Tony Smith — Is Liberal Internationalism Dead?

History lesson. Woodrow Wilson versus Donald Trump.

Does the global progress depend on American leadership?

Project Syndicate
Is Liberal Internationalism Dead?
Tony Smith, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Tufts University

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But if the revolutionaries take their war against the state too far, they face a different problem, because members of the old establishment are the only people who know enough about specific government programs to get anything done. Ultimately, the revolutionaries must try to strike a balance between betraying their supporters’ radical wishes and escalating their conflict with the state to the point that no other policy goals can be achieved.

This is the crux of the problem. The modern bureaucratic state arose in Prussia at the time that Germany was being unified into a nation the late 19th century.

The problem with the bureaucratic state is that it is highly effective and efficient in comparison with other types of state organization, but it is also the basis for a shadow government that is the actual government that persists across changes in political power.

The first question is whether Trump-Bannon can "deconstruct the administrative state." The second what will replace it and how effective and efficient it will be in comparison.

Trump’s Revolutionary Dilemma
Harold James | Professor of History and International Affairs at Princeton University and a senior fellow at the Center for International Governance Innovation