The Poisoned Chalice of Us Democracy: Studies from the Horn of Africa

In a radical reflection, John Young contends that the US model of democracy has failed the Global South because its emphasis on the supremacy of market capitalism entails a loss of national sovereignty and a truncated notion of human rights that leaves little room for citizens’ engagement or socioeconomic justice.

The Global South needs democracy, but the US model does not address issues of national oppression or economic injustices by raising living standards and ensuring national sovereignty. However, the US international liberal order is increasing being challenged, and a multipolar world is emerging that provides opportunities for people in the Global South to construct systems of democracy that meet their needs rather than those of the US.

John Young is the author of Peasant Revolution in Ethiopia: Tigray People’s Liberation Front 1975 - 1991 (1997); The Fate of Sudan: The Origins and Consequences of a Flawed Peace Process (Zed Books, 2012); and South Sudan’s Civil War: Violence, Insurgency and Failed Peacemaking (Zed Books, 2019).