His theorem runs as follows. There is no biological reason why the West came
to dominate. People in large groups are much the same everywhere – lazy,
greedy and scared, and always looking for easier, more profitable and safer
ways to do things, “in the process building stronger states, trading further
afield, settling in greater cities”.
He portrays the rise and fall of empires as amoeba-like movements, in which
individuals have little long-term influence. Collapses follow the same cruel
pattern: conquest, riches, babies, competition, starvation. The struggle to
control the core brings in people from the margin, who then take over – viz
the Phoenicians, the Mongols, the Goths, the Huns.