People hold signs during a demonstration against Islamophobia in Montréal in March 2017. The antiquated and erroneous Clash of Civilizations theory has harmed Muslims for almost 30 years.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
Next year, the Clash of Civilizations theory will have done a terrible job explaining geopolitical forces for the past 30 years. Let’s throw it a retirement party.
Others might be more inspired by American democracy if the US were widely seen to be a just and tolerant society and its leading politicians were not loudmouthed xenophobes.
Justin Lane/EPA
The value of democracy needs to be restated and defended, rather than presumed. In doing so, there is value in adopting a more tempered stance, one that understands its worth but also its flaws.
Yu Keping: ‘The movement towards democracy everywhere is a political trend that cannot be reversed. China is no exception.’
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Opponents of democracy often raise the spectre of social disorder. Over the long term, it is only democracy and the rule of law that will provide for the long-lasting peaceful rule of the nation.