The Poisoned Chalice of US Democracy: Studies from the Horn of Africa

(Paperback)

Available Formats

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

In a radical reflection, John Young contends that the US model of democracy have failed the Global South because its emphasis on the supremacy of market capitalism entails a loss of national sovereignty and a truncated notion of human rights that leaves little room for citizens engagement or socioeconomic justice. The Global South needs democracy, but the US model does not address issues of national oppression or economic injustices by raising living standards and ensuring national sovereignty. However, the US international liberal order is increasing being challenged, and a multipolar world is emerging that provides opportunities for people in the Global South to construct systems of democracy that meet their needs rather than those of the US.

Reviews

A brilliant exposure of the flawed theory and practice of democracy promotion as a tool of US foreign policy. Poorly practiced at home, US democracy, embedded in global capitalism produces failed states in the global south, where stronger national sovereignty is necessary to achieve authentic democracy rooted in local cultures. * Stephen McBride Professor, McMaster University, Canada *
This is a captivating analysis of how the system of governance has evolved in Ethiopia, Sudan and South Sudan and the common features among them. A must read for those interested in the politics and economics of the Global South, especially the Horn of Africa. * Lam Akol *
It is the most fascinating, detailed and timely book that demonstrates the global decline of Western democracy and how it lost its soul when it abandoned its core values: citizens engagement, accountability, and socio-economic justice and became the best democracy money can buy. The book further demonstrates how while declining at home, western powers still export its ideals to countries in the Horn of Africa: Ethiopia, Sudan and South Sudan. Three of these countries face national self-determination claims albeit to varying degrees with Ethiopia hosting countless national liberation fronts demanding a more robust consociational arrangements. The book shows how western model of democracy is misplaced and even if the ideals were to be pursed with vigor, it is trumped by concerns with security and other regional interests as it deed in Sudan in 2019, South Sudan and Ethiopia following the protests in 2018 where popular demands for democracy got aborted. The authors most outstanding critic however is that western democracy that grew in a different context cannot prosper in a different soil in the Horn of Africa where demands for national self-determination and socio-economic justice take center stage, more so when it is ailing at home. The book is a must read for those interested in the political developments in the Horn, be it academics, students or regional and international actors * Assefa Fiseha, Professor, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia *

Author Bio

John Young is the author of Peasant Revolution in Ethiopia: Tigray Peoples Liberation Front 1975 1991 (1997); The Fate of Sudan: The Origins and Consequences of a Flawed Peace Process (Zed Books, 2012); and South Sudans Civil War: Violence, Insurgency and Failed Peacemaking (Zed Books, 2019).