Journal of Political Risk, Vol. 13, No. 2, February 2025
Concentration of Power Cover.jpg
By John Gardner
The Concentration of Power: Institutionalization, Hierarchy & Hegemony
By Anders Corr
291 pp. Optimum Publishing International. $19.95
I believe the present and future are best interpreted through the lens of the past. Dr. Anders Corr’s book, The Concentration of Power: Institutionalization, Hierarchy & Hegemony, is that lens for those devoted to a broader understanding of historical hierarchies and their effects on the rise and fall of civilizations. This dissection of the “enduring conflict between those at the bottom who seek freedom, those in the middle who seek to protect the benefits of their own position at the top of sub-hierarchies, and those at the top of meta-hierarchies seeking to institutionalize and aggregate (power),” is worthy brain food for big-thinkers.
Dr. Corr’s work on “the steady institutionalization of power over time” delves deep into how the power structures of civilization, good or bad, form; and acts as a road map and warning for mankind. It is a profound thought on human nature to ask why humans typically seek to expand their institutions and power, even when that power is no longer necessary. Why did the French Revolution, which started with admirable ideals, turn barbaric while the American Revolution did not? Relinquishing the grip on power is the answer from Dr. Corr, but that is antithetical to human nature. Growing up, my dad told me numerous times of how Americans wanted George Washington to be “President for life,” but he declined to, and in that “set an example for future Presidents”. My dad admired his integrity.
I became familiar with Dr. Corr’s work from his numerous, well-written articles regarding the threat that Communist China poses to the free world. I was excited about a book by a writer I was already a fan of, but in the middle of reading the introduction I grew angry and put it down. I did not like Dr. Corr’s characterization of President Trump and I still do not agree with or endorse his views of the President in this book. But, after cooling off I asked myself; am I the type of person that can only read books I agree with in totality? I pride myself on being open to all opinions and sensed there was philosophical gold to mine within his work. Once I removed my personal, positive, feelings for President Trump and drilled into “The Concentration of Power”, I found a wealth of stimulating ideas on humanity. I am impressed with how Dr. Corr’s mind works and his analysis of history to catalyze the examination of why “good” and “bad” powers ebb and flow.
Society is eternally on a slippery slope, and a deeper understanding of the individual actions history turns on, is the reward for reading this book. I’ve always pondered why Alexander the Great’s empire did not endure, and Dr. Corr pins it to Alexander’s declaration of himself as a God for worship, thus alienating his generals who knew he was no such entity. If Alexander had George Washington’s life to study would history be different?
Beyond my admiration for Dr. Corr’s prior work, I wanted to explore my own theory that the rise of historic Great Powers are typically tied to a preponderance of industrial power, such as in Great Britain, Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, the United States, and most recently Communist China’s meteoric rise in the last 25 years. Dr. Corr presents an “informed criticism of the trend toward an interlinked economic, informational, and political globalization by focusing on hierarchy – including hierarchies in international organizations – as a mechanism for the concentration of power.”
Absorbing this tome affirmed my belief that local civil manufacturing capabilities for every nation, that can be turned to military manufacturing in times of need, are a necessary bulwark against, “accelerating concentration(s) of power toward illiberal governance and a single global ruler, or hegemon”, as Communist China has positioned itself with the permission of advocates of free trade. As Dr. Corr astutely observes, “The new form of the People’s Republic of China imperialism is using an innovative mix of alliance, capitalism, communism, and totalitarianism to defeat the older democratic powers“.
Of note, Dr. Corr found in his research that “history is an unfolding of the unpredictable,” and to that point America’s embrace of Milton Friedman’s erroneous unilateral free trade theory has funded the rise of the free world’s greatest threat, Communist China. Dr. Corr provides rich fodder for humanity to examine the past, so that future generations may avoid the genocidal devastations that can be wrought by “The Concentration of Power”.
John Gardner is an entrepreneur with two decades of experience in American manufacturing. His customers include the US Navy, NASA, Lockheed Martin, Ford Motor, and the FAA.