Upheaval Book Summary - Upheaval Book explained in key points

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Name: Upheaval
Rating: 4.3 (356 reviews)
Author: Jared Diamond

Jared Diamond

Turning Points for Nations in Crisis

4.3 (356 ratings)

36 mins

What is Upheaval about?

Upheaval (2019) takes us through some of modern history’s biggest national crises to find out how each nation ended up in such trouble, and how they managed to get out of it. Looking at seven different nations, author Jared Diamond reveals how some of the same problems and solutions have emerged time and again, whether we’re looking at Chile and Indonesia in the 1970s, or Australia and Germany after WWII.

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Upheaval
summarized in 12 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 12

What’s in it for me? Learn the stories behind some of modern history’s biggest national crises.

Believe it or not, getting yourself out of a tricky situation requires the same discipline as getting your nation out of one: that of selective change. This means first figuring out what the problem is, and then identifying what needs to change and what doesn’t. So, whether you’re going through a midlife crisis and unsure about your career or your government has just been taken over by a military coup, the basic assessment that you need to take to find a solution and move forward is essentially the same.

To prove this point, author Jared Diamond presents a profile of seven nations and the challenges they have faced during the modern era. In all of these cases, they’ve had to be honest about their situation, take responsibility for their own welfare and figure out how they can work around their limitations to bring about their own salvation.

In these blinks you’ll find

how Finland solved its Russian problem with diplomacy;
how Japan transitioned from feudalism to become a modern world power; and
how Australia was pushed to independence by Britain.

Both personal and national crises require selective changes, and the examination of 12 factors to find solutions.

Once you reach a certain age, you’re all but guaranteed to have faced a personal crisis or two. Most people experience crises when the circumstances of life challenge them, like during the major life transitions of adolescence, mid-life, retirement and old age.

Crises can be sudden, such as a relationship coming to a painful and abrupt end, or the onset of a serious illness. Or it can develop gradually, which is what often happens when a person continually refuses to change their behavior to correspond with a changing environment. In either case, a crisis is generally a sign that your current approach to life isn’t working as well as it could be, and needs to be changed.

And this isn’t just true for us individuals – it also goes for countries as a whole. Consider the statistic that suggests US cities will face a technological crisis every 12 years, as the systems and infrastructure keeping the city running become obsolete.

But whether a crisis is gradual or immediate, personal or national, the author has identified 12 factors that often contribute to finding a solution:

Acknowledging the crisis itself. After all, you can’t fix a problem if you continue to deny that it exists.
Accepting responsibility to respond to crisis.
Distinguishing the things that need to change from those that are so important to your identity that they shouldn’t be interfered with. This process is called selective change.
Getting assistance from outside sources.
Learning about the methods others have used to respond to similar crises.
Recognizing a personal or national identity.
Undertaking an honest self-appraisal.
Recognizing and learning from how you’ve handled past crises.
Showing patience in coping with failure.
Showing flexibility.
Identifying your core values.
Determining the constraints on your ability to enact selective change.

In the blinks that follow, we’ll see how these factors were relevant in the history of seven nations: Finland, Japan, Chile, Indonesia, Germany, Australia and the US. Let’s start with Finland as many of these factors came into play in order for its crisis to be resolved.

Finland’s crisis began with Russia and got complicated during WWII.

In the 1930s and 40s, Finland faced a crisis that had a lot to do with its geography – in particular, the large border it shares with its neighbor, Russia.

For much of its history, Finland wasn’t an independent nation. It was considered part of Sweden from the thirteenth century until 1809 and, after that, it became an autonomous part of the Russian Empire. But in 1894, Tzar Nicolas II appointed an oppressive governor, which led to Finland asserting its independence during the Russian Revolution of 1917.

Finland’s national crisis required selective changes involving foreign relations with Russia.

Finland was stuck between two powerful opposing forces during WWII and, once the war ended, it was required to pay reparations to Russia – its former oppressor – to the tune of $300 million over six years.

This was a lot of money for Finland in 1945, but it was also the part of Finland’s national crisis that turned out to be a silver lining, as it forced them to find ways of industrializing and earning revenue.

A modernizing world led to a crisis in Japan and the start of the Meiji era.

In 1853, the US was in the middle of an expansion that had brought them to the California coast, where a great deal of gold was discovered. As a result, new ports along the west coast became busy trading posts, and there was a further need for safe harbors for US boats to refuel along their Pacific Ocean trading routes.

This is the reason US Commodore Matthew C. Perry arrived in Japan on July 8, 1853. Perry carried with him demands from US president Millard Fillmore, which included US access to some of Japan’s ports. The implication was that Japan should either be ready to meet these demands when Perry returned a year later, or else face some unpleasant consequences.

Meiji-era Japan showed a remarkable ability to maintain its identity while adapting to a changing world.

A funny thing happened after the 1868 coup that brought about the Meiji era: the new Japanese leaders quickly realized that the old leaders were right. It was impossible, in their position as an island nation in the Pacific and amidst growing international trade, to keep out the rest of the world. Japan needed to grow and modernize in a way that would allow it to be a respected player on the world stage.

Once they realized this, they’d taken two important steps in properly dealing with a crisis: acknowledging the reality of their situation and performing an honest self-assessment. They knew much of the world still saw them as antiquated, with no military influence, and that they’d have to change this perception. So Japan began making selective changes that would eventually succeed in transforming it into a respected world power.

Chile’s crisis resulted in polarized politics and a violent coup.

How does a nation with a history of stability and democracy suddenly become a dictatorship? It may seem unlikely, but this is precisely what happened to Chile in 1973.

The crisis that befell Chile happened when its system of government grew increasingly polarized. From 1925 onward, Chile’s voting system had successfully prevented any one party from taking control, and there were essentially three parties: one left-wing, one right-wing and one centrist.

Chile’s response to its crisis highlights the paradox of an improving economy under oppressive rule.

Before, Augusto Pinochet was believed to be mild-mannered, honest and even friendly – that may be why he was chosen to be the first leader of Chile’s new government. But the violence of the takeover continued with what became known as the Caravan of Death: Pinochet ordered a general to gather a squad and go from city to city, killing people involved in the political opposition.

As the junta extinguished any political activity, secret detention camps were installed and torture methods became ever-more sadistic. In the years ahead, thousands of Chileans “disappeared,” never to be seen or heard from again.

Indonesia’s crisis brought forth a national identity to a varied and diverse population.

The 3,400 mile stretch of islands in Southeast Asia that makes up Indonesia is incredibly diverse. Indonesia has been home to 700 different languages, and while most Indonesians are Muslim, there are also sizable numbers of Hindus, Buddhists and Christians as well.

Like Finland, Indonesia’s independence happened relatively recently. Around 1910, a growing independence movement started, following years of colonialist power struggles with the Portuguese, British and Dutch. It culminated in Indonesia declaring its independence in 1945.

Postwar Germany highlights the benefit of moving away from authoritarian control and accepting support from abroad.

In 1945, Germany was covered by rubble and divided in half. Millions of people had died, and millions more were forever traumatized and displaced by war. Then, in 1949, the German Democratic Republic was officially founded in East Germany. However, many saw the name of this government as nothing more than a lie, much like the so-called “Democratic People’s Republic” of today’s North Korea. Easterners fled to West Germany until a wall that prevented free travel between the two sides was erected in 1961.

Part of the reason Germany was divided was to prevent the nation from industrializing to the point where they could start another war. But, by the 1950s, it became clear to the West that the real threat of war wasn’t Germany – it was Soviet Russia. In fact, Europe needed a strong West Germany to balance against the Soviet threat, so that nation was added to the Marshall Plan that was helping other European nations recover from WWII.

Australia’s slowly unfolding post-war crisis brought forth a new and more diverse national identity.

Following World War II, Australia also had a crisis but of a very unique kind. Prior to 1945, Australia was closely identified with Great Britain, the country that had once colonized it in the eighteenth century. It was something of a love/hate relationship but, for a long time, Britain was the mom in charge and Australia was one of her children.

So you can imagine the reaction that Australians had when, in the 1950s, Britain reduced its military presence in the region and severed its trade ties with Australia in favor of trading with mainland Europe. It was a signal that Britain no longer intended to protect or financially support Australia, and it sent Australia into a crisis. Even today, some 50 years later, some Australians remain bitter about what transpired.

The US has many advantages but also many characteristics that present a threat to democracy.

It is difficult not to see parallels between the history of other countries we’ve looked at and what is going on in the US today. In Chile, we saw how a growing refusal for political compromise led to tyranny and how people accept that tyranny in the name of economic stability. Of course, there are many differences between the US and Chile, but we shouldn’t assume that America’s ties to the tenets of democracy can’t be undone.

For example, one of the cornerstones of democracy is the right to vote, and this is something the US has a long history of subverting.

The world is facing a variety of threats that require a unified response.

As we’ve seen in the past blinks, nations have prospered and gotten out of some dire economic circumstances by becoming part of the global economy. And nations are now so intertwined in foreign aid and trade agreements that it only makes sense to look at the potential crisis we face as a planet.

Among the most pressing concerns for humanity are climate change, the depletion of natural resources, nuclear weapons and unequal wealth distribution.

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About the Author

Jared Diamond is an award-winning author and professor of geography at UCLA, whose influential research in the fields of ecology, history, biology and anthropology has been highly regarded by his peers. His work has earned him awards such as the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship and the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, while his previous book, Guns, Germs and Steel (1997) earned him the Pulitzer Prize.

Who should read Upheaval?

History buffs
Students of political science
Globally minded individuals interested in world affairs

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