Victor Cha is a professor of government at Georgetown University and holds the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. He is a former director for Asian Affairs at the White House National Security Council. Ramon Pacheco Pardo is a professor of international relations at King’s College London and... Continue Reading →
Dan Slater on Thailand’s Revolutionary Election
Dan Slater is the James Orin Murfin Professor of Political Science, the Ronald and Eileen Weiser Professor of Emerging Democracies, and director of the Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies at the University of Michigan. His most recent book (coauthored with Joseph Wong) is From Development to Democracy: The Transformations of Modern Asia. More recently he... Continue Reading →
India, Democracy Promoter?
By Šumit Ganguly India's Democratic History Contrary to popular belief, the British had done little to bequeath democracy to India. Instead, democracy emerged in India due to the relentless efforts of Indian nationalists who appropriated liberal democratic ideals and embedded them in the nascent country. The country forged a democratic constitution in 1950, just three... Continue Reading →
After Elections, the Losers Don’t Always Lose
By Dan Slater After Elections, the Losers Don't Always Lose After enlightenment, says the Zen proverb, the laundry. It’s a wise statement about how to approach democracy as much as life itself. Even when elections deliver breakthrough democratic results, they’re typically followed by a messy but necessary business of forming coalitions and cabinets. The difference... Continue Reading →
Anwar’s Victory, the Democratization of Malaysia, and its Implications on the Indo-Pacific Region
By Lynette H. Ong Anwar's Victory After nearly a week of political stalemate, Anwar Ibrahim, the leader of the opposition and long-time prime minister-in-waiting has successfully assembled an alliance of political parties to become the leader of the ruling coalition and the 10th Prime Minister of the country. His ruling coalition is made up of... Continue Reading →
Democracy Made in China
By María Isabel Puerta Riera Originally published in Spanish by Diálogo Político on 05/10/2022 Democracy with Chinese Characteristics? Some question the notion of a 'crisis of democracy' in large part over debates about the threshold used to characterize democracy. Nonetheless, most of us can agree on some minimum baseline that includes the election of representatives combined with... Continue Reading →
Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili and Ilia Murtazashvili on Afghanistan, Local Institutions, and Self-Governance
Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili and Ilia Murtazashvili are associate professors at the University of Pittsburgh and the authors of the recent book Land, the State, and War: Property Institutions and Political Order in Afghanistan. Jen is also the founding director and Ilia is an associate director of the Center for Governance and Markets. Become a... Continue Reading →
Roger Lee Huang on Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, and the Tatmadaw
Roger Lee Huang joins the podcast to explain the politics and history of Myanmar. He is he author of The Paradox of Myanmar’s Regime Change. I think this actually reflects why we've seen a coup now. Clearly, the coup has really brought serious economic devastation for the entire country and the military itself will... Continue Reading →
Myanmar: A Podcast Primer
Introduction to Myanmar The politics of Myanmar confuse many of us (although few will admit it). Let’s start with the name. Some still call it Burma. This is the original name dating back to British colonial rule. However, its name officially changed in 1989 to Myanmar. At the time the United States refused to recognize... Continue Reading →
Christophe Jaffrelot on Narendra Modi and Hindu Nationalism
Christophe Jaffrelot joins the podcast to explain the phenomenon of Hindu Nationalism and India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He is a professor of Indian politics and sociology and among the foremost scholars of Indian democracy. His latest book is called Modi's India: Hindu Nationalism and the Rise of Ethnic Democracy. The police is even... Continue Reading →