Maybe not, but neither will humanity if the Empire refuses to let it's war dogs run free without them.

I hate empires. Not just TES empires.
If the Stormcloaks formed an empire then I wouldn't like it but I'd give it a chance.

Ok, but that's not "the empire," that is Cyrodiil saying "I'm sorry that we threw you under the bus, we want to fight now, will you fight with us?" versus "you belong to us, we're in charge, now fall in line or else." The latter is not a winning formula in this scenario, nor does it have the ironclad logic that some people assume it does.

Why are you posting in red, italics and underlined? We can read just fine.

It is to show I am now being serious,

Um, okay.

Yes, my thoughts exactly.

Though the Empire can still salvage itself if it chooses to reform. In its current state it is an absurd combination of absolute monarchy with a highly decentralized local government (especially High Rock). One of them has to go for the Empire to become functional.

The Dominion has depleted its resources, they even lost to Hammerfell alone and can't get the slightest grip in Skyrim without Imperial protection (which is bound to end when Great War 2 begins). Empire on the other hand as a human realm has well recovered its manpower pool from the war. Human numerical superiority is the reason why Elves were kicked out of so many places in the first place - Falmer, Ayleids and the others all failed because they couldn't breed as fast as their human neighbors.

Except that the Thalmor now rule it, so the Empire has to destroy itself and start over.

I doubt they go with the second scenario. I think the Empire knows (hopefully) the mistake it made. They need to make amends with Hammerfell and Skyrim and earn whatever respect they had before back.

These provinces have to be united toward one common goal and be fully prepared to be on the offense.

This. High Rock especially. So many different kingdoms are constantly vying for power. If people think that High Rock is just gonna come and support the Empire fully, think again.

The Thalmor rule who?

No it doesn't. The Empire is bound to comply with the White-Gold Concordat, from which Thalmor draws its authority, but there is no proof whatsoever that the Thalmor has any part in Imperial administration. On the contrary, in fact. Both Thalmor and Imperials speak how the Empire does this and that because of the WGC, never because they are following Thalmor orders directly.

It will take a serious kick in the metaphorical groin for them to realize they are being used by the Thalmor.

Bribing is not ruling. I'd like you to link me to this book and say how bribing a few old men equals to ruling an empire.

I'm not sure on this, but the only time I've heard of the Thalmor and Elder Council was the Thalmor having Ocato assassinated.

I do not have the books, ask one of the forum Stormcloak supporters. And the truth is, money=power, so bribing the guys who make the rules is ruling, in a sense.

How about posting, you know, normally?

You really can't say for sure whether Cyrodiil has recovered its resources. That's complete assumption.

If "reform" involves becoming more dictatorial, they're going to fall flat on their faces. They no longer have a mythical backing. This is why so many of us say that a scenario where the provinces are self-ruled but have a defense alliance is the more realistic, and also has the best shot at actually beating the Dominion or at least resisting their takeover until they collapse from within.

See above. I think it's possible that without knowing it, we're actually picturing much the same thing, but some people are calling it "the empire" whereas others of us object to that concept. For one thing, I want Skyrim, Hammerfell and Morrowind (don't really care about anyone else) to be in control of their own destiny and not have Cyrodiil calling the shots for them. Because Cyrodiil has forfeited that right.

I am not normal. I thought the forums would know that by now.

Cyrodiil has probably not recovered its resources, yes, but it has no doubt recovered much of its manpower. Which is kinda funny since when we are talking about Stormcloaks and Hammerfell taking on the Dominon, Stormcloak supporters are always the first to stand up and say, "humans breed quicker!" But when that same is being used for the Empire, silence falls upon the land. Either way, both sides lost a great deal of troops. Elves breed very very slowly while humans breed like rabbits. A human family can pull off a kid every year while an elf is lucky to get three in her entire life. The Empire can simply out-breed the Dominion.

Authoritarian rule tends to work. The Dominion for example has done very well for themselves, they subjugated three provinces in just a few years and from what I hear they are in full control of all their land

I agree somewhat. Cyrodill might not call the shots in the future, but in round two, I think the Empire will be leading the fight. I just can't imagine (in my mind) anyone else doing so. The Empire leading the fight just seems right.

If anything, Cyrodill has lost more. It's pride, its peoples respect, having its armies left wasted, and just being humiliated.

If it is true, why no one ever bothered about it other than Ulfric? It is a propaganda.

And Thalmor know the ban will cause religious extremists going crazy, Ulfric is doing exactly as what the Thalmor expected, that is weakened the Empire from within

Actually Mer do breed quick, but only when their population is dwindled; mostly due to aftermaths of war. That's when their fertility spikes. In times of relative peace, yes, Mer do breed slower.

Because Igmund called on Ulfric and offered specifically him and his men religious freedom, which pretty much put him in the position to do something. And there's a reason why half of Skyrim sided with him.

How are they religious extremists? Do you know what that is? The Thalmor would be the extremists. And both sides really got played. The Empire got played too with the WGC which made a civil war inevitable.

What religious freedom? Evereybody are in the same religion, the Thalmor, the Empire, Skyrim, everyone are in the same religion. Ulfric and Stormcloak is the religious extremist, they nit-pick the small minor things in religious belief and propagate it to justify their cause.

What about the Forsworn? Did Ulfric give religious freedom to them? Ulfric wipe them out and invade their land. The Forsworn is not the same religion with everybody.

Religious extremism is always a good cause to start a war, even against the people with the same religion

No, the Thalmor don't recognize Talos, and they don't want them to either. The Thalmor are the religious extremists. And Talos is a huge part of Nord religion. The forsworn took Markarth in a military action. Ulfric didn't invade their land. The forsworn took advantage of the empire fighting the great war.

edit:

And the religious freedom I was referring to was open Talos worship.

I would think that Altmer eugenics would also play a role in lowering birth rates, or at least increasing child mortality.