The Body Politic: Iran and China 2006

The growing nuclear threat from Iran leads this program as host Michael Bernstein explores the cause and potential consequences with UCSD physicist Jorge Hirsch and Babak Rahimi, an expert in Iranian and Islamic Studies at UC San Diego. Also, a look at China's economic growth and its troubled record on human rights with Paul Pickowicz, a noted China historian at UCSD. This program was recorded in March, 2006. Series: Body Politic, The [3/2006] [Public Affairs] [Show ID: 11514]

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Iran
• China
• politics
• Jorge
• Hirsch
• Babak
• Rahimi

[shuqinlee]

China already has an ample amount of competition in the political realm. It's only that opposition parties are "illegal" as any group can be made "illegal" in any country and that's the way it is whether critics like it or not. But the technicality of "illegality" in a certain country does not make it non existent. In China, opposition parties are de facto and to be reckoned with even if they are not given "official" status by the constitution. Afterall, all constitutions are manmade.

[shuqinlee]

A country does not need political plurality to sustain a reasonable amount of economic growth.

The British Empire was virtually an oligarchy that grew in tremendously over a long period of time in economic power because they exploited others not because they had a pluralistic system of parliament.

[shuqinlee]

Great discussion. Finally we get some serious, truthful, realistic and sensible discourse pertaining to the issue at hand.