How Immigrants have shaped the World's most powerful empires.

History shows that the most successful empires treated foreigners with dignity and collaborated with them effectively. Among the four greatest empires in world history, we will examine their approaches to military, trade, and technology and how immigrants influenced it.

The Persian Empire (550-330 BCE)

Founded by Cyrus the Great, the Persian Empire at its height stretched across modern-day Egypt, Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Their "light touch" strategy emphasized cultural and religious tolerance. The empire incorporated foreigners into its army, allowing them to maintain their traditional weapons, customs, formations, and strategies.

The Persian army integrated Median, Lydian, and Babylonian soldiers following their conquests.

The renowned "Immortals" were an elite force comprising the finest soldiers mainly Persians and Medes but also from across the empire who served both as the king's guard and as part of the Persian army. This diverse group allowed military skills from different cultures to be shared and refined. The Persians even adopted Greek coinage practices, eventually minting coins bearing the king's image. Xerxes’ army is reported to have included Ethiopian, Indian, Scythian and Greek contingencies.

The Persian empire also recruited Aramaic scribes to utilise their writing and use their administrative smarts in the empire. This was one of the earliest documented impacts of immigrants providing key infrastructure to an empire.?

The Mongol Empire (1206-1368 CE)

If you have watched Marco Polo, you have probably been amused by the skilful martial artist serving Kublai Khan and the special bond between him and this foreigner.

While the Mongol Empire initially imposed its culture on conquered tribes, this approach evolved. They became more tolerant as they expanded. They expanded their military might by incorporating other tribes into their forces, actively seeking the brightest minds among conquered armies, including engineers and strategists. Chinese administrators in the empire were in charge of financial bureaus.? My opinion is that this was after learning of the successes of the Chinese dynasties in financial instruments.

The empire's strength grew through strategic incorporation and conscription of conquered tribes. The Uyghur Turks, for instance, became a formidable fighting force within the Mongolian Empire during the 1200s. Muslim engineers were recruited for siege warfare expertise.

A notable example was Guo Khan, a brilliant siege engineer who reportedly conquered Iran single-handedly.

The Roman Empire (27 BCE- 476 CE)

Rome offered citizenship to those who joined its army, welcoming conquered peoples into its ranks. Historians attribute the Roman army's invincibility to its endless supply of forces – when one legion fell, another from its territories would take its place. Defeating a Roman army required more than tactical superiority; it was a test of endurance.?

Close to half of the Roman army’s strength was due to non-roman legionaries. Examples included Syrian archers, Batavian Cavalry units from Germania and the Numidian cavalry from North Africa.

The Romans readily adopted technology and culture from their conquered territories. Roman culture was inspired by Greek culture in many ways. Rome integrated foreigners so much that several emperors were born outside Rome; These included Trajan from Hispania, Septimus Severus from North Africa and Diocletian from Dalmatia.

The British Empire (1603-1947)

The London Wall, attributed to the first African Roman emperor Septimius Severus, stands as a reminder of Roman influence. The British Empire, whose impact remains fresh in modern memory, operated differently. It focused on exploiting foreign territories for resources – treasure, food, spices, and ornaments – while using military power to secure favourable trade deals.

The British employed a protectorate strategy in many colonies, empowering local kingdoms to handle administration and expansion.

Ernest Rutherford a New Zealand scientist at Cambridge laid the groundwork for atomic research and radioactivity. During World War II, immigrant scientists proved crucial in developing technologies that helped win the war, including the atomic bomb.

Technology is accelerated by wars which also creates a positive feedback loop where the best technology wins the wars. In the battle of Britain, the Royal Air Force recruited skilful pilots from Canada, Belgium, France and Poland. The Polish army contingent had 145 experienced pilots that helped Britain win the air sky wars against the Germans.

Historians also documented Czech and Polish cryptographers’ contributions to Bletchley Park. Bletchley Park was the centre where teams broke the code from intercepted communications from German and Japanese forces.?

What has this got to do with the United States?

The practice of empowering foreign scientists, theorists, and strategists has historically strengthened empires and developed states in recent history. Because conquests are not practical anymore, states need to smartly find and recruit scientists. America's current immigration debate should consider this historical lesson. Notable immigrants who shaped American history include:

- Nikola Tesla, a Serbian immigrant who developed AC electrical systems

- Alexander Graham Bell, who patented the telephone in 1876

- Albert Einstein, whose theories revolutionized physics and contributed to America's nuclear program

But that is just history, do immigrants have any impact as of today? Between 1990 and 2016, immigrants produced 23% of American patents despite receiving proportionally less investment than native-born innovators.

Tech however is dependent on immigrants, Between 1995 and 20005 24% of patents in computing were earned by immigrants.? America's future global dominance may depend on its ability to attract and empower the world's best inventors and create an environment conducive to innovation. A large number of Nobel laureates in America are immigrants.?

Until today, America has been gracious in empowering immigrants to add value to the economy. America’s future global dominance of the world will be dependant on not only attracting the most talented scientists and thought leaders from across the world; But also how well the environment is built for them to succeed.