New From CFR: Joshua Kurlantzick on Democracy’s Woes

In an interview and op-ed last week, CFR fellow Joshua Kurlantzick analyzes the setbacks facing democracy as autocratic powers such as China and Russia advance their own political philosophies in the developing world. As he argues in the interview:

There is no strong evidence that authoritarian governments are better at providing development than democracies. I could name about 50 dictators who ran their countries into the ground economically. There is evidence that over time democracy provides better social welfare, such as longer life expectancy, lower infant mortality, more social and political freedoms.

You can read the interview in the Los Angeles Times here and the op-ed in the Wall Street Journal here. For more on Kurlantzick’s analysis, please see a Development Channel post last week.