New Delhi, Feb. 16 -- Even as US President Donald Trump imposes his will at home and abroad, there is talk about various stages of imperial decline and how the American Empire is now at one of its last few-fifth out of seven by one estimate.

Empires as commonly understood were based on force and political control. These, however, ended with the rise of civil society, nationalism and anti-imperialism. 'Empire' is now proxy for American global hegemony, referring to its power to enforce its will through a consensual global order of its own making. With that caveat, let us examine the proposition through the lens and arc of history.

Empires in the past ultimately yielded to superior powers beyond their borders. Rome fell to 'barbarians' fr...