‘American original’ Robert Pickus spoke truth to power
Robert Pickus, who devoted his life to developing non-violent alternatives to war, died on Friday in St. Helena, Ca. He was 92, The New York Times reports: War, he argued,… Read more »
Category: Democracy and foreign policy
10 questions for Francis Fukuyama
Is a pessimist simply a well-informed optimist? Francis Fukuyama, author of the famous 1989 essay, “The End of History,” offers his thoughts about the importance of optimism and how so… Read more »
Deriding support for democracy is counterproductive
It has become fashionable in some circles to pooh-pooh support for democracy, but Tunisia provides the Arab Spring’s “one encouraging success story”, even if its success is fragile, its economy… Read more »
Supporting internationalism in a dangerous world
The alternatives to U.S. leadership are few, according to former senators Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), who jointly worked on the American Internationalism Project, an impressive bipartisan undertaking… Read more »
Democracy’s continuing struggles
After the end of the Cold War, experts who closely studied trends in democratization believed that democracy was destined to sweep the globe. But predictions of democratic triumph did… Read more »
As Pink Tide recedes, U.S. should support Latin American democracy
With Latin American voters turning away from their populist leaders, many speculate that the “pink tide” that has pushed the region to the left over the last 15 years is now… Read more »
The limits of realism
A staunch critic of promoting democracy and liberal internationalism, Stephen M. Walt, a professor of international affairs at Harvard University, has an eloquent ode to realism in Foreign Policy magazine,… Read more »
When rhetoric collided with reality in the Middle East
President Obama came to office far more focused on showing the world that the Bush era was over than on any coherent strategy of his own for advancing human… Read more »
Friends, Foes, and Future Partnerships in a Turbulent World
To achieve its strategic goals, the United States relies heavily on its allies and coalition partners—the “outer defenses” of America’s security system, notes RAND analyst Hans Binnendijk. It needs partners… Read more »
Advancing democracy during retrenchment?
President Obama will seek to consolidate his foreign-policy legacy this year by traveling widely and working with allies to combat extremism and foster the rise of emerging democracies, according to… Read more »