| | | | Fareed: Diversity Can Save Democracy | | These are trying times for liberal democracy, but growing diversity should give us hope, Fareed writes in his latest Washington Post column.
"My faith in people power has been strengthened in watching events 7,000 miles away in India. There, too, a democratically elected leader, Narendra Modi, has accumulated power in ways that were at times authoritarian," Fareed writes. "And yet, the BJP recently received a drubbing at the ballot box. Despite commanding advantages with media coverage, money and local officials, India's dominant party lost several key state elections a few months ago. Why? In a word, diversity."
The diversity of its people "has proved to be India's greatest strength as a democracy, ensuring that no one party gets too big for its boots"—and supplying an optimistic example for democracy in the West, where most countries are only becoming more diverse. | | Are Female Leaders the Answer to Climate Change? | | Anne Hidalgo argues they are. Paris's first female mayor contends that women are "more motivated to tackle challenging, long-term societal issues"; disproportionately affected by climate change worldwide; and tend to support environmental initiatives as elected officials—making women uniquely suited to address global warming from positions of world leadership.
Others have made similar points: The group WomenRising2030, for instance, argues female business management supports innovation, collaboration, and other leadership qualities that will help achieve the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.
Some corporate literature suggests firms are more profitable with gender diversity, and it stands to reason the community of world leaders is no different—that it would benefit, as it approaches a host of complex challenges, with more women in the mix. | | Technology Is Keeping Democracy In Check | | Democracy is holding up surprisingly well against the tides of populism and illiberalism, Ian Bremmer writes in the Nikkei Asian Review—but it isn't really spreading, either. Thanks to ever-advancing surveillance technology, like Syria's communications-monitoring and China's facial recognition, autocrats have been able to crack down on dissent and stay in power, and their countries won't democratize anytime soon.
There's another data point to add to Bremmer's argument: As Filipino journalist Maria Ressa tells The Nation, of her own experience with backers of President Rodrigo Duterte, political leaders can "weaponize" the Internet, turning troll armies on journalists and critics to threaten, harass, and silence them.
It's a different picture of technology and democracy than the one offered only a few years ago, when the Arab Spring had some convinced the Internet would spread democracy at a viral pace. | | The US is in for a "long game" with Russia and should expect the road to "get rockier before it gets easier," longtime American diplomat William J. Burns concludes in his forthcoming book, The Back Channel: A Memoir of American Diplomacy and the Case for Its Renewal, an excerpt of which appears in The Atlantic.
Burns details the souring of Russian/American relations firsthand, going back to his time there in the early 1990s, and chronicles not only the big missteps—NATO's eastward expansion chief among them—but the odd details of Putin's meetings with American leaders. Perhaps most notable, or at least most foretelling in retrospect: Putin accused the US embassy and NGOs of backing Kremlin critics, telling Burns in the late 2000s that "interference" in Russia's elections "will not be tolerated … Don't think we won't react to outside interference."
As Russian activity continues on social media, that reaction is still playing out. | | The World Is Racing for Africa | | Africa was the site of a colonial-era "scramble" and of Cold War competition, but now it's the center of a broader, global race for diplomatic and commercial engagement, The Economist writes. New embassies are springing up (320 from 2010 to 2016), military cooperation is advancing with outside powers, and trade and investment has skyrocketed with new players like India, Turkey, and Indonesia entering the scene.
Africa will have to manage this influx to its benefit, The Economist points out, urging citizens to demand transparency, leaders to cooperate and negotiate as blocs, and for the continent to leverage this competition to "drive harder bargains" with those jockeying to invest.
If it can seize on those advantages, Africa can manage the boom on its own terms. | | | | | | |
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