Marc Bloch’s analysis of feudal society reveals a stark connection: complex civilization requires a monopoly on violence to enforce public goods like law and trade infrastructure. When the Roman Empire fractured, population declined, trade collapsed, and governance retreated to isolated, subsistence-level kinship groups. This historical pattern shows institutional trust vanishing when central authority fades.

This fragmentation ended only when emerging powers, like the Church or later monarchies, re-established order, allowing specialization and commercial expansion. The revival of Roman Law in universities such as Bologna illustrates how institutional recovery fuels economic activity. Rulers shifted from paying officials with land to using salaried bureaucracies, fundamentally changing power structures.

The modern parallel draws on the post-WWII Pax Americana, which integrated regional systems through global institutions like guaranteed sea lanes and the dollar as reserve currency. This unprecedented scaling reduced global transaction costs, leading to massive poverty reduction and integration.

Present fissures—evidenced by actions like Putin's invasion of Ukraine and skepticism toward the UN—threaten this order. As belief in these global structures wanes, raw power reasserts itself. The current global reorganization will determine if we slide toward fragmentation or establish new, enforceable international agreements.