Amy Chua’s Day of Empire explains how hyperpowers rise to global dominance — and why they fall:
For all their enormous differences, every single world hyperpower in history — ever society that could even arguably be described as having achieved global hegemony — was, at least by the standards of its time, extraordinarily pluralistic and tolerant during its rise to pre-eminence. Indeed, in every case tolerance was indispensible to the achievement of hegemony. Just as strikingly, the decline of empire has repeatedly coincided with intolerance, xenophobia, and calls for racial, religious, or ethnic “purity.” But here’s the catch: It was also tolerance that sowed the seeds of decline. In virtually every case, tolerance eventually hit a tipping point, triggering conflict, hatred, and violence.
James McCormick has written an extensive review — read the whole thing — which makes a point that immediately jumped out at me too: the book seems like it was written backwards, starting with the policy-prescription of open immigration and tolerance for religious and ethnic minorities.
Nonetheless, it sounds like a fascinating book.