Empire's New Clothes

The publication of Empire last year created a sensation that spread from academia to the media to cocktail-party buzz. A book that causes such a scholarly commotion comes along only once every decade or so wrote the New York Times , as the book's radical vision of imperial power in the new millennium sparked both histrionic condemnation and serious academic engagement. After September 11 this discussion of Empire's political and legal theories was closely linked with the struggle to redefine Ame