Global domination

Global domination, global conquest, taking over the world, world conquest, or world domination is an ambitious goal in which one government, one ideology or belief system, or even one person, seeks to secure complete political control of the entire planet. It can be considered the extreme form of global hegemony.

Though it is debatable if a planet as complex and diverse as Earth could ever be successfully "dominated" by a single central authority in this way, the concept of global domination has long been a popular theme in both history and fiction.

Throughout history

Ideologies

Many proselytising religions such as Islam and Christianity are universalist, viewing it as their task to convert as many people as possible to their religion, without restrictions on national or ethnic origin. This spiritual domination (see, for example, Kingdom of Heaven) is usually by most people seen to be distinct from a temporal domination, but certain fringe groupings within these religions have an established goal of global theocracy.

Similarly, some devoted adherents of many different ideologies, such as anarchism, American Democracy, communism, neoconservatism, social democracy, liberalism or libertarianism view their credo as the ideal form of societal organisation, and actively encourage its implementation throughout the world. The period of the Cold War in particular was seen as a period of intense ideological polarization across the globe, with supporters of the two rival camps expressing hope that their ideology would emerge triumphant over the other and become the pre-eminent form of government worldwide. Elements within the allied blocs led by the Soviet Union and the United States accused each other of having objectives of global domination.

After the end of the Cold War, and the Soviet Union's collapse, Francis Fukuyama in The End of History predicted that liberal democracy would become the favoured form of government throughout the earth. This period was called by some the new world order.

Regimes

Before modern times, the reach of political control and military force was limited by rudimentary transportation technologies and knowledge of geography. The Roman Empire had goals of global domination, and indeed the empire was able to conquer most of the "known world" (i.e., the Mediterranean) throughout its long history. Others who succeeded in conquering large portions of the "known world" include Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan. Throughout history there have been many secret shadow societies and brotherhoods dedicated — at least in literature and apocryphy — to taking over the world or are supposed to have already done so: the Illuminati, the Templars, etc.

French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte had sights on global domination, and is often thought of as being the quintessential global conqueror. The popular board game Risk ("The Game of Global Domination") is largely based on the campaigns and methods of Napoleon.

The British Empire came closest to achieving global domination, at least in demographic and geographical terms, gaining direct political control of about two fifths of the world's population and about one quarter of its land area, and hegemony over nominally independent areas such as parts of China. The Empire is generally considered to have arisen as a result of Britain's trade objectives rather than an attempt to establish military dominion, however, and was dismantled after World War II without substantial bloodshed.

The nations closest to world domination in territorial terms were both the Kingdoms of Spain and Portugal when they were merged in 1580 (They separated in 1640) during the reign of Philip II. The Portuguese-Spanish Empire covered almost all South and Central America, as well as a large area of southern North America, almost all African maritime territories and other important regions such as the Philipines, Holland (independent in 1588), and a significant portion of the Italian peninsula.

Since the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks envisioned their regime as the first step to Communism dominating the world. The Comintern was established in 1919 in order to encourage Communist parties across the world and promote international proletarian revolution.

In World War II, the Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler had ambitious plans for directly controlling all of Europe, and then obtaining a position of power that would make them a formidable superpower in global politics.

In the aftermath of the Cold War, critics of American foreign policy have argued that the United States seeks, or indeed actually has, global hegemony. Ironically, some calls to unite anti-globalization movements around the globe may be also seen as utopian attempts to take over the world from corporate powers.