Calgary Public Library

Exporting democracy, the risks and rewards of pursuing a good idea, Bob Rae

eng

Includes bibliographical references (p. 255-264) and index

index present

non fiction

Exporting democracy

electronic resource

dictionariesbibliography

759512451

Bob Rae

the risks and rewards of pursuing a good idea

"The way most Western politicians talk, democracy is the pinnacle of civilization, the best political system there is. Many think it's the system the rest of the world ought to adopt. Bob Rae is not one of them. He is too well informed about the difficulties and dangers of implanting democracy in foreign lands. Exporting Democracy is an eloquently argued book in which Rae brings his lively, nuanced understanding to bear on the history and current fortunes of this powerful idea. He shows how it and the related ideas of freedom, human rights, and federalism have been pushed to centre stage by the collapse of Soviet communism and by ongoing wars to topple secular and religious dictatorships in the Middle East. He's also witnessed attempts to implant democracy in three countries riven by tribal and ethnic divisions, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka, and offers readers a cool appraisal of the effort."--pub. website

1. The World In Our Image: The Challenge of Sharing Democracy and Human Rights -- 2. Can The World Be Born Anew? An Age-Old Debate Still Resonates -- 3 .Battle Of The "ISMS": The Nineteenth-Century Roots of Current Conflicts -- 4. The Fate Of Democracy And Human Rights: From the Second World War to the Cold War -- 5. Democracy And The End Of Empire: China, India, and Africa -- 6. Rhetoric And Reality: Three Presidents, Three Speeches, Three Wars -- 7. Israel And The Arab World: Democracy's Fate in the Middle East -- 8. The Teardrop In The Indian Ocean: Sri Lanka's Civil War -- 9. Canada: Who We Are and Why It Matters -- 10 .Is Global Democracy Imaginable?