Democracy and American Power

With the end of the Vietnam War, and the recent events in Portugal, it is only natural that many people should be discussing the prospects for democracy. We, too, are deeply involved in this discussion. To set it going in our pages, three Dissent editors, each of whom has sharply defined and distinct opinions, write briefly on such matters as these: Does the survival of democracy in Europe and elsewhere depend on the continued exertion of American power? Is American power a barrier to the growth and extension of democracy? How do internal political developments in Europe, such as the electoral blocs in Italy and France between Communist and Socialist parties, affect the prospects for democracy? etc. etc. These articles were written before August 15. –Eds.

1. Bogdan Denitch

Americans share a degree of ethnocentrism scarcely matched anywhere else. The defeats in Southeast Asia, the growing challenge to the worldwide Pa...