Day of Empire: How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance--and Why They Fall

435 Pages·2007·5.99 MB·English

by  Amy Chua

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4UTH0R OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WORLD ON FIRE
A M Y C H UA
HOW H Y P E R P O W E RS R I SE
TO G L O B AL D O M I N A N CE —
A ND W HY T H EY F A LL
U.S. $27.95/Canada $34.00
In a little over two centuries, America has grown
from a regional power to a superpower, to what
is today called a hyperpower. 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. Yet 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 exam­
ines 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 history reveals a fasci­
nating 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 har­
nessing the skills and energies of individuals from
very different backgrounds, and by attracting and ex­
ploiting 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 im­
perial Japan, while wielding great power, failed to
attain global dominance as a direct result of their
racial and religious intolerance.
(continued on back flap)
(continued from front flap)
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 suc­
cess has always been its unsurpassed ability to attract
enterprising immigrants. Today, however, concerns
about outsourcing and uncontrolled illegal immi­
gration 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.
AMY CHUA is the John Duff
Jr. Professor of Law at Yale Law
School. She is the author of
World on Fire and is a noted
expert in the fields of interna­
tional business, ethnic conflict,
and globalization. She lives in New Haven, Con­
necticut, with her husband and two daughters.
www.doubleday.com
Jacket design: Emily Mahon
Jacket photographs: top, detail of The Rattle of Kohlenberg at
the Second Siege of Vienna ©The Art Archive/C.orbis; bottom, A Solitary Figure
in the Desert at Abusif C Kenneth Garrett/Getty Images
Author photograph © Peter Mahakian
Prime J in the U.S.A.
Praise for Day of Empire
"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 of History, Harvard University, and author of
Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power
DAY OF EMPIRE

ALSO BY AMY CHUA
World on Fire

DAY OF EMPIRE
HOW HYPERPOWERS RISE TO GLOBAL DOMINANCE —
AND WHY THEY FALL
AMY CHUA
DOUBLEDAY
NEW YORK LONDON TORONTO SYDNEY AUCKLAND
PUBLISHED BY DOUBLEDAY
Copyright © 2007 by Amy Chua
All Rights Reserved
Published in the United States by Doubleday, an imprint of The Doubleday Broadway
Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.doubleday.com
DOUBLEDAY and the portrayal of an anchor with a dolphin are
registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Book design by Caroline Cunningham
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Chua, Amy.
Day of empire : how hyperpowers rise to global dominance—and why they fall /
Amy Chua. — 1st. ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Imperialism—History. 2. Hegemony—History. I. Title.
JC539.C58 2008
327.ri2—<lc22
2007015116
ISBN 978-0-385-51284-8
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
1 3 5 79 10 8 6 42
First Edition