It is possible to come up with some similarities and common traits that different empires shared, but each is so different that it is impossible to have a concrete theory or formula
to describe empire building, managing and history that cannot be picked apart by other opinions. Each empire differs in the way they came to be, ruled themselfs and dissolved.
There is no formula to describe the rise, apex and fall of empires throughout history.
Going back thousands of years and examining each empire all the way to the present day would probably show some similarities as to how most occured and especially how most collapsed from the inside out, or atleast how each was responsible for their own demise in
hindsight.
I would hazard a guess that most empires arise by accident. Powerful nations by by a stroke of good fortune expand into a vaccum. Wheater that is political disorder, or technological inferiority, a powerful state will suddenly find the stage clear of other players. Sometimes this can last for many hundreds of years and the empire will survive even if fundementally I'll favored by location (the byzantine empire springs to mind).
Since empire has many benifits to it clients and once they have been around for long enough,
to there enemys as well, once it passes a certain critical threshold they tend to last a long time.
Look at the British Empire, its still hanging on in bits and pieces, the russian emipre written off time after time still manages to revive itself, dispite all predictions.
Iran is still an empire, dispite what it may call itself.
China, is and always has been an empire.
And the US security blanket is empire in all but name.
Even the EU is a short step from empire, an new diplomatic corps, battle groups, common currency and trade policy, common borders.