The Foundation of Western Political Theory Is Shifting

[unhappycamper]

http://watchingamerica.com/WA/2014/08/31/the-foundation-of-western-political-theory-is-shifting/

The Foundation of Western Political Theory Is Shifting
Published in Huanqiu (China) on 13 August 2014 by Feng Yanli
Translated from Chinese by Joe Matthews.
Edited by Emily France.
Posted on August 31, 2014.

Since the global financial crisis, the ideological trend of international political theory has taken a new direction. By paying close attention to these new changes and adopting feasible and practical strategies in response, China’s voice in this discourse, as well as its soft power, can be strengthened. To do so, establishing a good image of China in many different areas is of high importance.

This change in international political thought is due to new ideas from different systems and institutions. As Bruce W. Jentleson and Steven Weber point out in “America’s Hard Sell,” in the past, world political patterns fell under the umbrella of five main ideas: peace is better than war, hegemony is better than balance, capitalism is better than socialism, democracy is better than autocracy, and Western culture is better than all other cultures. Today, however, these five principles don’t hold the same value or ring as true as before. Looking at current trends, besides “peace is better than war,” the other four principles are changing.

Since the global financial crisis, there has been a large shift in people’s opinions toward different systems. Criticism of capitalism is particularly focused on neoliberal economics, which stands out as a clear rethinking of past beliefs. For example, three American Nobel Prize winners have all deeply criticized neo-liberalism. Joseph Stiglitz said that, on one hand, it creates a reliance on bankers and investors and their belief that chasing individual profit will make the whole society better off. On the other hand, help should be provided for regulators and policy makers, as eliminating or relaxing oversight can increase the private sector’s growth, and everyone can profit. Paul Krugman, in his criticism of Reagan’s “small government, big society,” points out, “global financial crises have completely destroyed people’s faith in free markets.”* During this financial crisis, Paul Samuelson found fault with “those who completely rely on the strength of the market,” and strongly encouraged government intervention, whether in microeconomics by “regulating industry,” or in macroeconomics by “stabilizing the economy.”*

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We should follow and focus on these new changes in international political theory and work hard to break the dominance of Western scholars in the discourse of human rights, democracy and other related areas. We should recognize the West-imposed totalitarianism, authoritarianism and non-democratic ideological trap, and work hard to refine and garner lessons from socialism with Chinese-characteristics. We should continue to build confidence in the governance and persuasiveness of the theory of the Chinese system.