Lessons from the Collapse of a Bronze Age Civilization for the Modern World

Simulations suggest that the collapse of several Late Bronze Age Mediterranean civilizations may have been caused by cascading instability across networks of political alliances and trade. This may hold lessons for preventing similar disruptions to the global economy in the modern world.

The Late Bronze Age Collapse between 1200 and 1100 BC saw the collapse of many civilizations, including the Mycenaeans in Greece and the Hittites in Anatolia. Other countries, including the New Kingdom of Egypt,…