Please join us for a panel discussion with Nicolas Berggruen and Nathan Gardels, authors of the book "Intelligent Governance for the 21st Century: A Middle Way between West and East." This event is co-sponsored by UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and will be moderated by Burkle Center Director Kal Raustiala.
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ABOUT THE BOOK
From Winston Churchill at the end of World War II to Francis Fukuyama at the end of the Cold War, liberal democracy has been extolled as the best system of governance to have emerged out of the long experience of history. Today, such a confident assertion is far from self-evident. It is time, the authors argue, to take another look at democracy as we know it not just because of the sustained success of non-Western modernity, but because the West itself has changed.
In the West today we no longer live in “industrial democracies,” but in “consumer democracies “where all the feedback signals – politics, the media and the market – are short term, geared to immediate gratification, passions of the moment and special interests instead of the common good.
In contrast, the long-term focus of the decisive leadership of nominally Communist – but in reality neo-Confucian – China is boldly moving that nation into the future. But China too, say the authors, faces challenges arising from its very success. Its burgeoning middle class will increasingly demand more participation, accountability of government, curbing corruption and the rule of law.
As the 21st Century unfolds, both of these core systems of the global order must contend with the same reality: a genuinely multi-polar world where no single power dominates and in which societies themselves are becoming increasingly diverse. To cope, the authors argue that both East and West can benefit by adapting each other’s best practices.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
NICOLAS BERGGRUEN founded the Nicholas Berggruen Institute in 2010.Through the Nicolas Berggruen Institute, an independent, non-partisan think tank, he encourages the study and design of systems of good governance suited for the 21st century.
The Berggruen Institute is dedicated to the design and implementation of new ideas of good governance -- drawing from practices in both East and West -- that can be brought to bear on the common challenges of globalization in the 21st century. The Institute is an independent, non-partisan “think and action tank” that engages cutting edge entrepreneurs, global thinkers and political leaders from around the world as key participants in our projects.
Mr. Berggruen is also the Chairman of Berggruen Holdings, a private company, which is the direct investment vehicle of the Nicolas Berggruen Charitable Trust. Berggruen Holdings has operations in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, as well as real estate and financial investments globally. The firm and related entities have made well over 100 direct investments during the last 20 years by committing entirely its own capital across diverse industries, both public and private and focusing on building long-term value. Investments are often socially and culturally driven. The Berggruen Group has offices in New York, Berlin, Istanbul, Tel Aviv and Mumbai.
Mr. Berggruen is a board director of Zewail City of Science and Technology, Egypt; a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Pacific Council on International Policy.
NATHAN GARDELS has been editor of New Perspectives Quarterly since it began publishing in 1985. He has served as editor of Global Viewpoint and Nobel Laureates Plus (services of Los Angeles Times (Syndicate/Tribune Media) since 1989. These services have a worldwide readership of 35 million in 15 languages.
Gardels has written widely for The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Washington Post, Harper's, U.S. News & World Report and the New York Review of Books. He has also written for foreign publications, including Corriere della Sera, El Pais, Le Figaro, the Straits Times (Singapore), Yomiuri Shimbun, O'Estado de Sao Paulo, The Guardian, Die Welt and many others. His books include,"At Century's End: Great Minds Reflect on Our Times" and "The Changing Global Order”. He is coauthor with Hollywood producer Mike Medvoy of "American Idol After Iraq: Competing for Hearts and Minds in the Global Media Age."
Since 1986, Gardels has been a Media Fellow of the World Economic Forum (Davos). He has lectured at the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) in Rabat, Morocco and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, China. Gardels was a founding member at the New Delhi meeting of Intellectuels du Monde and a visiting researcher at the USA-Canada Institute in Moscow before the end of the Cold War. He has been a member of the Council of Foreign Relations, as well as the Pacific Council, for many years.