The Challenges of American Imperial Power

The United States—the most carefree, happiest empire in history—now confronts the question of whether it can escape Rome’s fate. The challenge can be localized, for a moment in Afghanistan, then in Iraq, but it is global in character. This nation has no choice but to exercise its imperial power, and how it does so will shape the emerging world order and test its own legitimacy as a democratic society

Keynote Address: Law and Politics in the Canadian Constitutional Tradition

Once again we are approaching one of those moments in Canada in which constitutional law becomes central to our politics. The fundamental cost of the current political crisis is its impact on the national unity of our country. Whenever the next election comes it might result in the failure of any of the federal parties to secure national representation in all our regions, particularly in Quebec. Professor Ignatieff takes issue with those who believe that politics does not need ideas and those who would avoid constitutional discussion. He believes the challenge to federalism should be met head on saying that Canada is the most successful and enduring multinational, multi-lingual liberal democratic federation on Earth and that Quebec has benefited and has not been threatened by federalist arrangements in Canada. Constitutional dialogue amongst regions and languages of Canada is an ongoing process and Professor Ignatieff argues that it is the very condition of our collective survival. Federalism survives not merely by rebutting calls for its destruction, but by re-inventing itself in the face of challenge

Democracy versus democracy: the populist challenge to liberal democracy

The current populist challenges in western liberal democracies should not be seen as evidence of their decline, but as a constituent part. The history of democracy shows us that such challenges enable democracy’s growth and evolution. As these modern conflicts and crises see populists seek to capitalise on the discontent of the people, it is evident that much of the conflict comes from tensions between the rule of law and majority rule. Elites seeking to preserve the liberal democratic system need to make their arguments in defence of the rule of law and democratic values, rather than assuming them to be self-evident. We should only become concerned over the fate of liberal democracy when the conflict moves from dialogue into physical violence, or as in Hungary, where the executive has dismantled counter-majoritarian checks. It is only then that the departure from democracy truly begins

Mobilizing Public Support for the United Nations

This paper examines a critical case of Executive Branch leadership during the creation of the United Nations. Before his death, President Franklin Roosevelt hoped that the wartime alliance would become the cornerstone of postwar inter- national security. The U.N. charter, ratified in July 1945, marked the end of the State Department's four-year effort to reinvent the League of Nations and pro- mote postwar peace and security. This case study explores the State Department's public leadership efforts—in the form of a concerted, nationwide campaign to educate the American people and their leaders in Congress about the merits of U.S. involvement in the new international organization. In its effort to commit the American people to multilateral engagement in the postwar world, the U.S. government distributed some 2.1 million educational publications through over four hundred citizen groups. It conducted a nation- wide series of public meetings, speeches and national radio broadcasts, and created the State Department's first public affairs office to monitor public opinion and to coordinate outreach. In describing the campaign, the case study addresses a number of important questions for students of leadership and public policy, including: How did the State Department respond to specific challenges that it faced throughout the campaign? How can leaders promote a greater interest in and knowledge about policy decisions that affect American interests in the world? And how can leaders reach their target audience

Civil courage and the moral imagination

Cleveringa lecture given by Michael Ignatieff on Tuesday November 26, 2013ALL EXTER

Popular Conceptions of Nationhood in Old and New European Member States: Partial Support for the Ethnic-Civic Framework

One of the most influential theories in the study of nationalism has been the ethnic-East/civic-West framework developed by Hans Kohn. Using the 2002 Eurobarometer survey on national identity and building on earlier survey studies, this article examines whether the Kohn framework is valid at the level of popular understandings of nationhood. It scrutinizes the framework both conceptually - do people define nationhood in civic or ethnic terms? - and regionally - is the East indeed more ethnic than the West and the West more civic than the East? It will show that identity markers cluster in a political, a cultural and an ethnic dimension. Respondents do not see these dimensions as competing sources of nationhood, however. The article further lends some support for the regional component of the framework. Lastly, it argues that it is the intensity of national identifications rather than their qualitative nature (ethnic-civic) that correlates with xenophobia. © 2006 Taylor & Francis

Responsibility to protect : report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty

French version available in IDRC Digital Library: Responsabilité de protéger : rapport de la Commission international de l'intervention et de la souveraineté des étatsIncludes book review in Spanis