Day of Empire_ How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance--And Why They Fall - Amy Chua [179]
Americans should regard this new multilateralism not as a surrender, but as an opportunity. By acknowledging how it contributes to the existence of these global problems, by recognizing how much it stands to gain from their solution, and by assuming a leadership role in international efforts to deal with them, the United States can advance its own interests while also creating the solidarity it needs with other nations—the sense of affiliation and common purpose that a democratic hyperpower cannot do without.
In 1997, at the age of ninety-three, my mother's father became a U.S. citizen. There was no need for him to do so. He was already a permanent resident, having lived in the United States for forty years. Nevertheless, although feeble and practically deaf, my grandfather had insisted on taking the U.S. citizenship test. At the celebration dinner, I asked him why getting citizenship was so important to him. He replied, in his heavily accented English, “Because America has given me so much.” This amazed me. His time in the United States had been spent working incredibly hard at a struggling Asian grocery store and then delivering newspapers until he was ninety (he was a great favorite in the neighborhood because he never missed a day). My grandfather then added, “This is the greatest country! Everyone wants to be American!”
My parents remember the same admiration of Americans when they were living in the Philippines in the 1950s and 1960s—it was part of what made them so eager to immigrate—and I remember it while traveling in China and Europe with my parents in the 1970s and 1980s. Today while traveling in other countries with my own family, I wish that my two daughters could hear the same views of America that always made me so proud. Sadly, they don't.
What will the twenty-first century bring? America's chief rivals face many obstacles of their own, but, simply by virtue of their growing strength (whether individually or through alliances), the United States may well cease to be world dominant in the near future. A return to superpower status is not necessarily a bad result for the United States. Being a hyperpower, after all, is a historical anomaly and brings costs as well as benefits.
On the other hand, the United States remains today in many ways a paragon of strategic tolerance. If America can rediscover the path that has been the secret to its success since its founding and avoid the temptations of empire building, it could remain the world's hyperpower in the decades to come—not a hyperpower of coercion and military force, but a hyperpower of opportunity, dynamism, and moral force.
My parents, Leon and Diana Chua, were the inspiration for this book; I would like to thank them as well as my sisters, Michelle, Katrin, and Cynthia, for their unflagging support over the years. Nor could this book have been written without the help and guidance of my husband, Jed Ruben-feld, who for the last fifteen years has read every word I've written; I am the fortunate beneficiary of his generosity and genius. I am also deeply grateful to my editor, Adam Bellow, and my colleagues Jack Balkin, Daniel Markovits, James Whitman, and especially Bruce Ackerman, all of whom provided brilliant criticisms and suggestions at crucial stages. Their contributions have made this a far better work; any remaining errors are of course mine alone. YiLing Chen-Josephson and Russell Pittman both read the manuscript in its entirety and offered incisive comments; they have my sincere gratitude. I would also like to thank Walter Austerer, Ian Ayres, R. J. Contant, Henry Hansmann, Tony Kronman, Susan Rose-Ackerman, Marina Santilli, Jordan Smoller, and Sylvia Smoller for their encouragement and critical interventions.
This book reflects the invaluable