[coksiw]

This is my reasoning from his finding. The root cause, as he explains, it is excessive wealth. So, truly, this is then applicable to all human systems that generates a lot of wealth.
The pioneer, and conquest, and commerce stage is unique of an empire, or any other wealth motivated system expanding beyond their boundaries.

However, the affluence, and rest of stages, is the result of excessive wealth. That second part could happen even to a country that it is not an empire per-se, but somehow had a significant prosperity period that lasted enough generations to cause wide-spread corruption of people's souls.

There are so many verses in the Bible about that.