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

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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

3.86 of 5 stars 3.86 · rating details · 289 ratings · 47 reviews

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 hyperpowe...more 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.(less)

Hardcover, 432 pages

Published October 30th 2007 by Doubleday

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 635)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Jan 15, 2008 J.B. B. rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone who can read a long book

Recommended to J.B. by: bloomberg interview

There is lots of great information in this book, and a brilliant conclusion. I was actually considering doing ressearch about the same topic, and i saw her interview so i had to read. I have 2 quotes in my 'quotes' page here, that i found in this book. such eye opening and original material.

I would like to point out though that the tone is very repetitive and this book could have probably been about 1/3 shorter. it took a sincere interest in re-learning this stuff for me to finish it. the writi...more

like 4 likes · see review

Mar 23, 2008 Heidi rated it 4 of 5 stars

If you're interested in empires and spend any time conteplating America's situation in the world today, I highly recommend this well-written book.

I saw this writer on CSpan Book TV in January, and was fascinated by her ideas about empire, particularly since I had just returned from my first trip to Spain.

Ms. Chua does a great job of condensing the pertinent information of historical empires into this book and then looking for the constants in every empire.

Although most of the book is about empi...more

like 1 like · see review

Nov 25, 2008 Ian Taylor rated it 3 of 5 stars

Chua's thesis that tolerance of minorities was a substantial factor in the endurance and success of empires is an important, and almost truly overlooked, point. She analyzes several empires to illustrate this point, including the Persian, Roman, Chinese, Mongol, Dutch, Spanish, British, American empires (and I'm probably forgetting one). She also introduces the term of hyperpower, which is sort of a nation with imperial ambitions and potential on steroids. However, there's a critical flaw in thi...more

like 3 likes · see review

Feb 11, 2012 Bas Kreuger rated it 5 of 5 stars

Central thesis of Chua's book is the way (strategic) tolerance has helped in building empires throughout the ages.
She gives examples from the Achaemenid empire of Darius the Great, the Roman Empire through the Dutch Empire (although I have some trouble seeing this seaborne commercial empire as a true empire) and the British Empire to the US global hegemony of the 20th Century.
By being tolerant and inclusive, those empires managed to attract the best and brightest and harness their powers for emp...more

like · see review

Dec 05, 2011 Jeremy Perron rated it 5 of 5 stars

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 already established powers to become the predominant power of their day, or as Chua defines it a `hyperpower.' More then a superpower, hyperpowers are completely dominant in their sphere of the world with no rivals. To become a hyperpower, a nation must become tolerant as a prerequisite, and pulling away from that tolerance...more

like · see review

Apr 11, 2011 Marks54 rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is another well written and sharp book by Amy Chua, a contract law professor at Yale, on why empires (or "Hyperpowers") rise and fall. The punchline is generally that the reasons why they rise are also the reasons why they fall -- or you can get too much openness, expansion, diversity, entrepreneurship, etc. The story generally seems to work although I doubt it would sustain much hard scrutiny on the details. That is not the point, however. It tells a plausible and interesting story well an...more

like · see review

Dec 17, 2009 Jim Good rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: history, non-fiction, sociology

Describes the history of hyperpower civilizations of which there were more than had previously thought and their histories are shorter. From the Huns, the Romans, the Chinese to the current US, Amy describes the life span of each. She sees parralells between these civilizations rise (relative freedoms for diverse peoples leading towards innovation and aquiensance) to theie eventual declines (reduction in those relative freedoms as the society becomes inwardly focused) and discusses what this mea...more

like · see review

May 03, 2013 Eddy Allen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arts-and-historical

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....more 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.(less)

like · see review

Dec 28, 2012 Jeff rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book, written largely from the now-too-familiar perspective of the China-centric Chua, poses an interesting thesis that enduring Empires are generally also tolerant ones. Not imposing a religion of culture on the lands that they conquer, long-standing Empires, such as Rome, Persia, and the Mongols brought lands and people into their empire without demanding that the people change to suit the conqueror. Very accessible and interesting history of the dynamics of Empire. Perceptive and very we...more

like · see review

May 07, 2008 Jason Pettus rated it 5 of 5 stars

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)

Almost everyone agrees by now that the United States currently wields an enormous amount of power and influence over the rest of the world; but does that give us the right to call the US an "empire," at least as how we traditionally define the word? After all, the US isn't trying to actively annex or...more (Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)

Almost everyone agrees by now that the United States currently wields an enormous amount of power and influence over the rest of the world; but does that give us the right to call the US an "empire," at least as how we traditionally define the word? After all, the US isn't trying to actively annex or colonize any foreign lands, has no interest in adding more states to the 50 we already own; we do have a vested interest, however, in seeing American-owned businesses do well in these foreign lands, a commonality among many empires throughout the ages, and we're not afraid to use military force to achieve those aims, yet another commonality. We spread the idea of free-election democracies and free-market capitalism, but then insist that the countries we deal with adopt such measures themselves, or suffer the wrath of an imposed democracy through the barrel of a gun.

Perhaps it's better, then, says bestselling essayist and futurist Amy Chua in her new book Day of Empire, to think of the United States instead as a "hyperpower" -- not necessarily an empire or republic or kingdom dealing with all their warring neighbors, but literally a society that has gained unquestioned dominance over the entire planet at once, or at least whatever part of the planet was known to those people at that point in history. If you define it this way, Chua says, then you can actually see a clear line of hyperpowers stretching back chronologically to Cyrus' Persian Empire of 500 BC, with other such infamous societies as the Roman Empire, Genghis Khan's Mongol Empire, and even the Dutch Republic of the 1600s falling on this line as well; and what's more, you can actually see very obvious similarities between such groups when you align them in this fashion, lessons that can be applied to the US as well at this particular moment in history (the moment we're about to lose our hyperpower status, that is). And indeed, that's something else Chua convincingly does throughout the book as well, is show example after example of powerful empires that never did make it to hyperpower status -- the Ottoman Empires of history, the Spanish Inquisitions, the 20th-century fascist states -- and proves that none of them heeded the lessons about hyperpowers that she points out in this manuscript, thus reinforcing her theories about such societies' rises and falls even more.

So what exactly are the grand secrets about such hyperpowers that Chua discovers? Well, nothing too terribly surprising, if you really stop and think about; basically, that time after time after time, all hyperpowers in history saw their ascendency during a time when they embraced tolerance, when the society itself welcomed different religions and points of view and skill sets and culinary palettes, that the powerful combination of work power and brain power is what vaulted these societies into hyperpower status in the first place. And consequently, in example after example after example, where these hyperpowers started to fall is when they suddenly stopped being tolerant, when success and laziness and a drop in societal education turned the populace into xenophobic, superstitious zealots; time after time, Chua shows how such an attitude has driven away the very people and resources that made that society so powerful, usually right into the arms of another society on the rise that is happy to accept the resources. That's why this line of so-called hyperpowers seems sometimes to be an unbroken stretch from one society to the next for the last 2,500 years; because mainly it's a history of huge groups of people fleeing from one region of the world to the next, all the Jews with their money and scientists with their heretical ideas, and let's not even start with those dirty, dirty bohemians. Every time such groups are forced to flee one hyperpower because of rising intolerance, Chua convincingly argues here, these are always the moments those hyperpowers begin their downfalls; and whatever society ends up embracing these refugees tends to become the next hyperpower in history, which makes a lot of sense when it's explained that way.

And indeed, Chua's book is full of such "ah hah, yes, you're so right" moments, conclusions that make so much logical sense when you read them but that you had never really thought of yourself before this book; this manuscript is very much a reflection of the law professor Chua is during the day, moving very logically from one step to the next to the next. In fact, this might be the most interesting thing of all about Day of Empire, is that Chua does such a great job of pointing out the surprising amount of similarities from one hyperpower to the next; from Greek emperors bowing before Egyptian gods to Queen Victoria declaring herself the Empress of India, Chua creates an unshakable argument through facts and historical records of how important such religious tolerance and surface-level gestures have been to every single hyperpower in existence, no matter how those gestures are actually expressed from one decade to the next. In fact, as painful as it is, Chua also convincingly argues here how close such "evil" societies throughout history came to becoming long-term and secure ones, if they had only embraced such tolerance a little more themselves; to use one chilling example, how the Nazis would've probably gotten World War II called off as a stalemate, and survived well into our times, if they had only been able to embrace Russians, Poles and Czechs as equals and work out some kind of mutually beneficial truce. If not for the Holocaust, if not for their official policy of considering all their neighbors vermin, the Nazis could've very well "won" WWII precisely by not losing it; and this is the case with almost all the not-quite-hyperpowers in history, Chua argues, from the Spanish Empire embracing the Inquisition during the Dark Ages to China's Ming Empire embracing isolationism after the devastation of the Mongol Hoard.

It's an intriguing and thought-provoking book, one that will really have you looking at America's position in the world in a different way, wondering how we too might be able to "softly transition" out of hyperpower status like Great Britain did a century ago (a point in history Chua clearly admires), or if we are doomed to crash and burn like the old hyperpowers who never learned these lessons. Combined with the last section of this manuscript, a look at the rising regions and coming powers of the world (mostly the EU, China and India), it's a great primer as to how powerful societies get things right, where things go wrong, and what we can likely expect in global politics over the next 25 years. Day of Empire is a fast-moving, plainly-written book, one of those great nonfiction accounts geared towards a general populace that I love so much; not only policy wonks but simply those wanting to know a little more on the subject will find the book a real asset, and it gets a big recommendation from me today.

Out of 10: 9.3(less)

like 2 likes · see review

Jan 09, 2009 James rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: culture-and-politics, economics, history, military, regional

Impressive - the author combines a great depth and breadth of scholarship with exceptional writing and organization of material. Her thesis, which is essentially that powers come to dominate whatever part of the world is accessible to them by being more open and tolerant than others, and therefore more likely to attract the most talent, but that the same openness is ultimately their undoing because they aren't able to muster enough cohesion to keep from coming unraveled, and that their decline i...more

like · see review

May 26, 2012 Suzanne rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Good story-telling-way of explaining complicated networks of reasons and causes why some states/countries/empires through out history succeeded into dominating their known world thru war and/or culture and why some did not. The rising and falling of these states teaches us about these reasons and causes.
Makes for very interesting reading, although it is good to keep in mind that this is the (very well argumented) opinion of one professor.

like · see review

Apr 16, 2012 Hollowman rated it 4 of 5 stars

Don't have time to read ... or need a bit more convincing? See Chua in these UCTV features:

The Moment of Empire (Conversations with History)
http://www.uctv.tv/search-details.asp...
The Myths of Globalization: Markets, Democracy, and Ethnic Hatred, with Amy Chua (Conversations with History)
http://www.uctv.tv/search-details.asp...

like · see review

Jul 27, 2012 Shruti rated it 2 of 5 stars

While the book was loaded with a lot of historical facts, the thesis itself was simplistic. Chua's examples seem to fit too neatly into her thesis and she glossed over behaviour which didn't fall into her theory. The book lacked polish and seemed a little awkward at points. Overall, the book was unsatisfying.

like · see review

Dec 28, 2011 Muhammed Al-Bishri rated it 5 of 5 stars

الكتاب مترجم بطريقة ممتازة بعنوان "عصر الامبراطورية" أصدار العبيكان أنصح بقراءتة وهو يرتب شواهد من التاريخ منذ الدولة الاخمندية والصين مروراً بالاسلام والمغول وبريطانيا وهولندا وصولاً الى أمريكا اليوم تذهب الى
أن التسامح يزيد من قوة الدولة ونفوذها والتعصب يجعلها تسقط والكتاب يشبه مقدمة إبن خلدون وفلسفته التاريخية وكلا المؤلفين متخصصان في القانون
description

like · see review

Jan 23, 2008 Jim rated it 5 of 5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed "Day of Empire". Amy Chua provides a thoughtful analysis of the social changes within "hyper powers" that contributed to their downfall. Although most of these empires were founded on military conquest, her thesis that they grew to hyper power status through their tolerant social and cultural attitudes. She further proves that these powers began their decline due to an increase in nationalism and intolerance. She relates these historic lessons to America's rise to "hyper pow...more

like · see review

Feb 23, 2013 Sydney Lewis rated it 5 of 5 stars

Such an interesting, well-proven thesis illustrating how tolerance is essential to a country's ability to earn and maintain status as a global hyper-power. Reads like a narrative.

like · see review

Oct 17, 2012 Mike Horton rated it 5 of 5 stars

Fantastic insight, fantastic writing, and an overall interesting hypothesis. Chua makes you think boldly and deeply and compels you to have an opinion. One of my all-time favorites.

like · see review

Nov 14, 2012 Herman rated it 4 of 5 stars

Amy Chua is really a great story teller.
Wonderful page turner.
Tolerance and Glue concept could be applied to universally...to the states, to the organizations...

like · see review

Jul 29, 2011 Kirk Bower added it · review of another edition

So much talk about Friedman? The talk should be turned toward Chua. Another outstanding book with an original thesis. Chua looks at tolerance during empires growth.

like · see review

Apr 30, 2011 Swan rated it 3 of 5 stars

I learned a good deal of history but was frequently annoyed by her usage of "I"- as in "I contend", "I will now prove"... it's redundant when the book is her thesis.

like · see review

Oct 23, 2008 Kent Lundgren rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Students of history and geopolitics

Shelves: geopolitics

The author, Amy Chua, makes a convincing case that hyperpowers, empires or nations whose supremacy in the world is unchallenged for a time, rise and fall as a factor of their inclusiveness. If they value and invite the contributions that can be made by those who fall under their sway, they will prosper. And vice-versa.

The case is documented persuasively by close examination of several of the world's historic hyperpowers (and there have been fewer than one might think), among them the Persians,...more

like · see review

Jul 23, 2011 Kathleen McRae rated it 5 of 5 stars

Amy Chua account of global dominance in history was insightful,full of history and extemely readable Her writing style was easy and yet very entertaining.

like · see review

May 22, 2008 Brett rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was fascinated by this book because it more cleary than any book I've read illustrates how nations rise when they are more inclusive and accepting of immigrants from various ethnic, social, and religious backgrounds.

Mrs. Chua shows through many examples what happens to nations as they look exclude, persecute, or disenfranchise people of different backgrounds and what they can potentially contribute to that nation.

The lessons illustrated are clear. Can America continue to flourish by integratin...more

like · see review

Dec 23, 2009 Jayce rated it 5 of 5 stars

My favourite book of the year! Learn a lot too. Her thesis is profound and history buff or not you have to read this!

like · see review

Apr 22, 2013 Oleg Ciubotaru rated it 4 of 5 stars

It seems that there is a huge influence of Amy's husband over the work. Almost every chapter has something about jews, even information that is not proven to be historically correct.

like · see review

Jan 03, 2013 Colin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: general-history, world-history

I really like this story. I use this for my required reading in AP World History class today.

like · see review

Nov 24, 2010 Dean Economy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Short concise book on history. Easy to read and very informative. Very good read.

like · see review

Feb 29, 2012 Adam Carmack rated it 4 of 5 stars

very interesting thesis. I believe her theory is definitely viable

like · see review

Sep 23, 2010 Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides added it · review of another edition

Shelves: hegemony, poli-sci, history

I remember reading this and thinking it was generally well done.

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 21 22 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (6)

More editions...

Genres

History

39 users

Non Fiction

12 users

Politics

8 users

Economics

4 users

Travel

2 users

Sociology

2 users

War > Military

2 users

History > World History

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Amy Chua

Amy L. Chua (born 1962) is the John M. Duff, Jr. Professor of Law at Yale Law School. She joined the Yale faculty in 2001 after teaching at Duke Law School. Prior to starting her teaching career, she was a corporate law associate at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton. She specializes in the study of international business transactions, law and development, ethnic conflict, and globalization an...more

More about Amy Chua...

Books by Amy Chua

World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Day of Empire: Ho...

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

title link	preview: Day of Empire: How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance--and Why They Fall
avg rating	preview: Day of Empire: How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance--and Why They Fall Goodreads rating: 3.86 (289 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/295894.Day_of_Empire?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320483456l/295894.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/295894.Day_of_Empire?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Day of Empire: How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance--and Why They Fall by Amy Chua[/url]

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

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website