of little people must be brought on board with religion."[101]
In some instances, speakers have accused nations or ideological groups of seeking world domination, even where those entities have denied that this was their goal. For example,J. G. Ballard quotedAldous Huxley as having said of the United States entering theFirst World War, "I dread the inevitable acceleration of American world domination which will be the result of it all… Europe will no longer be Europe."[102] In 2012, a politician and critic ofIslam,Geert Wilders, characterized Islam as "an ideology aiming for world domination rather than a religion,"[103] and in 2008 characterized theIsrael–Gaza conflict as a proxy action by Islam against the West, contending that "the end of Israel would not mean the end of our problems with Islam, but only … the start of the final battle for world domination".[104]
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