World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability | 
|  | | | Title: | World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability | | Author: | Amy Chua | | Publisher: | Anchor | | Type: | Book / Paperback | | Publication Date: | 06 January, 2004 | | ISBN / ISBN-13: | 0385721862 / 9780385721868 | | List Price: | $15.95 | | You Save: | $5.10 | | Amazon Price: | $10.85 | |
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Product Description
For over a decade now, the reigning consensus has held that the combination of free markets and democracy would transform the third world and sweep away the ethnic hatred and religious zealotry associated with underdevelopment. In this astute, original, and surprising investigation of the true impact of globalization, Yale Law School professor Amy Chua explains why many developing countries are in fact consumed by ethnic violence after adopting free market democracy.
Chua shows how in non-Western countries around the globe, free markets have concentrated starkly disproportionate wealth in the hands of a resented ethnic minority. These “market-dominant minorities” – Chinese in Southeast Asia, Croatians in the former Yugoslavia, whites in Latin America and South Africa, Indians in East Africa, Lebanese in West Africa, Jews in post-communist Russia – become objects of violent hatred. At the same time, democracy empowers the impoverished majority, unleashing ethnic demagoguery, confiscation, and sometimes genocidal revenge. She also argues that the United States has become the world’s most visible market-dominant minority, a fact that helps explain the rising tide of anti-Americanism around the world. Chua is a friend of globalization, but she urges us to find ways to spread its benefits and curb its most destructive aspects.
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Customer Reviews:
• Why Is The World On Fire? -- The Primary Answer May Be . . . . . 19 August, 2008
In World on Fire, Amy Chua proposes a thesis that is well researched, reality-based, and rooted in her experiences as an extended member of a Chinese Filipino family: The global spread of laissez-faire markets and nominal democracy has become a principal aggravating agent in group hatred and ethnic violence in some countries primarily outside the Western World where "economic-dominant minorities" concentrate enormous wealth and influence compared to the native, assimilated population.
In the Philippines, ethnic Chinese make up less than 2% of the population yet control 60% of the country's economy, once aided by the Chinese-protective dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. She further extends this model to comprehend the unintended consequences of globalization.
Ms. Chua writes in a clear and easy style as she cites further examples of this phenomenon. The reader is afforded a better understanding of these issues in many of the world's hotspots that are often disregarded by the world's mainstream media. A primary causal agent of genocide we often see but fail to understand may be deeply rooted in profound humiliation and poverty as a newly empowered oppressed majority lashes back indiscriminately at a now overwhelmed economic/politically-dominant minority or quite often their indigenous political enablers.
The author enumerates an array of Southeast Asian countries where a Chinese minority is overwhelming an indigenous people: Myanmar (Burma), a 5% Chinese minority exploits teak, jade, and rubies; pre and post-Suharto Indonesia, a 3% Chinese minority controls nearly 70% of the country's economy; and so on.
In Africa, she cites Zimbabwe (Rhodesia) and Namibia where a minority white, South African elite extends its control over rich diamond mines: "South Africa's Oppenheimer family has controlled the richest diamond mines in the world since 1908"; the market-dominant minority Ibo of Nigeria, the Belgians giving rise to the Tutsi minority in Rwanda, and the Eritreans of Ethiopia.
In Russia, the Jewish Russian oligarchs sparked renewed anti-semitism and Russian nationalism as the oft-inebriated Boris Yeltsin ignored, then encouraged the onset of "gladiator capitalism." Putin would later exploit these special interests to gain power, then cleverly appease the Russian people by virtually neutralizing them.
The author also identifies similar market-dominant minorities -- the Indians, the Lebanese, the "pigmentocracy" of Mexico, Israel as a regional economic/politically-dominant minority in the Middle East, and the United States as a global economic/politically-dominant minority.
Arguably, many readers may have implicitly sensed the issues treated in World on Fire. Amy Chua's thesis neatly organizes and fairly explores the facts with nearly 35 pages of notes and references.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2CWURV3749UFG
• Pride Vs Envy 13 November, 2008
In Christian tradition, two of the worst sins are pride-obsession with one's own status; and envy-hatred of others for their good fortune. In a way Amy Chu's book is an example of what happens when these two vices contact each other on a massive scale.
Now it may be true that all men are equal in God's eyes. It is theoretically true that all men are equal before the Law. It is not true that all are equal in other ways. Some individuals are simply more successful then others. Furthermore some cultures are more successful. That is an un-PC thing to say but no one really consistently believes in equality among groups anymore then among individuals(do you believe the Yankees and the local little league team are equal? That of course is a hyperbole as the differences between cultures are more complex then those between baseball teams. But the point is made).
What makes some cultures dominate the market? The more fortunate would say that it is because of the good qualities their culture teaches. The less fortunate would say it was because of immoral means. As an Anglo-American I would prefer to believe the former explanation but I am obviously biased. However the most probable explanation would be a combination of the two, mixed with the inscrutable whims of fortune. But whatever the reason the relationship causes ill-effects on people. The envy of the unfortunate can at times explode into pent-up bursts of shocking and spectacular hatred. The more fortunate are often more subtle. They seldom hate strongly, but they can often have a habitual snobbery that they are not aware of themselves and which can hammer at the helpless feeling of the less fortunate.
The book however is interesting on it's own aside from any "message" it carries. It shows many stories of different groups, which have prospered, often against remarkable adversity. People's like the Ibo of Nigeria, the Jews, the Chinese, the Lebanese and so on. It gives the "market domination" relationship at various scales from the local to the global. The author seems to identify with "Market-dominant" minorities. And indeed their stories resonate with me as we. But she shows the abuse some members of these minorities have made of their good-fortune as well. She raises more questions then answers. Her main suggestion seems to be that market dominant minorities cultivate noblesse oblige. Which is all very well, and should be done anyway irrespective of self-interest. But I have read of plenty of examples of noblesse oblige, and it is not clear that they are all that effective in preventing hatred. Another point alluded to is that "noblesse oblige" includes helping the honor as well as the material circumstance of others. Specifically the phenomenon of a particular economic product becoming a cultural icon. An obvious example is French and food. The French resentment of Macdonald's becomes understandable on this level.
An interesting counterexample which Chu never mentioned is the relationship between Nepali and English. English are a classic market dominant minority. Yet they have tended to get along reasonably well with Nepali. One reason for this can be seen: the English did not humiliate the Nepali like they did a number of other peoples. Rather by giving them material benefits in return for services that increased the prestiege of Nepali(soldiering and mountain climbing), they managed to avoid humiliating them. That was not the goal of course. The English wanted the Ghurka's to help maintain their power and they wanted the Sherpas to help win glory. But that is just the point: self interest helped make the relationship better then many. This is a divergence from the book but it does give a clue, if not how to solve the problem at least how to reduce it.
One thing that the book did for me which it might not do for everyone is that it took the emotional sting out. It is easier to avoid the mixture of vestigial cultural-guilt on the one hand, and resentment of other's resentment on the other when one realizes that such things are part of life and we all have to live with each other, one way or another. I suppose some would say that that is just my own self-satisfaction talking. But one must learn to live with himself as well as others and I never claimed to be perfect. In any case, my individual sins are enough to get on with let alone worrying about my share in collective ones which is a dubious concept anyway. The writer never really had a solution to the problem and indeed that is just as well, as attempting to completely eliminate problems that are so ingrained comes very close to attempting to perfect mankind. Which is silliness at best and disastrous at worst. But one thing Amy Chu did do is make some effort to helping us all to understand ourselves and understand each other. And that makes it worth reading.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A2RNU49OEH8L9W
• Market-dominant Minorities Breed Instability 25 April, 2008
Amy Chua writes about a subject that should get far more attention than it does: that most of the developing world has ethnic minorities that dominate the economy and that the majority are fundamentally hostile to the minority. Chua claims that the economic and political reforms pushed by the West fail to take into account this fact and, therefore, the result is repeated instability and violence.
Free markets mainly benefit the ethnic minorities that already have the wealth, business connections and social capital, while doing little to benefit the masses. Democracy empowers the ethnic majority, who then use that power to persecute the market-dominant minorities. While Chua clearly beliefs that free market democracies are essential to the stability and prosperity of developing countries, she is ultimately very gloomy about the possibilities of a smooth and fast transition.
Chua starts by showing that, in contrast to the Western nations, developing countries invariably have a very small ethnic minority that dominates the economy. In Latin America and southern Africa, it the whites. In Southeast Asia, it is the Chinese. In Central and East Africa, it is the Lebanese and Indians. In Russia, it is the Jews. In West Africa, it is the Ibo and Lebanese. Most of this is not new, Charles Sowell for example has written about this subject in great depth, but it is a topic that has been seriously neglected.
Chua then shows that Western efforts to push free market and democratic reforms have one of the three following results:
1) Ethnic majorities use their new-found political power to nationalize companies owned by market-dominant minorities.
2) Market-dominant minorities protect themselves by supporting coups against the hostile democracies, leading to "crony capitalism."
3) In the most extreme cases, ethnic majorities undertake ethnic cleansing and genocide to eliminate market-dominant minorities.
One of the most interesting and thought-provoking sections in this book is about Jews in the Middle East and Americans globally. Each can be seen as international market-dominant minorities. While the rest of the book is focused on a minority in a specific nation, Chua shows that the same angst and violence that is focused on national minorities is also focused on the Jews in the Middle East and American globally. Because Jews and Americans are different ethnic groups who benefit disproportionately from free markets, the majorities focus their hatred on them.
Finally, Chua wraps up with a serie of recommendations on what to do. This is probably the weakest part of the book, because she has caught herself in a conundrum. She has spent the entire book attacking Western promoted economic and political reforms, but she still believes that such reform is essential in the long-run. Her most interesting proposal is for market-dominant minorities to use philanthropy in their home nation to help the majority, particularly by funding high-profile national symbols. She also makes the case that Western nations need to be aware of the fact that nations with market-dominant minorities will react fundamentally differently to free market and democracy than ones that do not.
Chua's main contribution is to introduce readers to the concept of market-dominant minorities: a concept that every observer of international affairs should be aware of (but few appear to be). For this, she deserves a five star rating. But the book has a number of glaring flaw that drop the rating to four stars.
My main problem with this book are the following:
1) Chua never shows how much the market-dominant minorities benefit their own nation. Charles Sowell shows that these minorities are often the drivers of their nation's economies conferring great benefits on the majority. Chua occasionally implies this, but more often she focuses on the suffering of the masses and the implication that their hatred of the rich minorities is partly justified. I wish she were more clear as to the tremendous benefits that market-dominant minorities bring, and the fundamental irrationality of the haters.
2) Chua continually claims that free markets and democracy are breeding or at least exacerbating ethnic tensions, but she never gives any evidence of to an increase in ethnic tension over the last generation. She does give a lot of examples of ethnic riots, murders, nationalizations and coups, but she never shows that the frequency and severity have increased over the last generation. My guess is that the facts would show the opposite, completely argument against reform. Chua also makes frequent references to leftist/communist dictatorships of the past oppressing market-dominant minorities (a very interesting point), but she casually skips over the fact that this completely contradicts her overall argument. Anti-market authoritarian regimes are just as capable as market democracies of oppressing market-dominant minorities
3) Sometimes Chua appears to be far too pessimistic about the standard-of-living of poor ethnic majorities in developing countries. She continually states that they are left behind by economic reform, but she never gives any concrete evidence. Based upon the hundreds of millions of people who have been lifted out of poverty in the last generation, it is difficult for me to believe that the contrast is as stark as she suggests. Clearly the progress is not as fast or as widespread as we would like, but it is not the stark ethnic divide that she suggests.
4) Chua is also quick to label authoritarian regimes as "democratic" to support her argument. To label Zimbabwe, Serbia and Rwanda in the 1990s as democracies (to give just three examples) is a bit disingenuous. They were actually some of the most authoritarian and anti-market regimes in the world. If she had a tighter definition, I think that she would find that the authoritarian regimes are just as capable as democracies of oppressing market-dominant minorities. It is quite possible that these anti-market authoritarian regimes are worse for their country than the ethnic tension that Chua says market economies breed.
Overall, though, I would highly recommend this book.
- Reviewed by customer ID: ALTG492OSIRPN
• Psuedo-academic Garbage 14 December, 2008
Ms. Chua is disappointly shallow in her analysis of the implications of economic disparity in the Third World. Without having read it in its entirety, the best that can be said about this book is that it is an apologetic for the wealth disparities created by free-market philosophy, dressed up as an incisive polemic. Chua's attempt at armchair political economy doesn't do much more than scratch the surface and shuffles around well-known facts about Third World exploitation while leaving other, more damning ones out. She fails to make any connection between the various events she cites in her book and the larger superstructure of corporate and military complicity. And she is not especially thorough in her research, nor does she establish a compelling narrative. In fact there is no thread running through this book other than a superficially compelling cover and a half-baked idea about race relations in poor countries. But without getting into the deep structure of such arrangements and the power relationships and ideologies that make them possible, she does not wind up shedding very much light for anyone but the uninitiated. She winds up appearing rather trivial as compared to much more insightful works of political economy than hers. IMO she'd be better off sticking to writing case briefs and lesson plans for her class at Yale.
- Reviewed by customer ID: AHUYNL0W3CGIM
• A View Of The World From The Dark Side 03 July, 2008
Excellent and compelling.
I travel internationally 6 months of the year throughout the world, but even so, this book exposed a shadowy dark underbelly I was unaware of. The author's arguments are fresh, novel. believable and compelling.
Anyone interested in world dynamics and the rapid pace of change that is affecting the entire planet will welcome this innovative and paradigm shifting book.
- Reviewed by customer ID: A326EQXUV8IVN6
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