|
|
Suggested Readings
 State-Building:
Governance and World Order in the 21st Century
by Francis Fukuyama Francis Fukuyama famously
predicted "the end of history" with the ascendancy
of liberal democracy and global capitalism. The topic of
his latest book is, therefore, surprising: the building
of new nation-states. The end of history was never an automatic
procedure, Fukuyama argues, and the well-governed polity
was always its necessary precondition. "Weak or failed
states are the source of many of the world’s most
serious problems," he believes. He traces what we know—and
more often don’t know—about how to transfer
functioning public institutions to developing countries
in ways that will leave something of permanent benefit to
the citizens of the countries concerned. These are important
lessons, especially as the United States wrestles with its
responsibilities in Afghanistan, Iraq, and beyond. Fukuyama
begins State-Building with an account of the broad importance
of "stateness." He rejects the notion that there
can be a science of public administration, and discusses
the causes of contemporary state weakness. He ends the book
with a discussion of the consequences of weak states for
international order, and the grounds on which the international
community may legitimately intervene to prop them up.
|
 The
Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy
by Christopher Lasch
Does democracy have a future? Lasch’s main criticism
is that the elites have become cosmopolites in a global marketplace
who disdain loyalty to a locale. Lash claims that the divergence
in elite and non-elite attitudes is troubling for the future
of democracy. The ideas and perceptions of Lash must provoke
serious rethinking about the effective level of "democraticity"
of the modern political structures, and the remedies that
have to be conceived to ensure a truly democratic participation
of the citizens in the exercise or control of power and government. |
The Ideas That Conquered the World: Peace, Democracy,
and Free Markets in the Twenty-First Century
by Michael Mandelbaum
Mandelbaum, foreign policy professor at Johns Hopkins University,
brings extensive experience in policy analysis to this examination
of the political and economic ideas he believes will dominate
the post-Cold War era. He expounds upon and assesses what
he calls the Liberal Theory of History. Liberalism, as the
author defines it, harkens back to three ideas synthesized
by Woodrow Wilson at the end of WWI. First is the primacy
of free markets as the world's indispensable economic engine.
Second is the recognition of democracy, with its constitutional
limits on government power, as the most advantageous political
system. Third is an instinct for peaceful relations among
nations, marked by transparency in armaments and by common
security arrangements; peace has replaced war as the normal
state of international affairs. These ideas, Mandelbaum
asserts, are "mutually reinforcing" and have triumphed
within the past 60 years over the illiberal and brutal systems
of fascism and communism, continually gaining adherents.
To that extent, Mandelbaum concludes, there is a basis for
hope for the 21st century. |
 The
Case For Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny
and Terror
by Natan Sharansky The renowned former Soviet
dissident turned Israeli cabinet minister makes the tough-love
case for democracy. Sharansky, like President Bush, insists
that any nation can become democratic, even if the lack
of favorable preconditions makes it seem a long shot. President
Bush and U.S. neoconservatives have proved a receptive audience
for Sharansky's arguments, which dovetail with their hope
of countering terrorism by spreading democracy throughout
the Middle East. |
 Strong
Democracy:
Participatory Politics for a New Age
by Benjamin R. Barber
This is the twentieth anniversary reissue of the original
classic (published originally in 1984) on what democracy and
citizenship is all about by the internationally renowned political
theorist, Dr. Benjamin R. Barber. In a new preface, Barber
looks at the past twenty years and restates his argument,
which seems, sadly, more pressing than ever. |
|
Benjamin
R. Barber, Fear's Empire: War,
Terrorism, and Democracy. New York, W.W.Norton, 2003. ISBN:
0393058360 |
 Jonathan
Schell, A Hole in the World:
An Unfolding Story of War, Protest and the New American Order.
New York: NationBooks, 2004. ISBN 1-56025-600-1 |
 New
Perspectives Quarterly,volume 21
Francis Fukuyama is the famed author of The End of History
and the Last Man. His forthcoming book focuses on the history
of nation-building by the United States. He spoke with NPQ
editor Nathan Gardels on March 24. |
 T.D.
Allman, Rogue State:
America at War With the World. New York: NationBooks, 2004.
ISBN 1560255625 |
|
|
|
|
