The lecture introduces a course focusing on power and politics in the 30 years since 1989, a period of significant change compared to the relative stability of the post-World War II era. The lecturer highlights the shockwaves of this period, contrasting the sense of stability during the Cold War with the rapid transformations that followed.
To illustrate this contrast, the lecture begins with a video clip of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, capturing the enthusiasm and hope for democratization across Eastern Europe. This contrasts sharply with another video from 2017, showing the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, reflecting political instability and anxieties about repeating history.
The lecturer emphasizes the shocks of 2016 with Brexit and Trump’s election and notes that the rise of anti-establishment parties is not limited to Germany, but is visible in a variety of countries.
The central questions of the course are laid out: how did we get from the optimism of 1989 to the current state of affairs? What are the challenges and prospects going forward? And how can we move towards a better future?
The lecturer outlines a distinctive approach that studies history using tools from political science and political theory, while also using history to test these disciplines. The events of 1989 present a natural experiment for social scientists, offering new data to re-evaluate established theories, such as modernization theory and its correlation to democracy.
The lecture will consider a range of conventional wisdoms such as the long held assumption that democratic systems are incompatible with state run economies or that democratization leads to positive change, putting them to the test on the swath of new data now available. The lecturer aims to incorporate both empirical analysis and normative considerations, focusing on "paths not taken" such as the expansion of NATO. This also applies to responses to the "global war on terror" and the financial crisis of 2008 and beyond.
The lecturer will combine considerations of politics with good public policy, and how to realize it and explores effective political strategies for achieving desirable outcomes and blocking undesirable ones.
The course is structured into five sections. The first examines the collapse of communism and its aftermath, including the rise of a unipolar world and the influence of neoliberalism and the Washington Consensus. This section also analyzes the new global order, evaluating the progress of democracy and international institutions.
The second part is titled “The end of the end of history” and deals with 9/11, the global war on terror and the collapse of Syria. It looks at the rise of state capitalism, the resurgence of Russia as a global power, and the role of business in global political conflicts.
The third part of the course addresses the new politics of insecurity, stemming from the government responses to the financial crisis.
The fourth part of the course deals with what can be done and the failures of political elites to diagnose and react to voter sentiment, which ultimately created policies that made issues such as economic insecurity even worse.
Finally, the lecturer addresses logistical matters such as recording, office hours, readings, and exam details. Office hours will be held weekly. Readings will be available on Canvas and at the New Haven Public Library. Students will be expected to write two papers from a provided list of topics and take a final exam. Laptops, tablets and cell phones will be prohibited. Finally, the lecturer states his lecturing style is interactive and encourages questions.