How Fear Drives American Politics

{
  "authors": [
    "David Rothkopf"
  ],
  "type": "legacyinthemedia",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
  ],
  "collections": [],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
  "programAffiliation": "",
  "programs": [],
  "projects": [],
  "regions": [
    "North America",
    "United States"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Political Reform",
    "Democracy",
    "Foreign Policy"
  ]
}

In The Media

How Fear Drives American Politics

Instead of looking to build the future, it sometimes feels like the U.S. political establishment happily retreats into fear and willful ignorance.

By David Rothkopf

Published on Mar 16, 2015

Source: TED2015

Does it seem like Washington has no new ideas? Instead of looking to build the future, it sometimes feels like the U.S. political establishment happily retreats into fear and willful ignorance. Journalist David Rothkopf lays out a few of the major issues that U.S. leadership is failing to address—from cybercrime to world-shaking new tech to the reality of modern total war—and calls for a new vision that sets fear aside.

This talk was originally delivered at TED2015.

About the Author

David Rothkopf

Former Visiting Scholar

David Rothkopf was a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Endowment as well as the former CEO and editor in chief of the FP Group.

Recent Work

In The Media
How Bush, Obama, and Trump Ended Pax Americana
- David Rothkopf
In The Media
A Bigger Clubhouse
- David Rothkopf

Political Reform Democracy Foreign Policy North America United States

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

More Work from Carnegie Europe

Commentary
Turning Russian Assets into Financing for Ukraine Now
Funding Ukraine remains a priority for European leaders. As Russia’s war of aggression heads into another winter, two feasible options to mobilize support for Kyiv should be fast-tracked.
Vladyslav Rashkovan, Gregory P. Wilson
Commentary
Strategic Europe
The EU’s Middle-Power Puzzle
While the EU and European governments are embracing the much-lauded middle-power moment, this entails three difficult conundrums.
Richard Youngs
Book
The Scramble for Europe. Russia, China, and Turkey Challenging Regional Order
Europe is facing rising populism internally as well as external pressures from Russia, China, Turkey, and the United States.
Dimitar Bechev
Article
Europe’s Tide of Citizen Assemblies: Unsung Success or Anticlimax?
A notable degree of participative democracy has firmly arrived in Europe. But to have more far-reaching impact, democratic deliberation needs to move into a radically new phase.
Richard Youngs
Commentary
Strategic Europe
How the EU’s Single Market Could Unlock Enlargement
Much has been said of the changes Brussels is trying to make to the EU enlargement process. Here’s why gradual integration might—or might not—be the answer.
Dimitar Bechev

More Work from Carnegie Europe

Commentary

Turning Russian Assets into Financing for Ukraine Now

Funding Ukraine remains a priority for European leaders. As Russia’s war of aggression heads into another winter, two feasible options to mobilize support for Kyiv should be fast-tracked.

Vladyslav Rashkovan, Gregory P. Wilson

Commentary

Strategic Europe

The EU’s Middle-Power Puzzle

While the EU and European governments are embracing the much-lauded middle-power moment, this entails three difficult conundrums.

Richard Youngs

Book

The Scramble for Europe. Russia, China, and Turkey Challenging Regional Order

Europe is facing rising populism internally as well as external pressures from Russia, China, Turkey, and the United States.

Dimitar Bechev

European Union EU democracy Parliament citizens assembly

Article

Europe’s Tide of Citizen Assemblies: Unsung Success or Anticlimax?

A notable degree of participative democracy has firmly arrived in Europe. But to have more far-reaching impact, democratic deliberation needs to move into a radically new phase.

Richard Youngs

Commentary

Strategic Europe

How the EU’s Single Market Could Unlock Enlargement

Much has been said of the changes Brussels is trying to make to the EU enlargement process. Here’s why gradual integration might—or might not—be the answer.

Dimitar Bechev