--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My arguments for liberal empire or…" description: "\"My arguments for liberal empire or whatever you want to call it - hegemony, primacy, you name it - are really activated by a sense that the alternative..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b2/niall-ferguson-3627_alternatives_my-arguments-for-liberal-empire-or-whate_2210340.jpg" --- # My arguments for liberal empire or whatever you want to… ![“My arguments for liberal empire or whatever you want to call it - hegemony, primacy, you name it - are really activated by a sense that the alternatives involve more violence, more repression, more hardship.” quote by Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b2/niall-ferguson-3627_alternatives_my-arguments-for-liberal-empire-or-whate_2210340.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b2/niall-ferguson-3627_alternatives_my-arguments-for-liberal-empire-or-whate_2210340.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b2/niall-ferguson-3627_alternatives_my-arguments-for-liberal-empire-or-whate_2210340.jpg) > “My arguments for liberal empire or whatever you want to call it - hegemony, primacy, you name it - are really activated by a sense that the alternatives involve more violence, more repression, more hardship.” [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Advocating for liberal empire is driven by fear that alternatives would bring more violence and repression, revealing a preference for perceived stability. **In simple terms:** Support for empire stems from fear of worse alternatives. Key Takeaway Consider risks of both empire and its alternatives. Themes politics stability violence repression Mood critical analytical Type philosophical political When to use this quote - policy debates - international relations - historical analysis - ethical discussions - public discourse Key Concepts geopolitics imperialism security Questions to Reflect On - Is empire truly the lesser evil? - What non‑violent alternatives exist? A Different Perspective Stability may be an illusion; alternatives can be less harmful. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alternatives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alternatives/) [Argument](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/argument/) [Arguments Liberal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arguments-liberal-4891023/) [Empires](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empires/) [Hardship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hardship/) [Hegemony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hegemony/) [Hegemony Primacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hegemony-primacy-4891022/) [Liberal Empire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberal-empire-4891021/) [Names](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/names/) [Primacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/primacy/) [Repression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/repression/) [Violence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violence/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) [Want Hegemony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want-hegemony-4891024/) ## Related quotes > [There are insistent calls for autonomy, appeals for a new resource ethic based on the tradition of the commons, demands for the reinstatement of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-hawken/there-are-insistent-calls-for-autonomy-appeals-for-a-new-resource/) [Paul Hawken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-hawken/) > [The good society is marked by a high degree of order, justice, and freedom. Among these, order has primacy: for justice cannot be enforced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-kirk/the-good-society-is-marked-by-a-high-degree-of-order-justice-and/) [Russell Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-kirk/) > [The Church's teaching on ownership diverges radically from collectivism as proclaimed by Marxism and "rigid" capitalism. The primacy of the person over things joint…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-john-paul-ii/the-church-s-teaching-on-ownership-diverges-radically-from/) [Pope John Paul II](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-john-paul-ii/) > [For America, the chief geopolitical prize is Eurasia... Now a non-Eurasian power is preeminent in Eurasia - and America's global primacy is directly dependent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zbigniew-brzezinski/for-america-the-chief-geopolitical-prize-is-eurasia-now-a-non/) [Zbigniew Brzezinski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zbigniew-brzezinski/) > [I really, deeply believe in the primacy of character. I believe that my job as a writer is to put a believable human being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayana-mathis/i-really-deeply-believe-in-the-primacy-of-character-i-believe-that-my/) [Ayana Mathis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayana-mathis/) > [Saving time, it seems, has a primacy that's too rarely examined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/saving-time-it-seems-has-a-primacy-that-s-too-rarely-examined/) [Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/) > [Our present urgency is to recover a sense of the primacy of the Universe as our fundamental context, and the primacy of the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-berry/our-present-urgency-is-to-recover-a-sense-of-the-primacy-of-the/) [Thomas Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-berry/) > [For with primacy in power is also joined an awe inspiring accountability to the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/for-with-primacy-in-power-is-also-joined-an-awe-inspiring/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [It is also painful to see that the struggle against hunger and malnutrition is hindered by market priorities, the primacy of profit, which have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/it-is-also-painful-to-see-that-the-struggle-against-hunger-and/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [I've lived in a preindustrial (rural Argentina) as well as an industrial world. You experience a different sense of time in a community that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shoshana-zuboff/i-ve-lived-in-a-preindustrial-rural-argentina-as-well-as-an/) [Shoshana Zuboff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shoshana-zuboff/) > [To believe that the intolerable crime is to burn a few cars and rob some shops, whereas to kill a young man is trivial,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-badiou/to-believe-that-the-intolerable-crime-is-to-burn-a-few-cars-and-rob/) [Alain Badiou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-badiou/) > [The tow pillars of democratic government are the primacy of the law and the budget.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/the-tow-pillars-of-democratic-government-are-the-primacy-of-the-law/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [An important tradition within westren philosophy believes in the primacy of natural science as a guide to truth. This is sometimes met with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-j-c-smart/an-important-tradition-within-westren-philosophy-believes-in-the/) [J. J. C. Smart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-j-c-smart/) > [All the best have something in common, a regard for reality, an agreement to its primacy over the imagination. Even the richest, most surprising…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wislawa-szymborska/all-the-best-have-something-in-common-a-regard-for-reality-an/) [Wislawa Szymborska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wislawa-szymborska/) > [People from all over the world came to America and assimilated into a single culture rooted in the founding, which is rooted in individual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/people-from-all-over-the-world-came-to-america-and-assimilated-into-a/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) ## More by Niall Ferguson > [“I wrote this book because I had formed a strong impression that the people currently living were paying insufficient attention to the dead.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/i-wrote-this-book-because-i-had-formed-a-strong-impression-that-the/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“Consider this: the US economy created 2.4 million jobs in the three years beginning in June 2009. In the same period, 3.3 million Americans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/consider-this-the-us-economy-created-2-4-million-jobs-in-the-three/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [I think the rise of quantitative econometrics and a highly mathematical approach to risk management was the obverse of a decline in interest in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/i-think-the-rise-of-quantitative-econometrics-and-a-highly/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“Is it better today to be in a network, which gives you influence, than in a hierarchy, which gives you power?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/is-it-better-today-to-be-in-a-network-which-gives-you-influence-than/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [As a teacher, my strategy is to encourage questioning. I'm the least authoritarian professor you'll ever meet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/as-a-teacher-my-strategy-is-to-encourage-questioning-i-m-the-least/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [Ask me not, 'Are you rightwing,' but ask me 'Are you a committed believer in individual freedom, the values of the enlightenment?' Then, yeah,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/ask-me-not-are-you-rightwing-but-ask-me-are-you-a-committed-believer/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“Many historians still tend to assume that the spread of an idea or an ideology is a function of its inherent content in relation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/many-historians-still-tend-to-assume-that-the-spread-of-an-idea-or-an/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“the twentieth century ran a series of experiments, imposing quite different institutions on two sets of Germans (in West and East), two sets of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/the-twentieth-century-ran-a-series-of-experiments-imposing-quite/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“Historians are not scientists. They cannot (and should not even trying to) establish universal laws of social or political "physics" with reliable predictive powers.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/historians-are-not-scientists-they-cannot-and-should-not-even-trying/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [You really struggle to be a successful empire if you are also the world's biggest debtor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/you-really-struggle-to-be-a-successful-empire-if-you-are-also-the/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“One difficulty is that we cannot always reconstruct the past thoughts of these non-Western peoples, for not all of them existed in civilizations with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/one-difficulty-is-that-we-cannot-always-reconstruct-the-past-thoughts/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [If young men have jobs - or the prospects of jobs - they are less likely to take up arms, they are less likely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/if-young-men-have-jobs-or-the-prospects-of-jobs-they-are-less-likely/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [I think that it is important to be gregarious, and that friendships are not just a leisure pursuit, that they are an integral part…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/i-think-that-it-is-important-to-be-gregarious-and-that-friendships/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“The question was simply this: Would the world be French or British?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/the-question-was-simply-this-would-the-world-be-french-or-british/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) > [“it is not ‘Eurocentrism’ or (anti-)‘Orientalism’ to say that the rise of Western civilization is the single most important historical phenomenon of the second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/it-is-not-eurocentrism-or-anti-orientalism-to-say-that-the-rise-of/) [Niall Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) [Explore all 124 Niall Ferguson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/) ## More Alternatives quotes > [I am very sad that some designers are still using real fur when the fake alternatives are so effective and so easily obtainable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twiggy/i-am-very-sad-that-some-designers-are-still-using-real-fur-when-the/) [Twiggy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twiggy/) > [The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates. Not only does…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-prophet-who-fails-to-present-a-bearable-alternative-and-yet/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [I strongly reject any conceptual scheme that places our options on a line, and holds that the only alternative to a pair of extreme…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-jay-gould/i-strongly-reject-any-conceptual-scheme-that-places-our-options-on-a/) [Stephen Jay Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-jay-gould/) > [Conventional agriculture has never succeeded in feeding the world, and it's never produced anything good to eat. For the future, we need to look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-barber/conventional-agriculture-has-never-succeeded-in-feeding-the-world-and/) [Dan Barber](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-barber/) > [ \[When asked how it felt to be a female prime minister:\] I don't know: I've never experienced the alternative. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-thatcher/when-asked-how-it-felt-to-be-a-female-prime-minister-i-don-t-know-i/) [Margaret Thatcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-thatcher/) > [If one could have a wish, or an alternative life, I would've liked to have been John Lennon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-oldman/if-one-could-have-a-wish-or-an-alternative-life-i-would-ve-liked-to/) [Gary Oldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-oldman/) > [THE REAL PURPOSE OF HOLOCAUST REVISIONISM IS TO MAKE NATIONAL SOCIALISM AN ACCEPTABLE POLITICAL ALTERNATIVE AGAIN.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-covington/the-real-purpose-of-holocaust-revisionism-is-to-make-national/) [Harold Covington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-covington/) > [Men since the beginning of time have sought peace...military alliances, balances of power, leagues of nations, all in turn have failed, leaving the only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-macarthur/men-since-the-beginning-of-time-have-sought-peace-military-alliances/) [Douglas MacArthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-macarthur/) > [Buddhist words such as compassion and emptiness don't mean much until we start cultivating our innate ability simply to be there with pain with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pema-ch-dr-n/buddhist-words-such-as-compassion-and-emptiness-don-t-mean-much-until/) [Pema Chodron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pema-ch-dr-n/) > [The mission of Christian humility in social life is not merely to edify, but to keep minds open to many alternatives. The rigidity of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-merton/the-mission-of-christian-humility-in-social-life-is-not-merely-to/) [Thomas Merton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-merton/) > [Maximise the alternative forms in which a user might receive a service, and the alternative sources of supply.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-chipp/maximise-the-alternative-forms-in-which-a-user-might-receive-a/) [Don Chipp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-chipp/) > [In the last few years, the very idea of telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth is dredged up only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-musto/in-the-last-few-years-the-very-idea-of-telling-the-truth-the-whole/) [Michael Musto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-musto/) > [Altermodern is an in-progress redefinition of modernity in the era of globalisation, stressing the experience of wandering in time, space and mediums. The term…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-bourriaud/altermodern-is-an-in-progress-redefinition-of-modernity-in-the-era-of/) [Nicolas Bourriaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-bourriaud/) > [If the system exhibits a structure which can be represented by a mathematical equivalent, called a mathematical model, and if the objective can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-dantzig/if-the-system-exhibits-a-structure-which-can-be-represented-by-a/) [George Dantzig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-dantzig/) > [We must commit ourselves to an 'all of the above' energy approach, with a major focus on increasing domestic production and expanding alternatives fuels,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-roskam/we-must-commit-ourselves-to-an-all-of-the-above-energy-approach-with/) [Peter Roskam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-roskam/) [Browse all 1,463 Alternatives quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alternatives/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My arguments for liberal empire or whatever you want to call it - hegemony, primacy, you name it - are really activated by a sense that the alternatives involve more violence, more repression, more hardship.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Niall Ferguson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/my-arguments-for-liberal-empire-or-whatever-you-want-to-call-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Alternatives" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/my-arguments-for-liberal-empire-or-whatever-you-want-to-call-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b2/niall-ferguson-3627_alternatives_my-arguments-for-liberal-empire-or-whate_2210340.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b2/niall-ferguson-3627_alternatives_my-arguments-for-liberal-empire-or-whate_2210340.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b2/niall-ferguson-3627_alternatives_my-arguments-for-liberal-empire-or-whate_2210340.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“My arguments for liberal empire or whatever you want to call it - hegemony, primacy, you name it - are…” — Niall Ferguson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Niall Ferguson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-ferguson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "My arguments for liberal empire or...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/my-arguments-for-liberal-empire-or-whatever-you-want-to-call-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-ferguson/my-arguments-for-liberal-empire-or-whatever-you-want-to-call-it/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```