Spring Break
Robert Kagan speaks on political theory
Issue date: 3/12/09
This discrepancy between reality and previous expectations, according to Kagan, is one of the reasons that people believe the U.S. and the world is in decline.
"I think we need to be a little bit more careful that our Enlightenment philosophy does not blind us to the fact that autocracies may be sustainable," he said. "It's not clear who owns the future."
As a result of these issues, Kagan felt that the struggle between democracy and autocracy is a more important "big-picture" concern for the U.S. than terrorism, especially terrorism based in radical Islam.
"Radical Islam can't succeed," he said. "They want to roll back the clock ... the problem is that people in the Islamic world don't want to go back. I think what we're seeing is the death throes of this ideology."
In light of this, he wants the U.S. to focus on encouraging the development of democracies and bringing together democracies in cooperation.
"I think we need to take seriously again the idea of promoting democracy and not count on it promoting itself," he said.
These comments led to a number of different questions from the audience. One was concerning the method of spreading democracy, with the example of Iraq as a flawed attempt.
"We didn't go into Iraq with the goal of promoting democracy," Kagan said. "No one in their right mind thinks that democratic promotion is about invasions."
He was concerned, however, that the lesson from the Bush years might be perceived as "the promotion of democracy is impossible."
Claire Cravero, one of the FAS co-chairs, described Kagan as "the voice of a new conservative movement."
"We've had a lot of liberal speakers, and we thought he would balance the range and help provide a more well-rounded symposium," she said. "That was our goal."
Of the roughly 100 to 150 people in attendance, many seemed to think that Kagan had managed to remain somewhat apolitical in his analysis.
"I thought he gave a very neutral perspective," freshman Alex Treiger said. "While we have different political views, I thought he gave an interesting perspective of the future of what the international system will look like."
Sophomore Nicholas Mark agreed. "It was very informative and he tried not to be political," he said.
Freshman Nicole Salter also had a positive impression of the event.
"I thought it went well. His views were unique, but they made sense and he explained himself well," she said.
Cravero was pleased with the turnout and also pointed out the presence of several Baltimore citizens not connected to the University.
"There's one couple that always comes to all of our events. It's great because I love getting the community involved."
"I think we need to be a little bit more careful that our Enlightenment philosophy does not blind us to the fact that autocracies may be sustainable," he said. "It's not clear who owns the future."
As a result of these issues, Kagan felt that the struggle between democracy and autocracy is a more important "big-picture" concern for the U.S. than terrorism, especially terrorism based in radical Islam.
"Radical Islam can't succeed," he said. "They want to roll back the clock ... the problem is that people in the Islamic world don't want to go back. I think what we're seeing is the death throes of this ideology."
In light of this, he wants the U.S. to focus on encouraging the development of democracies and bringing together democracies in cooperation.
"I think we need to take seriously again the idea of promoting democracy and not count on it promoting itself," he said.
These comments led to a number of different questions from the audience. One was concerning the method of spreading democracy, with the example of Iraq as a flawed attempt.
"We didn't go into Iraq with the goal of promoting democracy," Kagan said. "No one in their right mind thinks that democratic promotion is about invasions."
He was concerned, however, that the lesson from the Bush years might be perceived as "the promotion of democracy is impossible."
Claire Cravero, one of the FAS co-chairs, described Kagan as "the voice of a new conservative movement."
"We've had a lot of liberal speakers, and we thought he would balance the range and help provide a more well-rounded symposium," she said. "That was our goal."
Of the roughly 100 to 150 people in attendance, many seemed to think that Kagan had managed to remain somewhat apolitical in his analysis.
"I thought he gave a very neutral perspective," freshman Alex Treiger said. "While we have different political views, I thought he gave an interesting perspective of the future of what the international system will look like."
Sophomore Nicholas Mark agreed. "It was very informative and he tried not to be political," he said.
Freshman Nicole Salter also had a positive impression of the event.
"I thought it went well. His views were unique, but they made sense and he explained himself well," she said.
Cravero was pleased with the turnout and also pointed out the presence of several Baltimore citizens not connected to the University.
"There's one couple that always comes to all of our events. It's great because I love getting the community involved."
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