Day of Empire

Summary

The book discusses examples of "hyperpowers" throughout human history. Chua describes in rough chronological order the hyperpowers, from the Achaemenid Persian Empire to the British Empire, with reflections on the United States as a current hyperpower. The empires of Rome, the Tang, the Mongols and the Dutch provide examples of successful hegemonies, while the failures of imperial Spain, Nazi Germany and the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere counterpoint them. Chua argues that preconditions for hyperpower status include tolerance of ethnic divisions, and that preconditions for its loss include either a growing intolerance by the traditional ruling élites or a failure to "glue" together the subject peoples into an overarching identity.