Recent searches
Search options
How important is the rise of authoritarianism?
This is among my most responded-to polls, and definitely one of the most lopsided.
I am a strong yes also.
I came of age as the Berlin Wall fell, at the so-called "End of History", when liberal democracy was triumphant and global cooperation seemed inevitable.
I think many people of my generation have had a sense of inevitability about the continued opening of the world. It was a natural progression that would happen on its own.
30 years later, it's clear that the promise of global cooperation and liberal democracy lies unfulfilled for many, maybe most people.
Many people turn to the comfort of nationalism, or even more restricted loyalties.
The growth of human rights isn't a natural process. We have to work for it. It takes time, energy, and will.