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Written by Jennifer Manjarez Saturday, 14 March 2009 04:42

How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance and Why They Fall

With the recent state of the U.S. economy, many questions have been raised as to where we are heading and what all this means for every other aspect of American life: unemployment, housing and education, to name a few. Since it's been said that history repeats itself, it's a safe bet that the answer lies somewhere in the history books, upon the pages of some of history's most dominant and successful nations.

In this time of instability, best-selling author Amy Chua offers up Day of Empire: How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance and Why They Fall, a detailed theory of what makes a nation a global leader and how those hyperpowers are both established and exhausted. Her theory suggests that there is a set pattern within hyperpower nations that sets them apart from all other rival nations. Chua defines a hyperpower as having a certain set of characteristics that place it above the rest and, most importantly, the notion of pluralism, or tolerance, amongst peoples within the nation. She suggests that one reason the United States has successfully dominated the global arena has to do with its ability to gather intellectual resources from people of all cultural and ethnic backgrounds—not necessarily living in total tolerance as we know it today, but allowing the intermingling of peoples.

Day of Empire is an easy read, not choppy or overly wordy, but nonetheless extremely poignant to the time. A lot of good points are raised in the book that aren't often raised in the media, like the possibility of emerging dual hyperpowers instead of the often-perceived one-or-the-other approach. Highly suggested for those who enjoy political theory or history.

Quite a few books have been written on the subject, but Chua gives the issue a good workout without using all the political jargon with which a lot of authors bombard you. Instead, she takes the issue from the viewpoint of the average person, inserting a degree of cultural depth, not just political banter. | Jennifer Manjarez