Regime Change & Instability

The conflict between democracy and stability is an old one, and one of the fundamental arguments at the roots of democracy promotion. In most any transition to self-governance from authoritarian rule resistance to change is a given, and often, that resistance is violent in nature.  Since the earlier literature of the 20^th century, academic discussion of democracy has been countered steadily by argument for stability over democracy.  Recently the subject has flared into the public eye over the danger of instability presented in the “Arab Spring”.
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Complicated Relationships in the War on Terror

To be blunt, the governments of the United States and Pakistan are far from kindred spirits.  Our national relationship with Pakistan is largely strategic in nature and is at best a unity of mutual benefit.  The Pakistani regime has been challenged throughout the war on terror by a need to balance its relationship with the United States with its own sovereignty and has suffered in the eyes of its people as a result.  Thus it strikes as particularly amazing to see pundits who weeks ago bemoaned our government’s failure to support our authoritarian allies in the Middle East, now  questioning Pakistan’s commitment to the war on terror in the wake of the death of Osama Bin Laden.
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How should the U.S. respond to the death of Bin Laden?

What he said.

Continued US/China Human Rights Clashes

Human rights violations for better or worse play a central role  in human history and are a fairly constant issue around the world.  Now and again these ethical challenges spill into the public view for long enough to earn the focus of news discussion for a bit.  The recent issues in the Middle East have provided a fairly lasting spotlight shifting from one nation to another as authoritarian leaders attempt to crack down on uprisings and dissent.   These uprisings set an interesting stage for the human rights discussions scheduled later this week between United States and China.  There are few subjects the two nations are more fiercely in disagreement over than human rights, each state makes quite the habit of critiquing the human rights abuses of the other, often muddying the issue of humanitarian concerns into one of political manipulation.  In either nation, no matter how you slice it, these are difficult times to preach human rights from a policy maker’s point of view.
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USIP Event – Connected Youth: The Future of Peacebuilding and Problem Solving

Our friends at the United States Institute of Peace are hosting an event next week which I thought might be of particular interest to the Democracy and Society crowd. The event is in part a conversation on the future of exchange programs and the ever increasing role of technology in public diplomacy.

As with the events posted here in the past, this event is being webcast.  Thus you can participate in the event either by registering to attend in person, or by watching the webcast beginning at 11:00am EST on April 27, 2011.

Click here for more on the event and to RSVP.

Webcast: This event will be webcast live beginning at 9:00am EDT on April 27, 2011 at www.usip.org/webcast.html . Online viewers will be able to engage panelists and each other through live chat and Twitter discussions (hashtag: #exchange20).
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