Book Review: Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis

One of the most interesting books I read was called Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond. When I saw that he was the author of Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis, I knew I had to read it. I was not disappointed. Using a model that looks at dealing with crises both personal and national, Diamond examines different countries as they participated in a national struggle and the results. He then sets his sights on the United States. Frankly, after what I read, I am a bit concerned.

Upheaval weighs in at 502 pages. Diamond arranged the prologue, epilogue, and 13 chapters into three parts.

• Individuals
• Crises that unfolded
• Nations and the world: Crises underway

The book examines crises and how nations react to them. Typically, the country is forever changed because of a crisis. He initially outlined 12 factors related to the outcome of personal crises and then showed how they relate to national crises. Diamond uses these factors as he examined the different countries. This was a nice framework to use for the comparison. Some of the factors included:

• A consensus that a crisis was taking place and to do something about it. As I write this, the US is coming to terms with racism following the death of George Floyd at the knee of a police officer. Everyone recognizes that a crisis exists and for once, I believe people are going to do something about it.
• A country working on a crisis will not only have to search internally for solutions but also externally to other countries. For the US, looking externally for solutions has been difficult. National identity gets in the way. However, the United States’ global standing has slipped. We do not have all the answers. We are experts at denying the problem.

Crises That Unfolded

In this section of the book, Diamond examined six different countries: Finland, Japan, Chile, Indonesia, Germany, and Australia.

Diamond provided a significant amount of history and detail as he outlined the transformation of the country. At the end of each chapter, he pulled everything together as he used the framework to highlight decisions the country had to make.

Finland

Finland was a poor country sitting between Russia and Sweden. During World War I, it was used as a doormat for both Germany and Russia. Finland managed to maintain its sovereignty rather than be annexed by the Soviet Union. In the end, Finland has managed to become a prosperous nation while securing its borders. Here are some key takeaways regarding Finland:

• Finland is a small country bordering a superpower. It has to maintain good relations with a country that killed many of its citizens.
• It has zero expectations that others will come to its defense.
• Finland has a strong national identity shaped by its unique language and its military achievement during WWII.
• Finland had to demonstrate that it was not a threat to the Soviet Union, and in turn, the Soviet Union did not annex Finland.
• According to Diamond, Finland was slow to recognize that they had a national crisis. They also did not have other models from which to learn.

As a first case study, Finland was a wonderful example. I learned quite a bit about its history in the process.

Japan

I have an affinity for Japan because of the martial art I had studied for over 30 years. Its history is Japanese. As Diamond described Japan, Japan is/was a proud nation and prospered in isolation. The Japanese regarded external influence with suspicion. The Japanese leadership (Shoguns) pushed back against the spread of Christianity. Christians were killed and subsequently, the Japanese were forbidden from traveling outside of Japan.

However, the Japanese were a curious people and engaged in trade with the Dutch as a way to learn about people and advancements outside their country. The studies were tightly controlled by the government.

In 1853, the United States sent a couple of warships to Japan in order to demand a port in Japan. In 1854, President Fillmore sent nine warships to Japan. This created a crisis because the Japanese leadership realized they could not repel an attack. Japan did sign a treaty with the U.S. and ended its isolation.

Japan restricted the ports to two “treaty” ports. They still tried to restrict outside influence on the country. The Japanese realized they trailed other countries in terms of technological advancements. To remedy this, these sent scholars to Western countries to gain knowledge.

Tensions were high in Japan. There were tensions between groups who wanted to stay the same and those who wanted to advance. Additionally, there was tension between Japan and outside influences. At times, this tension led to bloodshed.

In its transformation, Japan made a number of advancements:

• Modernized its navy
• Implemented a national conscription
• Ended feudalism
• Required education
• Set up a jobs program
• Set up a national tax system
• Set up a legal system based on the West
• Improved national infrastructure
• Established a government reform

The key to this modernization was not to simply adopt practices from the West but to benchmark them as they modified them to fit Japanese culture. The goal was to strengthen Japan to be able to resist the West. Japan was successful in its goal to be able to defend itself through modernization. So much, in fact, it later became an aggressor. In the late 1800s, Japan went on a series of expansion attacks. Its advances ended in World War II.

Diamond explained why Japan pursued these expansion efforts. He also outlined the conditions for their defeat. Basically, the leadership with no outside cultural experience did not listen to those with experience.

Japan continues to learn from other nations. They continue to use this knowledge to improve.

Germany

While all the case studies that Diamond shares are fascinating, I would like to highlight Germany as my last case study in this section.

When Germany surrendered at the end of World War II, they were a defeated nation, and rightly so. Germany’s infrastructure had been decimated during the war and its country had been split into two parts. Ten million Germans were now refugees. The country’s economics was also in ruin. In the end, Germany had transformed into a prosperous economic nation. But the transformation was not easy and required a lot of reflection.

Germany may have had to endure the same conditions that were imposed on them at the end of World War I but the Allied nations needed a robust Germany as a buffer to the menacing Soviet Union.

According to Diamond, Germany’s transformation took a considerable amount of time. There were a number of crises that occurred during this period. The first was the condition that Germany existed after WWII. The second was the Berlin wall of 1961. The third was the realization from the children of what their parents had done during WWII. The last had led to student revolts.

I found it interesting to consider Diamond’s points about Germany’s geographic location and its history of bad leadership. Countries like the U.S. and England have a water buffer to protect from poor leadership errors. Germany does not have this buffer and therefore faces resistance when they do stupid things.

There were a number of factors that aided Germany’s transformation:

• They realized that they were not a victim as they did after WWI.
• They made significant changes to their government system.
• They took advantage of the aid provided outside their country.
• They came to grips with their Nazi past. This was an uncomfortable reflection.

Each of these case studies was fascinating. I walked away with another perspective in which to look at history and the world. These case studies set the stage for the section to follow. I was most interested in what Diamond had to say about the United States. We are currently a country in crisis.

Nations and the World: Crises Underway

In chapters 9 and 10, Diamond took a look at the United States through the crisis framework. While the United States has had a lot going for it such as wealth, geography, democracy, and more, these advantages are starting to slip. We are no longer world leaders in many different factors. Diamond highlighted these factors.

Advantages of the United States

Diamond first highlighted the strengths of the United States. Primarily, these strengths are economics and population. The U.S. is largely self-sufficient. Its economy also helps to support its military and thus self-defense. The United States is situated in a protective zone that is excellent for agriculture. We have good neighbors to the north and south of us, at least, if we don’t mess it up. For the other two sides, we are protected by water.

The United States’ great experiment has contributed to a great deal of stability. Unfortunately, the two-party system and current leadership is testing this experiment.

Another advantage that Diamond highlighted was that anyone in the United States had the ability to improve their quality of life. Americans tend to be resourceful and that is also backed up by investment from both the private sector and the different levels of government.

Problems

Diamond noted that one of the greatest obstacles facing the U.S. is the deadlock in the political system. There is no compromise. When President Obama was elected, the GOP vowed to block any legislation brought forward. Diamond presented a few theories of why there is such deadlock. One reason is that political campaigns are expensive and winners are beholding to their wealthy donors. The other reason is that politicians no longer socialize together. Gerrymandering is another factor. There is also an intolerance at the individual voter level. We have become entrenched in our positions because we no longer see a centralist point of view but rather the extremes.

Another huge problem facing the United States focuses on elections. Americans do not exercise their right to vote as do other countries. This is in part because of the barriers that are put in place such as gerrymandering, the closing of polling stations, purging of rolls, and other disenfranchising techniques.

The last issue I will bring up is regarding inequity. There is great inequality between races, genders, as well as economic classes. The problem as Diamond noted is getting worse. As I write this, there has been a month of unrest due to the killing of George Floyd at the hands of police officers. I believe this bout of turmoil will lead to change. Confederate monuments are falling rapidly and corporations are also taking a stand against social injustice. We now need to make headway against economic injustice. It is perverse for someone to earn a trillion dollars a year when part of our population is living on the street. As I write this, the U.S. is facing 14.1% unemployment. This is in large part due to the Coronavirus which has led to stay at home orders.

There are a number of other issues facing the U.S. and the rest of the world such as energy (fossil fuels and alternative energy), climate change, and nuclear weapons. The U.S. will not be successful in fixing these issues until it addresses its political system.

Upheaval has been a wonderful book to read. I really enjoyed how Diamond pulled these cases together. There is a lot of research supporting his positions and he looks at each issue from multiple perspectives. If you are concerned about the future of the world, you should read Upheaval.

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