In a little over two centuries, America has grown from a regional power to a superpower, and to what is today called a hyperpower. But can America retain its position as the world’s dominant power, or has it already begun to decline?
Historians have debated the rise and fall of empires for centuries. To date, however, no one has studied the far rarer phenomenon of hyperpowers—those few societies that amassed such extraordinary military and economic might that they essentially dominated the world.
Now, in this sweeping history of globally dominant empires, bestselling author Amy Chua explains how hyperpowers rise and why they fall. In a series of brilliantly focused chapters, Chua examines history’s hyperpowers—Persia, Rome, Tang China, the Mongols, the Dutch, the British, and the United States—and reveals the reasons behind their success, as well as the roots of their ultimate demise.
Chua’s unprecedented study reveals a fascinating historical pattern. For all their differences, she argues, every one of these world-dominant powers was, at least by the standards of its time, extraordinarily pluralistic and tolerant. Each one succeeded by harnessing the skills and energies of individuals from very different backgrounds, and by attracting and exploiting highly talented groups that were excluded in other societies. Thus Rome allowed Africans, Spaniards, and Gauls alike to rise to the highest echelons of power, while the “barbarian” Mongols conquered their vast domains only because they practiced an ethnic and religious tolerance unheard of in their time. In contrast,
Nazi Germany and imperial Japan, while wielding great power, failed to attain global dominance as a direct result of their racial and religious intolerance.
But Chua also uncovers a great historical irony: in virtually every instance, multicultural tolerance eventually sowed the seeds of decline, and diversity became a liability, triggering conflict, hatred, and violence.
The United States is the quintessential example of a power that rose to global dominance through tolerance and diversity. The secret to America’s success has always been its unsurpassed ability to attract enterprising immigrants. Today, however, concerns about outsourcing and uncontrolled illegal immigration are producing a backlash against our tradition of cultural openness. Has America finally reached a “tipping point”? Have we gone too far in the direction of diversity and tolerance to maintain cohesion and unity? Will we be overtaken by rising powers like China, the EU or even India?
Chua shows why American power may have already exceeded its limits and why it may be in our interest to retreat from our go-it-alone approach and promote a new multilateralism in both domestic and foreign affairs.
Day of Empire
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From Publishers Weekly
Chua (World on Fire), a Yale law professor and daughter of immigrants, examines a number of world-dominant powers—a none too rigorously defined group that lumps together the Persian, Roman, Mongol and British empires with the contemporary United States—and argues that tolerance and multiculturalism are indispensable features of global economic and military success. Such hyperpowers rise, Chua argues, because their tolerance of minority cultures and religions, their receptivity to foreign ideas and their willingness to absorb and empower talented provincials and immigrants lets them harness the world's human capital. Conversely, hyperpowers decline when their assimilative capacities falter and they lapse into intolerance and exclusion. The sexy concept of a world-dominant hyperpower, in addition to being somewhat erratic—the smallish Dutch Republic makes the cut, while the far-flung (but inconveniently intolerant) Spanish empire doesn't—is doubtful when examining an America that can hardly dominate Baghdad and not much more convincing when applied to earlier hegemons. Chua does offer an illuminating survey of the benefits of tolerance and pluralism, often as a tacit brief for maintaining America's generous immigration policies. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
Amy Chua smartly condenses the complex histories of the Persian, Mughal, Dutch, and other empires into an irresistible argument: that empires expand through toleration and contract through close-mindedness. As with any shrewd and elaborate argument, the getting there is half the fun.”
—Robert D. Kaplan, Atlantic Monthly correspondent, visiting professor in national security at the U. S. Naval Academy, and author of Balkan Ghosts and Imperial Grunts
"Scintillating history, breathtaking in scope and chock-full of insight. Amy Chua argues persuasively that the real key to acquiring and maintaining great power lies in the ability to attract and assimilate, rather than to coerce or intimidate.”
—Andrew J. Bacevich, author of The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War
“Amy Chua is a law professor, but in this book she writes as a sage historian. She draws lessons from the past that one who cares about the future cannot afford to ignore.”
—Amitai Etzioni, author of Security First: For A Muscular, Moral Foreign Policy
“From ancient Achaemenid Persia to the modern United States, by way of Rome, Tang China and the Spanish, Dutch and British Empires, Amy Chua tells the story of the world's hyperpowers -- that elite of empires which, in their heyday, were truly without equal. Not everyone will be persuaded by her ingenious thesis that religious and racial tolerance was a prerequisite for global dominance, but also the slow solvent of that cultural "glue" which holds a great nation together. But few readers will fail to be impressed by the height of this book's ambition and by the breadth of scholarship on which it is based.”
—Niall Ferguson, Laurence A. Tisch Professor History, Harvard University, and author of Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order.
—Robert D. Kaplan, Atlantic Monthly correspondent, visiting professor in national security at the U. S. Naval Academy, and author of Balkan Ghosts and Imperial Grunts
"Scintillating history, breathtaking in scope and chock-full of insight. Amy Chua argues persuasively that the real key to acquiring and maintaining great power lies in the ability to attract and assimilate, rather than to coerce or intimidate.”
—Andrew J. Bacevich, author of The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War
“Amy Chua is a law professor, but in this book she writes as a sage historian. She draws lessons from the past that one who cares about the future cannot afford to ignore.”
—Amitai Etzioni, author of Security First: For A Muscular, Moral Foreign Policy
“From ancient Achaemenid Persia to the modern United States, by way of Rome, Tang China and the Spanish, Dutch and British Empires, Amy Chua tells the story of the world's hyperpowers -- that elite of empires which, in their heyday, were truly without equal. Not everyone will be persuaded by her ingenious thesis that religious and racial tolerance was a prerequisite for global dominance, but also the slow solvent of that cultural "glue" which holds a great nation together. But few readers will fail to be impressed by the height of this book's ambition and by the breadth of scholarship on which it is based.”
—Niall Ferguson, Laurence A. Tisch Professor History, Harvard University, and author of Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order.
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More About the Author
Amy Chua is the John M. Duff Professor of Law at Yale Law School. Her first book, World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability, a New York Times bestseller, was selected by both The Economist and the U.K.'s Guardian as one of the Best Books of 2003. Her second book, Day of Empire: How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance-and Why They Fall, was a critically acclaimed Foreign Affairs bestseller.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
111 of 119 people found the following review helpful
By Boon L. Kwan
Format:Hardcover
My biggest complaint about this book is that it is almost like a term paper that has been expanded into a book. Some of the other reviews have done a good job about summarizing the argument so I will be brief, so as not to recover ground that has already been covered.
Her basic thesis is that (1) hyperpowers fail because they become intolerant, thus excluding the skills and contributions of some of their most promising minorities, causing these minorities to emmigrate and enrich their rivals, and in extreme cases causing these minorities to revolt and overthrow the hyperpower;(2) successful hyperpowers have a "glue" that binds its members together, in the form of a shared idea or citizenship and she cites the Roman Empire and the British Empire have been successful at this generating this idea of citizenship that its members have aspired towards. The United States has a strong glue that binds its citizens through a shared ideaology but because it is a democracy it cannot extend this citizenship to other nations as they will then have vote in how it is governed, thereby excluding other nations from what makes it successful.
Both these ideas are extremely interesting and could provide much fodder for in depth analysis. Unfortunately she aims for breath over depth and leaves me unconvinced. For instance when dealing with a massive subject such as the fall of the Roman Empire she spends a paragraph dealing with alternative explanations for the fall, but then quickly cuts to her major argument that the intolerance of a Christian Rome was a significant factor in the subsequent decline. This approach would be acceptable were it to provide penetrating insights, or pertinent anecdotes, or little know facts or figures to bolster her argument. Unfortunately it ends up as a summary of other people's work and only a few people at that.
If one were to look at the footnotes on that one chapter, she cuts many paragraphs from J.E. Roberts History of the World (not even a History of the Roman Empire - but a general history!), a chapter here and there from Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, a number of journal articles. This criticism via footnotes may seem a little unkind but when one sees the copious bibliography of Paul Kennedy's Rise and Fall of the Great Powers or Diamond's Guns Germs and Steel, whihc are books in the same genre, then we might feel slightly short changed by Ms. Chua's lack of preparation.
My second gripe is the lack of facts that advance her argument. They are dry as a bone and rare as hen's teeth. One example is in her chapter about the rise of Holland as a world power. She talks in most of the chapter about the Jews fleeing to Holland and bringing their skills because of the inquisition but there are no real statistics to describe this phenomenon except that the population of Holland's Cities grew very quickly. Then there are a few sentences about how the Dutch East India Company which was one of the key factors in opening up new markets and Dutch commercial success was mainly funded, not by Jews but by Protestants fleeing persecution in France and Spain. One waits for more development of the role of Protestants but it is left hanging and not visited again.
My final gripe is that Ms. Chua is always seeking to insert personal anecdotes into the book when it is not always necessary. The fact that she is of Filipno Chinese and grew up in the US is of peripheral interest to the book. She tries to tie this argument into the fact that Chinese have this "glue" which binds overseas Chinese to the motherland. Sometimes it reads like a bad university application essay - she complains that her parents made her bring Chinese food to school when she wanted to eat hot dogs. She also complained that her parents wanted her to go to Berkeley but she rebelled and went to Harvard instead. Her parents came as immigrants and worked very hard. I am extremely against this kind of writing as it feigns an understanding of "Chineseness" and identity just by virtue of her birth and perpetuates all the stereotypes of Asian Americans making it harder for others to break out of that mould (I am Malaysian Chinese and grew up in the UK and studied in the US and ran up against these very stereotypes). Also such lack of humility by advertising which school she attended and how, though a Professor of Law, is somehow an "expert" in International Relations is not a very "Chinese" trait.
So I return to my original argument that the book should have been kept as a short piece. A short book like Robert Kagan's "Of Paradise and Power" can still be extremely thought provoking and influential, and ultimately more effective. But when the publisher is dangling the big check and there is a strict delivery deadline I guess writing a long one is difficult to refuse.
Her basic thesis is that (1) hyperpowers fail because they become intolerant, thus excluding the skills and contributions of some of their most promising minorities, causing these minorities to emmigrate and enrich their rivals, and in extreme cases causing these minorities to revolt and overthrow the hyperpower;(2) successful hyperpowers have a "glue" that binds its members together, in the form of a shared idea or citizenship and she cites the Roman Empire and the British Empire have been successful at this generating this idea of citizenship that its members have aspired towards. The United States has a strong glue that binds its citizens through a shared ideaology but because it is a democracy it cannot extend this citizenship to other nations as they will then have vote in how it is governed, thereby excluding other nations from what makes it successful.
Both these ideas are extremely interesting and could provide much fodder for in depth analysis. Unfortunately she aims for breath over depth and leaves me unconvinced. For instance when dealing with a massive subject such as the fall of the Roman Empire she spends a paragraph dealing with alternative explanations for the fall, but then quickly cuts to her major argument that the intolerance of a Christian Rome was a significant factor in the subsequent decline. This approach would be acceptable were it to provide penetrating insights, or pertinent anecdotes, or little know facts or figures to bolster her argument. Unfortunately it ends up as a summary of other people's work and only a few people at that.
If one were to look at the footnotes on that one chapter, she cuts many paragraphs from J.E. Roberts History of the World (not even a History of the Roman Empire - but a general history!), a chapter here and there from Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, a number of journal articles. This criticism via footnotes may seem a little unkind but when one sees the copious bibliography of Paul Kennedy's Rise and Fall of the Great Powers or Diamond's Guns Germs and Steel, whihc are books in the same genre, then we might feel slightly short changed by Ms. Chua's lack of preparation.
My second gripe is the lack of facts that advance her argument. They are dry as a bone and rare as hen's teeth. One example is in her chapter about the rise of Holland as a world power. She talks in most of the chapter about the Jews fleeing to Holland and bringing their skills because of the inquisition but there are no real statistics to describe this phenomenon except that the population of Holland's Cities grew very quickly. Then there are a few sentences about how the Dutch East India Company which was one of the key factors in opening up new markets and Dutch commercial success was mainly funded, not by Jews but by Protestants fleeing persecution in France and Spain. One waits for more development of the role of Protestants but it is left hanging and not visited again.
My final gripe is that Ms. Chua is always seeking to insert personal anecdotes into the book when it is not always necessary. The fact that she is of Filipno Chinese and grew up in the US is of peripheral interest to the book. She tries to tie this argument into the fact that Chinese have this "glue" which binds overseas Chinese to the motherland. Sometimes it reads like a bad university application essay - she complains that her parents made her bring Chinese food to school when she wanted to eat hot dogs. She also complained that her parents wanted her to go to Berkeley but she rebelled and went to Harvard instead. Her parents came as immigrants and worked very hard. I am extremely against this kind of writing as it feigns an understanding of "Chineseness" and identity just by virtue of her birth and perpetuates all the stereotypes of Asian Americans making it harder for others to break out of that mould (I am Malaysian Chinese and grew up in the UK and studied in the US and ran up against these very stereotypes). Also such lack of humility by advertising which school she attended and how, though a Professor of Law, is somehow an "expert" in International Relations is not a very "Chinese" trait.
So I return to my original argument that the book should have been kept as a short piece. A short book like Robert Kagan's "Of Paradise and Power" can still be extremely thought provoking and influential, and ultimately more effective. But when the publisher is dangling the big check and there is a strict delivery deadline I guess writing a long one is difficult to refuse.
83 of 95 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
First it must be stated that the author is a lawyer & not a professional historian, so take her thesis & my overly positive review with a grain of salt.
The author compares hyperpowers of the past to those who almost were as well as to the contemporary ones. Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan & the former Soviet Union are some examples. The book is divided into three parts with four chapters in each. "Part- 1 Ch1, The Tolerance Of Barbarians. Ch-1, The First Hegemon-Achemenid Persia. Ch-2, Tolerance In Rome's High Empire. Ch-3, China's Golden Age. Ch-4, The Great Mongol Empire.Part-2 The Enlightening Of Tolerance Ch-5, The Purification Of Medieval Spain. Ch-6, The Dutch World Empire. Ch-7, Tolerance & Intolerance In The East. Ch-8, The British Empire.Part-3 The Future Of World Dominance. Ch-9, The American Hyperpower. Ch-10, The Rise & Fall Of The Axis Powers. Ch-11, The Challengers. Ch-12, The Day Of Empire." I would read this chapter first & then the whole book.
In short the hyperpowers of Persia, Rome, Tang dynasty China, the Mongols, the Dutch, the British, & the USA in different ways & for various lengths of time were the most successful & influential in history. While Ming China, & the empires of Spain & the Ottoman Turks were "might have beens as far as hyperpowers go." The former do to its isolationism, & the latter two do to their varying degrees of intolerance, the suppression of knowledge, & lack of a home grown innovative & commercial class. Both of these constantly had to hire foreigner merchants & bankers to keep their economies going. They also often had to hire foreigners to help build their navies since their own technology was often stagnant. The irony that the Jews & Arabs who were brutally expelled from Spain, would eventually reinvigorate the Ottomans. Who would later foil Spain's aspirations of conquering both North africa & the middle east was a true case of "reaping what you sowed."
Although not mentioned by the author, I recommend everyone read Donald Matthew's "The Norman Kingdom Of Sicily," because it was a multi-ethnic & religious state that had the tolerance & innovative populations that Miss Chua focuses on.
As for the USA, our success has been our unrivalled ability to attract & retain enterprising immigrants & our ability to assimilate people from various races & nationalities into being Americans. But, today , concerns about uncontrolled illegal immigration & job outsourcing has produced a backlash against our tradition of "cultural openess." She asks has the USA hit a tipping point?" Have we gone overboard with our tolerance & diversity to the point that our national unity & cohesion are falling apart?
Could other rising powers like India, China, or the European Union eventually surpass the USA? As for the former she states. India is far more interested in becoming partners with the USA rather than rivals. Also, despite its recent economic strides it has 17% of the worlds population yet, it produces only 2% of the global GDP. India also has huge internal conflicts between Hindus & Muslims, etc. The interviews on pages 309-10 speaks volumes as to why the USA is so appealing to Indian people.
The EU also has multiple problems to contend with. The EU's tolerance is inwardly based, not outwardly. The EU's growing inability to absorb & assimilate often hostile Muslim immigrants, a rapidly aging & decreasing population, slow economic growth, & the most talented sectors of their popultion wishing to emigrate to the USA makes it unlikely that it can challenge the USA in the forseeable future.
China, with very rare exceptions has been one of the most xenophobic, misogynistic, & ethnocentric societies in history. In various ways it is the polar opposite of the USA's being a pluralistic immigrant society. China still has a huge cultural gap between north & south, deep levels of corruption, an ever growing gap between the rich & poor, & most of its human capital remains uneducated. With the bulk of the education system itself discouraging innovative thinking. Like India it also has eighty to one hundred million more men than women, {something the author left out}. Intruigingly 85% of Chinese students studying in the USA never return to China.
In the authors opinion, the USA on some level has exceeded its limits & why we would be better off dropping the neo-cons "go-it alone tactics," & promote a new multilateralism in both domestic & foreign policy strategy. For her, multilateralism is not a surrender for the USA, it is an opportunity. Other countries should get more involved in helping solve the worlds problems rather than them expecting the USA to lead all the time. I found pages 9, 23-6, 31-40, 43-6, 54-8, 81-7, 121-4, 130, 134-7, 158-67, 176-8, 181-2, 189-91, 223-9, 242, 254-5, 268-9, 282-3, 323-8, 337-44 to be the most crucial for any readers. One flaw is she has only 37 pages of sources, which is scant for a history thesis of this magnitude. Nonetheless, I found both her thesis & presentation to be very informative.
The author compares hyperpowers of the past to those who almost were as well as to the contemporary ones. Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan & the former Soviet Union are some examples. The book is divided into three parts with four chapters in each. "Part- 1 Ch1, The Tolerance Of Barbarians. Ch-1, The First Hegemon-Achemenid Persia. Ch-2, Tolerance In Rome's High Empire. Ch-3, China's Golden Age. Ch-4, The Great Mongol Empire.Part-2 The Enlightening Of Tolerance Ch-5, The Purification Of Medieval Spain. Ch-6, The Dutch World Empire. Ch-7, Tolerance & Intolerance In The East. Ch-8, The British Empire.Part-3 The Future Of World Dominance. Ch-9, The American Hyperpower. Ch-10, The Rise & Fall Of The Axis Powers. Ch-11, The Challengers. Ch-12, The Day Of Empire." I would read this chapter first & then the whole book.
In short the hyperpowers of Persia, Rome, Tang dynasty China, the Mongols, the Dutch, the British, & the USA in different ways & for various lengths of time were the most successful & influential in history. While Ming China, & the empires of Spain & the Ottoman Turks were "might have beens as far as hyperpowers go." The former do to its isolationism, & the latter two do to their varying degrees of intolerance, the suppression of knowledge, & lack of a home grown innovative & commercial class. Both of these constantly had to hire foreigner merchants & bankers to keep their economies going. They also often had to hire foreigners to help build their navies since their own technology was often stagnant. The irony that the Jews & Arabs who were brutally expelled from Spain, would eventually reinvigorate the Ottomans. Who would later foil Spain's aspirations of conquering both North africa & the middle east was a true case of "reaping what you sowed."
Although not mentioned by the author, I recommend everyone read Donald Matthew's "The Norman Kingdom Of Sicily," because it was a multi-ethnic & religious state that had the tolerance & innovative populations that Miss Chua focuses on.
As for the USA, our success has been our unrivalled ability to attract & retain enterprising immigrants & our ability to assimilate people from various races & nationalities into being Americans. But, today , concerns about uncontrolled illegal immigration & job outsourcing has produced a backlash against our tradition of "cultural openess." She asks has the USA hit a tipping point?" Have we gone overboard with our tolerance & diversity to the point that our national unity & cohesion are falling apart?
Could other rising powers like India, China, or the European Union eventually surpass the USA? As for the former she states. India is far more interested in becoming partners with the USA rather than rivals. Also, despite its recent economic strides it has 17% of the worlds population yet, it produces only 2% of the global GDP. India also has huge internal conflicts between Hindus & Muslims, etc. The interviews on pages 309-10 speaks volumes as to why the USA is so appealing to Indian people.
The EU also has multiple problems to contend with. The EU's tolerance is inwardly based, not outwardly. The EU's growing inability to absorb & assimilate often hostile Muslim immigrants, a rapidly aging & decreasing population, slow economic growth, & the most talented sectors of their popultion wishing to emigrate to the USA makes it unlikely that it can challenge the USA in the forseeable future.
China, with very rare exceptions has been one of the most xenophobic, misogynistic, & ethnocentric societies in history. In various ways it is the polar opposite of the USA's being a pluralistic immigrant society. China still has a huge cultural gap between north & south, deep levels of corruption, an ever growing gap between the rich & poor, & most of its human capital remains uneducated. With the bulk of the education system itself discouraging innovative thinking. Like India it also has eighty to one hundred million more men than women, {something the author left out}. Intruigingly 85% of Chinese students studying in the USA never return to China.
In the authors opinion, the USA on some level has exceeded its limits & why we would be better off dropping the neo-cons "go-it alone tactics," & promote a new multilateralism in both domestic & foreign policy strategy. For her, multilateralism is not a surrender for the USA, it is an opportunity. Other countries should get more involved in helping solve the worlds problems rather than them expecting the USA to lead all the time. I found pages 9, 23-6, 31-40, 43-6, 54-8, 81-7, 121-4, 130, 134-7, 158-67, 176-8, 181-2, 189-91, 223-9, 242, 254-5, 268-9, 282-3, 323-8, 337-44 to be the most crucial for any readers. One flaw is she has only 37 pages of sources, which is scant for a history thesis of this magnitude. Nonetheless, I found both her thesis & presentation to be very informative.
53 of 60 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Amy Chua is a professor of law at Yale Law School, but it seems that her true passion is history. In her previous book, World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability, she did a series of case studies on market-dominant minorities and the countries in which they reside. As these countries transitioned to democracy, the minorities became targets of resentment and even violence. It was an original work showing some of the adverse consequences of rapid democratization.
This new work is equally original. Now she has done a series of studies on history's hyperpowers, and how they achieved that status. Surprisingly, the key to achieving hyperpower success is not brute force and imposition of a monoculture, but tolerance and acceptance of other cultures. And, on the downside, if this diversity is not properly managed, it will lead to the hyperpower's decline.
The hyperpowers studied are a diverse group. They include Achaemenid Persia, Rome's High Empire, Tang China, Genghis Khan's Mongol Empire, the Ottoman and Mughal Empires, the Spanish, Dutch, British, and American Empires. With such a varied list, critics will pounce and demand a sharper definition of terms. Professional historians will be quick to point out novice mistakes.
First the term hyperpower. By this term, Chua means not merely a great power or a superpower, but a world-dominant power. A power that amassed such military and economic strength that no other power on earth could challenge it. Achaemenid Persia ruled over 1/3 of the world's population, the Mongols under Genghis Khan conquered half the known world, Rome conquered most of the known world, and the British had an empire on which the sun never set. It should also be noted that all hyperpowers were technologically dominant giving them the economic and military edge.
Tolerance is also a very broad term. Tolerance in today's Western democracies means something different than it did in the time of Cyrus the Great or Genghis Khan. For Chua, it means "letting very different kinds of people - regardless of ethnicity, religion, or skin color - live, work, and prosper, even if for instrumental or strategic reasons." This could be called a cynical or relative notion of tolerance. In ancient times it was more black and white: either pay tribute and allegiance or be killed. In modern times the notion is more fuzzy, more like: if you join the program, we can both benefit, if not we both suffer. Chua's notion of tolerance applies to both.
Towards the end of the book, Chua takes a look at the US as a hyperpower. She examines the anti-immigrant sentiments in the light of historical notions of tolerance. This is a bit of a muddle since foreigners volutarily entering the US are different from peoples conquered in their own lands. Nevertheless, the US has always had an excellent record on immigration and assimilation, of which Chua herself is a stellar example. She argues that current anti-immigrant and islolationist impulses will lead to US decline.
A little decline, she concedes, may not be such a bad thing. Deline from hyper to superpower, putting the US on a more equal footing with other great powers, will probably make the international system more balanced and, as a result, more secure. With no other hyperpowers currently on the horizon, and given a certain amount of US decline, it appears that the 21st century will be a multipolar and multilateral century.
This new work is equally original. Now she has done a series of studies on history's hyperpowers, and how they achieved that status. Surprisingly, the key to achieving hyperpower success is not brute force and imposition of a monoculture, but tolerance and acceptance of other cultures. And, on the downside, if this diversity is not properly managed, it will lead to the hyperpower's decline.
The hyperpowers studied are a diverse group. They include Achaemenid Persia, Rome's High Empire, Tang China, Genghis Khan's Mongol Empire, the Ottoman and Mughal Empires, the Spanish, Dutch, British, and American Empires. With such a varied list, critics will pounce and demand a sharper definition of terms. Professional historians will be quick to point out novice mistakes.
First the term hyperpower. By this term, Chua means not merely a great power or a superpower, but a world-dominant power. A power that amassed such military and economic strength that no other power on earth could challenge it. Achaemenid Persia ruled over 1/3 of the world's population, the Mongols under Genghis Khan conquered half the known world, Rome conquered most of the known world, and the British had an empire on which the sun never set. It should also be noted that all hyperpowers were technologically dominant giving them the economic and military edge.
Tolerance is also a very broad term. Tolerance in today's Western democracies means something different than it did in the time of Cyrus the Great or Genghis Khan. For Chua, it means "letting very different kinds of people - regardless of ethnicity, religion, or skin color - live, work, and prosper, even if for instrumental or strategic reasons." This could be called a cynical or relative notion of tolerance. In ancient times it was more black and white: either pay tribute and allegiance or be killed. In modern times the notion is more fuzzy, more like: if you join the program, we can both benefit, if not we both suffer. Chua's notion of tolerance applies to both.
Towards the end of the book, Chua takes a look at the US as a hyperpower. She examines the anti-immigrant sentiments in the light of historical notions of tolerance. This is a bit of a muddle since foreigners volutarily entering the US are different from peoples conquered in their own lands. Nevertheless, the US has always had an excellent record on immigration and assimilation, of which Chua herself is a stellar example. She argues that current anti-immigrant and islolationist impulses will lead to US decline.
A little decline, she concedes, may not be such a bad thing. Deline from hyper to superpower, putting the US on a more equal footing with other great powers, will probably make the international system more balanced and, as a result, more secure. With no other hyperpowers currently on the horizon, and given a certain amount of US decline, it appears that the 21st century will be a multipolar and multilateral century.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic!!!!
A truly riveting book, Chua writes in a fluid easy to read fashion and the content was superbly researched and presented. A must read for everyone.
Published 12 days ago by Patrick Loughrey
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting Thesis
Prof. Amy Chua's work was interesting and thought provoking, but hardly conclusive. She presents a fine summary of some of the more powerful "hyper-powers", but on England she... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Braslow, Ph.D.
4.0 out of 5 stars
interesting read for academics
Based on her supporting evidence for what a hyperpower consists of, Chua declared that China would be the next great nation. However, her evidence does not support this fact. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Amelia Lloyd-Jones
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must read
I have not yet completed reading this book, however, it is the most interesting book I have read in a long time. Ms. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Alta
2.0 out of 5 stars
Critique of "Day of Empire" by Amy Chua
At one level I thoroughly enjoyed Day of Empire by Amy Chua. Since my middle- and high school days I have always enjoyed history classes and reading history books. Read more
Published on March 27, 2011 by Claus Gehner
3.0 out of 5 stars
Chua is no expert
Chua is not a historian, and it really shows here.
This book consists of a lot of second hand material, filtered through the eyes of a writer that likes to throw around... Read more
This book consists of a lot of second hand material, filtered through the eyes of a writer that likes to throw around... Read more
Published on January 29, 2011 by Asia history fan
5.0 out of 5 stars
creative
I am not a history buff by any means and I often find history books hard to read because it's hard for me to connect all the complicated components together to understand or... Read more
Published on January 23, 2011 by Nancyhua
5.0 out of 5 stars
HOW THE GREAT POWERS GO `HYPER'!
In short, the secret ingredient to a power turning into a great `hyperpower' is tolerance. Not that being tolerant makes a nation a great power but it was essential to these... Read more
Published on December 17, 2010 by Jeremy A. Perron
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Read/Book!!!!!
This is a great book to get an understanding of the world then and the world now. Amy Chua does an excellent job with linking the present to the past and vice versa. Read more
Published on November 26, 2010 by Victoria
5.0 out of 5 stars
''Day of Empire'' a must read.
An incredible book, a must read for the moron politicians in our country. I began reading the book on a Sunday, I just could not stop, until the last page. Read more
Published on November 11, 2010 by Zulfikar Kassim
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