1. What is an empire, and what does it mean to be an effective empire?

By definition, an empire is a complex political organization where a strong center controls

outer states that are typically weaker. The most important component to building or starting an
empire is to have control. Whether it is military, high trading value, or riches, having more
power than other countries are the principal keys in creating a strong empire. For it to be
effective, it must keep up a persistent military capability and size. Things that help these factors
grow are science, philosophy, and culture.

2. In what ways do empires and other polities "connect"?

Empires, just like any other polity, are the “rulers” of their society. Ruler doesn’t necessarily
mean dictatorship, just that they are the decision makers of civilians. Just as an empire can make
rules and tell their followers rules to follow, modern day polities have the ability to make choices
that affect large populations they have control of. However, empires never were able to really
connect to other types of governing bodies as they were often only looking or power, trying to
take over the other polities. This would often only create conflict, making it hard to establish
proper connections that could have led to mutually beneficial relationships.

3. How has Western history remembered African and Asian empires?

Many African and Asian empires are viewed as simply power-hungry groups of people
whose only goal is to gain power and make life miserable for its civilians. While this is partially
true, as all empires initial cause is power, however there were always of course different
viewpoints and causes for people who make empires. It is not always fair to instantly assume
there were bad morals in place for these empires from the beginning.