Recently the Democracy Paradox featured three episodes about the Global Ascendance of China on its podcast. David Shambaugh's China Goes Global offers an early examination of this topic. So much has happened since its publication in 2013, but it remains a highly influential work to the study of China. The discussion below represent the thoughts and... Continue Reading →
William Smith joins the Democracy Paradox to explain the imperialistic tendencies of democracy. His research focuses on early twentieth century scholar Irving Babbitt, author of Leadership and Democracy (1922). William Smith on Imperialism and Democracy This episode features William Smith, author of Democracy and Imperialism: Irving Babbitt and Warlike Democracies. Irving Babbitt is an... Continue Reading →
Mareike Ohlberg joins the Democracy Paradox to explain the Global Influence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This is the 24th episode of the Democracy Paradox podcast and the third part of "Liberalism, Capitalism, Communism" about the Global Ascendance of China. Mareike Ohlberg on China Last October Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey shook the... Continue Reading →
Xiaoyu Pu joins the Democracy Paradox to explain how China's multiple global identities shape its foreign policy. This is the 23rd episode of the Democracy Paradox podcast and the second part of "Liberalism, Capitalism, Communism" about the Global Ascendance of China. China's Multiple Identities China is a nation of contradictions. It is a developing... Continue Reading →
John Ikenberry joins the Democracy Paradox to explain liberal internationalism. This is the 22nd episode of the Democracy Paradox podcast and the first part of "Liberalism, Capitalism, Communism" about the Global Ascendance of China. A World Safe for Democracy Democracy is often imagined at its purest at a micro level. Town hall meetings... Continue Reading →
American exceptionalism was never simply about the culture of the American people. It places a fundamental focus on American institutions and a faith in the American political process. Indeed, Tocqueville recognized in the nineteenth century the importance of the political system in shaping a peculiar and unique American culture. It is not culture which defines... Continue Reading →
Last week the Navy Secretary, Richard Spencer, resigned at the request of Defense Secretary Mark Esper. The specific details remain unclear but there is no doubt the pivotal moment surrounded the intervention of Donald Trump into the handling of disciplinary action against Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher. It is not my intention to evaluate the... Continue Reading →
Because the President is likely to become impeached due to a phone call with the Ukrainian President, it might help readers to have a little background on this little-known country. Just thirty years ago it was a part of the Soviet Union. It wasn’t simply part of the Warsaw Pact like Hungary or Poland. The... Continue Reading →
There are few political scientists who command the influence of Samuel P. Huntington. His 1968 publication of Political Order in Changing Societies transformed every discussion of political modernization. His work Clash of Civilizations began as a response to Fukuyama’s End of History and the Last Man. Fukuyama made an enormous impact on political scholarship. He... Continue Reading →
It has been said that anyone who knows only one country knows no countries. I know this is a famous quote from somebody I should remember but my mind is blanking like it so often does. As Montaigne complained, “My memory grows cruelly worse every day.” A background in China is necessary to a fundamental... Continue Reading →
