"The left is distracted on identity politics, economic inequality is just one small issue among many". "Obama is the symbol, heralded as monumental change but structurally nothing changed"
Clip from Francis Fukuyama in conversation with David Runciman - Democracy: Even the Best Ideas Can Fail.
Runciman agrees with Fukuyama that in the realm of ideas liberal democracy doesn’t have any real competitors. But that doesn’t mean it’s the only option, he believes, and even the best ideas can fail. Take the Arab Spring where democratic hopes have largely come to nothing. While Fukuyama argues that we should consider the long view – it’s easy to forget that the European revolutions of 1848 took 70 years to consolidate – Runciman worries that we may not have enough time for the long view in a fast-changing world.
Is religion becoming the new politics? How will the technological revolution continue to impact our politics? And in the West are we in danger of becoming complacent about the challenges to democracy that we face?
