ancient times, the tribes that refused to unite with neighboring
tribes were finally subjugated by those that did so unite.

Universal economic, political, intellectual, moral, and religious
intercourse is the characteristic of the new æon on which we are
entering. What are to be the final consequences of this wide
intercourse? Can a people change its character? Can a nation fully
possessed by one type of civilization reject it, and adopt one
radically different? Do races have "souls" which are fixed and
incapable of radical transformations? What has taken place in Japan, a
profound, or only a superficial change in psychical character? Are the
destinies of the Oriental races already unalterably determined?

The answers to these questions have already been suggested in the
preceding paragraphs, in regard to what has already taken place in
Japan. But we may add that that answer really turns on our conception
as to the nature of the characteristics separating the East from the
West. In proportion as national character is reckoned to be
biological, will it be considered fixed and the national destiny
predetermined. In proportion as it is reckoned to be sociological,
will it be considered alterable and the national destiny subject to
new social forces. Now that the intercourse of widely different races
has begun on a scale never before witnessed, it is highly important
for us to know its probable consequences. For this we need to gain a
clear idea of the nature both of the individual man and of society, of
the relation of the social order to individual and to race character,
and of the law regulating and the forces producing social evolution.
Only thus can we forecast the probable course and consequences of the
free social intercourse of widely divergent races.