The Great Delusion: democracy vs. sovereignty?

     

Credit: UN.org

Democracy depends on national sovereignty, U.S. President Donald Trump told the U.N. General Assembly today.

“Sovereign and independent nations are the only vehicle where freedom has ever survived, democracy has ever endured, or peace has ever prospered,” he said. “America is governed by Americans. We reject the ideology of globalism and accept the ideology of patriotism.”

“America’s policy of principled realism means that we will not be held hostage to old, discredited ideology and experts that have been proven wrong over the years,” Trump added.

Such views find an echo in a new book from an arch realist hostile to what he terms “progressive liberalism” in foreign policy.

“A crusader impulse is deeply wired into liberal democracies, especially their elites,” John Mearsheimer argues in his latest book, The Great Delusion: Liberal Dreams and International Realities.

To the contrary, democracy advocates might reply: most democracy assistance is demand-driven.

People around the world often seek practical guidance on how to foster democratic, open and accountable systems of governance, VOA reports. Daniel Twining, President of the International Republican Institute, and Ambassador Derek Mitchell, President of the National Democratic Institute discuss with host Carol Castiel the rationale behind decades of US democracy promotion efforts and contrast them with Moscow’s tactics to sow chaos, to influence election outcomes and suppress dissent. RTWT

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