| Summary |
Humans are tribal. We need to belong to groups. In many parts of the world, the group identities that matter most, the ones that people will kill and die for, are ethnic, religious, sectarian, or clan-based. But because America tends to see the world in terms of nation-states engaged in great ideological battles, Capitalism vs. Communism, Democracy vs. Authoritarianism, the 'Free World' vs. the 'Axis of Evil,' we are often spectacularly blind to the power of tribal politics. Time and again this blindness has undermined American foreign policy. In characteristically persuasive style, Amy Chua argues that America must rediscover a national identity that transcends our political tribes. Enough false slogans of unity, which are just another form of divisiveness. It is time for a more difficult unity that acknowledges the reality of group differences and fights the deep inequities that divide us. |
