Political Tribes: Group Instinct and the Fate of Nations

Customer reviews: Political Tribes: Group Instinct and the Fate of Nations

'A beautifully written, eminently readable and uniquely important challenge to conventional wisdom' J. D. Vance, author of Hillbilly Elegy

Never has our society felt more divided.

In Political Tribes, Amy Chua diagnoses the cause of our current political discord: tribalism. 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. Time and time again our blindness to tribalism has undermined our foreign policy.

At home, we have recently witnessed the rise of identity politics, a movement that encourages us to define ourselves against, and thereby exclude, others. The shock results of the US election and the Brexit referendum show that tribalism is a social truth that we ignore at our peril. When people are defined by their differences to each other, extremism becomes the common ground, and the grand ideals of democracy have a hard time competing with a more primal need to belong.

If we are to transcend our political tribes, we must rediscover a broader, more nuanced unity that acknowledges the reality of our group differences. Insightful, challenging and provocative, Amy Chua's groundbreaking book could not be more timely.
Editorial Reviews

Review
Political Tribes is a beautifully written, eminently readable, and uniquely important challenge to conventional wisdom ... Chua's book is a clarion call, encouraging us to reject the primal pull of identitarianism and return to that most radical of ideas, that Americans share something bigger than race or ethnicity or ideology: common citizenship and purpose -- J. D. Vance, author of 'Hillbilly Elegy' Political Tribes is a punchy book that advances a single idea with admirable clarity. And also with admirable brevity -- Danny Finkelstein * The Times * Amy Chua speaks hard truths that no one can ignore. We are, as Chua makes clear, living in denial about the power of tribalism over our domestic and foreign policy - blinded, it seems, by our own optimism and distaste for essentialism. A page turner and revelation, Political Tribes will change the way you think -- Tim Wu, author of 'The Attention Merchants' and 'The Master Switch' America is now bitterly polarised into rival identities. Amy Chua does a brilliant job of showing how it has happened and why it is a tragedy. In Britain, we need to read Political Tribes as a warning. For Americans, it is too late for that: it will need to be force-fed to them -- Paul Collier, Oxford University As an explanation of why American politics has become so sectarian and polarised, Chua's analysis feels spot-on. And it is increasingly relevant to our politics as well * Spectator * Amy Chua confronts the failures of modern liberalism to understand ethnic and group attachments. Anyone who wants to understand the contemporary west, and its foreign policy failures, should read this revealing and important book -- David Goodhart, journalist and think-tanker and author of `The British Dream' and `The Road to Somewhere' True to form, Amy Chua presents a provocative prescription to cure our political ills. She challenges us to cross the chasm between groups - not by denying differences, but by celebrating them -- Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of 'Give and Take' and 'Option B' with Sheryl Sandberg Another wonderful book by Amy Chua! In Political Tribes, she demonstrates once again that she ranks with the keenest observers of the contemporary landscape, establishing convincingly that 'Humans are tribal', and that this reality holds significant implications for America if we truly are to achieve a `more perfect union' -- General David Petraeus, US Army (Ret), former commander of coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and former Director of the CIA Brilliant, timeless and timely. Political Tribes concisely explains the forces that made our experiences in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq so maddeningly difficult to comprehend, and brings that same thoughtful analysis to America today. Amy Chua provokes thought - and we need that -- General Stan McChrystal, US Army (Ret) Amy Chua's insightful, provocative and deeply troubling book is the place to begin our long overdue national discussion on how to repair the deep divisions in the American political landscape. Political Tribes is a wake-up call to the dangers of surrendering national unity to a fractured landscape of feuding and narrow interests -- Tom Brokaw, author of 'The Greatest Generation'

About the Author
Amy Chua is the John M. Duff, Jr. Professor at Yale Law School. She is a noted expert in the fields of ethnic conflict and globalization, and the author of the bestselling titles World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability, Day of Empire: How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance -- and Why They Fall, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, and her most recent book, The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America, co-written with Jed Rubenfeld. She lives in New Haven, Connecticut, with her husband and two daughters.

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5.0 out of 5 starsIs There A Way Out?
ByLong Distance Bikeron February 25, 2018
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Amy Chua was a child in Han Chinese dispersion. She understands tribes. Her 2003 book, World on Fire, showed superb understanding. This book, politically current (it notes Bannon left White House), gives better insight than media coverage. She describes our stress, clearly shows its causes, and ends by asking "is there a way out?" Her answer, optimistic, is in a short Epilogue. More than a must read, it is also a must think. My thinking focuses on tribal attacks against peaceful interactions forming her optimism. Tribal attacks need to lose. That may need more from us than "wait and see", so readers need to think.

In thinking, there is optimism. America's history showed early tribal conflict, with Hamilton's faction seeking British institutions, so bad that Jefferson left retirement to become our third President and block Hamilton's attacks made through Washington and Adams. We had other tribal conflicts. Some were handled well on the first try. Others needed several tries. Some yet unresolved need another try. America survives. It is too important for human freedom not to survive. We are still the only example of bottom-up partitioned Presidential democracy, where 13 States diverse in economy and religion agreed in 1787 to share defense, diplomacy, and treasury, then over many years added 37 more States diverse in economy and religion asking to join that sharing. States are peers, with Constitutions and governments. Americans can and do choose partitions. The world needs a partition example to survive. Every stressed country in Amy Chua's chapters needs partitions to keep tribes from excess contact fueling their fires. America needs new kinds of partitions keeping fire breathing attackers like bots from contact with people who interact without fire. Those people are Amy Chua's optimism. Her book points the way. We can't only wait and see.

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5.0 out of 5 starsMore Than Just Timely
ByRyan Thieron February 23, 2018
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Another great book by Amy Chua that helps explain overlooked and misunderstood cultural forces across the world. Particularly fascinating, the chapters on Iraq and Afghanistan, while concise, cover an amazing amount of material. Adding a vital new dimension (tribalism) to the way Americans should think about our foreign policy in the Middle East, Chua is essential reading - along with George Packer and Steve Coll - for anyone who wants to be considered informed on the subject of America's most recent wars.

Subtly provocative, Chua's analysis of domestic politics transcends political parties. Instead of taking sides, she makes clear-eyed critiques of the ways both parties have contributed to our current polarization and divisiveness. Members of BOTH parties will no doubt be challenged (and perhaps even angered!) by different parts of the book, but republicans, democrats and independents alike would all do well to read the book and think deeply about Chua's argument. The book is filled with fascinating statistics and studies that will make you think differently about things like occupy wall street, the rise of Trump, immigration, and economic inequality. And though Political Tribes is truly harrowing at times, I definitely found it to be, ultimately, a hopeful book.

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5.0 out of 5 starsAn incredibly timely, insightful, and enjoyable page-turner. 5/5 stars.
ByMatt Nguyenon February 20, 2018
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An incredibly timely, insightful, and enjoyable page-turner by Amy Chua. Chua painstakingly unearths group tribalism as the root cause of our historical foreign policy failures abroad and, presently, of our seemingly-insurmountable political divisions here at home. She then offers a way for us to move forward together as Americans. Chua's book is a must-read for anyone interested in a more nuanced understanding of the underlying dynamics driving the 2016 election and Trump's rise to power.

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5.0 out of 5 starsA Meticulously Researched Look at US Foreign and Domestic Issues
ByA. Mazon Useron May 9, 2018
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I just finished Amy Chua’s “Political Tribes: Group Instinct and the Fate of Nations.” It was beautifully written and well-researched. I wholeheartedly recommend it, although it will annoy some with its politically incorrect recognition of human tribal instincts. The author's takedown of US foreign policy disasters in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq occupy the first half of the book, and the book is worth reading just for her analysis of how things went so terribly wrong.

In the second half of the book, however, I was puzzled by a sudden shift of tone from cold-eyed recognition of the tribal reality of life to a more moralistic approach. While success everywhere else in the world seemingly requires recognizing and accepting tribal differences, Chua appears to prescribe rejection of tribal differences and striving to overcome them here in the USA. This is strange, considering the foreign policy disasters she chronicles in the first half of the book.

I recognize her instinctive urge toward multiculturalism, diversity and “tolerance,” both as a Yale professor and as an ethnic minority woman in the USA. It’s also tempting, as a member of the cognitive elite, to believe that everyone is what some people call a “realistic cosmopolitan”: Intelligent, logical, educated, and able to shed cultural and personal aversions or affinities. However, not everyone has these qualities. The world, and increasingly the USA, is full of people who have no innate ability (or even willingness) to set aside their own education, culture or biases. To a large extent Amy Chua’s own words in the first half of “Political Tribes” refute her optimistic conclusions at the end of the book.

Still, it was an enjoyable read, I highly recommend it, and I’m looking forward to her next book.

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5.0 out of 5 starsInsightful and timely
ByW. Sparrowon May 26, 2018
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This should be recommended reading for those trying to come to grips with the current political divides in this country. Admittedly, there was a LOT more to this book than the current right/left polarization in America. It addresses how competing groups come into being globally, and that some are based on religious, ethnic, political, and socio-economic differences. It helped me understand that most international matters are far more complex and deep-seeded than the majority of Americans are aware of.

I got a great lesson in modern history through Chua's book - events and conflicts they seldom take time to explain on those 30-second to 2-minute clips on network news. This underscores why diplomacy must be based on thorough knowledge, rather than trying to impose American values and democracy blindly on other nations whose history is vastly different from our own.

Eventually Chua gets around to why conservatives and liberals have diverged so much in recent decades. We have abandoned individual critical and fact-based thinking in favor of letting others do the thinking for us and thus reacting emotionally.


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5.0 out of 5 starsIn this terrific new book Am Chua recounts how our failure to ...
ByKindle Customeron April 16, 2018
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Most people, most places, most times, think of themselves as members of tribes rather than as members of a larger community. We kinda know this but mostly ignore it. No more. In this terrific new book Am Chua recounts how our failure to appreciate tribes has lead to turmoil and bloodshed in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Won’t happen here: We’re Americans first; at least until recently. Chua recounts the raise of our own hostile and suspicious tribes and the dangers they pose. What’s your tribe? How might you be wrong about the other tribes? I’m in “Honors English Tribe” --- secure in the knowledge that we, unlike the others, needed to be challenged intellectually, we read novels, analyzed poems, talked college, leaving other classes less vibrant, less engaged, more resentful. After all we were destined to be powerful. “Powerful people,” J.D. Vance reminds us in Hillbilly Elegy, “sometimes do things to help people like me without understanding people like me.” Take someone from a different tribe to lunch and talk about all you agree on.

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5.0 out of 5 starsYour book is a good starting point pushing us towards a brighter American future
ByDbmomon March 13, 2018
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I agree with a previous reviewer that this book is beyond a must read; it is a must think. There is an America that is and can be. Let's celebrate what is and work for what can be side by side. We can find more in common than in what divides but we have to be interested (not dismissive) and humble enough to seek that commonality and to affirm the value of all Americans in those conversations we need to have. Thank you, Amy Chua. Your book is a good starting point pushing us towards a brighter American future.

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5.0 out of 5 starsAmerica's Heartbeat
ByAmazon Customeron May 1, 2018
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This book is an eye opener to our political behaviors. It should be required reading in high school and college. Every American after reading this can better understand our political relationships in the US as well as the world. It also helps us understand why our political behavior often is not embraced in other parts of the world. Truly, the data has given me much to think about in terms of my own political behaviors. It also offers a better understanding of other political tribes and ethnic groups.It is my firm belief without the book's information, one can be clueless to the heartbeat of others and not be sensitive to our differences and commonalities as we seek the American dream.


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4.0 out of 5 starsImportant and Well Worth Reading Even If Flawed
ByM. E. Reeveson February 28, 2018
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This is an excellent analysis of the persistent problem of tribalism in modern politics for the general reader. It explains a lot about our failures in both foreign and domestic policy. It’s flawed, however, by her insistence on conceptualizing liberal cosmopolitanism as just another kind of tribalism (page 6, et passim). That argument is clever, but a little too clever. It’s an unfortunate manifestation of the fallacy of false equivalence which seems to be disease in our political discourse. For a corrective to that, I would suggest also reading Thomas E Mann and Norman J. Ornstein, It’s Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided with the New Politics of Extremism (2016), where they discuss the problem of “asymmetric polarization” in our politics, or Chris Mooney, The Republican Brain: The Science of Why They Deny Science ~ and Reality (2013), where he refutes the idea that it’s only a matter of equal prejudices in the great debates which divide us.

I regret this sort of backhanded compliment on Chua’s work, because I really do think her analysis is important and well worth reading. Instead of Huntington’s infamous “clash of civilizations” ~ in Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order (1996), also a very flawed although useful analysis in my opinion ~ Chua gives us what is fundamentally a clash between “tribalism and civilization.” The fundamental conflict, in other words, is not between conservatives and liberals, but between those in the world who accept enlightenment and science and those who cling to religion and myth. I hope that Chua eventually follows up on the profound implications of her own analysis, because she really is a good writer as well a lawyer who is a little too clever when she wants to avoid taking a clear stand on this momentous political and philosophical problem. She might well begin with Steven Pinker, Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress (2018), especially Chapter 3 on “Counter-Enlightenments.”

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5.0 out of 5 starsWe're Not In Kansas Anymore, Todo
ByCarol Mayeron April 2, 2018
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In an effort to understand the division (many people acting insane) in America today, I bought Amy Chua's book after seeing her on The View. I've read many books and articles on how America got to where it is today, and still I'm confused. Ms. Chua's book offers excellent insight into our journey to "We're Not in Kansas Anymore, Todo." It was full of back stories about Vietnam, Middle East, and South America--information I did not know and welcomed as a prelude to her telling about America's tribes. I thought it was great. I'm buying copies for my friends (it's really expensive) and I'm reading it again.

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