October 2022, Volume 33, Issue 4
The Politics of Enemies
Democracy’s meaning has always been contested. Letting that struggle become a battle between existential foes risks upending the whole democratic project.
Subject: Violence
October 2021, Volume 32, Issue 4
The Rise of Political Violence in the United States
In a deeply polarized United States, ordinary people now consume and espouse once-radical ideas and are primed to commit violence.
April 2021, Volume 32, Issue 2
Why Freedom Defeats Terrorism
Far from being a vulnerability in the struggle against terrorism, democratic freedoms are key to empowering moderate voices and depriving terrorists of popular support.
January 2002, Volume 13, Issue 1
Reconstructing Afghanistan
A review of Afghanistan’s Endless War: State Failure, Regional Politics, and the Rise of the Taliban by Larry P. Goodson; and Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil, and Fundamentalism in Central Asia, by Ahmed Rashid.
April 2001, Volume 12, Issue 2
High Anxiety in the Andes: Colombia’s Perpetual Quest for Peace
Despite recent progress in the government’s negotiations with rebel groups, Colombia’s problems remain acute: continued violence, growing human rights abuses, severe income inequality, and a depressed economy.
October 2000, Volume 11, Issue 4
Nurturing Nationalism
A review of Jack Snyder's From Voting to Violence.
July 1998, Volume 9, Issue 3
Voices from the North Korean Gulag
April 1998, Volume 9, Issue 2
African Ambiguities: Africa, 1990–1997—From Abertura to Closure
January 1997, Volume 8, Issue 1
Pakistan’s Enduring Experiment
October 1996, Volume 7, Issue 4
The Myth of Global Ethnic Conflict
October 1995, Volume 6, Issue 4
Armed Forces and Democracy: Security and Transition in South Africa
October 1992, Volume 3, Issue 4
Indonesia’s Threefold Crisis
April 1992, Volume 3, Issue 2
Salvaging El Salvador
April 1992, Volume 3, Issue 2
Afghanistan: A New Approach
Summer 1991, Volume 2, Issue 3
Latin America’s Fragile Democracies
Spring 1991, Volume 2, Issue 2
The Korean Experiment
Winter 1991, Volume 2, Issue 1
Latin America’s Internal Wars
Winter 1991, Volume 2, Issue 1
Colombia’s Bloody War of Words
Democracy and Political Violence
As political polarization deepens in the world’s democracies, political violence is on the rise. And in the wake of these acts, conspiracy theories often bloom. We offer three essays that look at these forces that threaten to upend democracy, and what must be done to overcome them.