Break time's over. We'll see how long it lasts.
At Sigurd's betrothal announcement in Constantinople, Harald gets to talking with Sophie's father, a discussion that could lead to excellence or serious injury. In Vedrarfjord, Hákon seeks a doubly-surprising solution to the problem of fewmet distribution. Back in Constantinople, Sigurd talks about family with Demetrius, then has to think about his own. In Inbhir Aora, Toiréasa gets one message from Savage and another from Heather. In his house on Berk, Rabbi Dovid has an unexpected visitor -- one Judah ben Hanoch, sent by the vizier of Granada to ascertain how conditions are for Berk's rising Jewish community. Elsewhere on the island, Stoick gets tracked down by Judah, who also has some questions about a new neighbor known to Berk. And we close in Algeciras, where that neighbor, Viggo, sees the game start to get exciting...
https://archiveofourown.org/works/104089...s/62311657
Nationbuilding: How People Move, Talk, Think, Organize, & Structure Themselves, 1888, Amsterdam University Press' Wrote:To speak of power in the socio-political sense is a broad and somewhat cloudy topic, but in the broadest sense possible, Power is the ability of one entity to get another entity to do what the first wishes. More than two thousand years ago, the Greek philosopher Euripides wrote "The Tongue Is Mightier Than The Blade" on the difference between coercive and social powers, and this distinction is important. Power can come from a number of sources, ranging from coercive power derived from force, consequences, or threats thereof, to more subtle social powers derived from culture, diplomacy, ideals, values, ideologies and other such institutions.
As the ancient philosopher noted, coercive power has its limits in comparison with more social powers; it breeds resentment and resistance, and its influence lasts only so long as the threat lasts. In contrast, social powers can be attractive and appealing. This is not to make moral judgments on either form of power and are simply categorizations of sources of socio-political power; an army liberating thralls through coercive power is unquestionably more moral than a political leader using their social power to agitate for the purging of ethnic and religious minorities.
Furthermore, while coercive power in the form of warfare is a major consideration for international relations, it should be noted that every nation that depends on coercive power for internal cohesion is fundamentally unstable, due to the transient nature of coercive power. Such nations inevitably disintegrate once the coercive power is removed or weakened and provinces kept under control by the threat of force break away. In contrast, a nation with a strong social power is more stable over time, from the presence of institutions and a coherent identity.
At Sigurd's betrothal announcement in Constantinople, Harald gets to talking with Sophie's father, a discussion that could lead to excellence or serious injury. In Vedrarfjord, Hákon seeks a doubly-surprising solution to the problem of fewmet distribution. Back in Constantinople, Sigurd talks about family with Demetrius, then has to think about his own. In Inbhir Aora, Toiréasa gets one message from Savage and another from Heather. In his house on Berk, Rabbi Dovid has an unexpected visitor -- one Judah ben Hanoch, sent by the vizier of Granada to ascertain how conditions are for Berk's rising Jewish community. Elsewhere on the island, Stoick gets tracked down by Judah, who also has some questions about a new neighbor known to Berk. And we close in Algeciras, where that neighbor, Viggo, sees the game start to get exciting...
https://archiveofourown.org/works/104089...s/62311657