Larry Diamond
The curriculum in Global Studies was proud to host Larry Diamond, one of the foremost experts on establish democracy across the globe, for his talk “The Ebb and Flow of Democratization” at UNC on March 22, 2012.
To an audience of over 100 faculty, students, and community members, Diamond discussed the factors that allow for democratization to spread and considered recent moves towards democratization in light of the Arab Spring. A lively question and answer session followed the presentation.
Diamond is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, where he directs the Center for Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law. He is also the founding co-editor of the Journal of Democracy and serves as a senior consultant at the International Forum for Democratic Studies of the National Endowment for Democracy. He has served as a consultant to the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and advised the World Bank, the United Nations and the State Department, among other organizations.
During 2004, Diamond acted as a senior adviser on governance to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad. He has since written extensively on the challenges of stabilization and reconstruction in post-conflict countries. His latest book, The Spirit of Democracy: The Struggle to Build Free Societies Throughout the World draws on this experience, as he explores the sources of democratic progress and stress and the prospects for future democratic expansion.
Based out of Stanford University, where he is a professor in political science and sociology, Diamond has taught extensively on comparative democratic development and post-conflict democracy building. In 2007, his passion for his subject earned him the Dinkelspiel Award for Distinctive Contributions to Undergraduate Education for his popular classes, which according to students “transcend political and ideological barriers.”
For more information on Larry Diamond, visit http://www.stanford.edu/~ldiamond/
Co-sponsored by the support of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Global Education Fund and the Center for Global Initiatives.