March 23, 2010

“Democracy Kills”
Tuesday 23 March 2010 at 7pm

With attempts to bring democracy to Iraq and Afghanistan leading to war and with poverty on the increase in Africa, BBC World Affairs Correspondent Humphrey Hawksley asks: What is the best way to move from dictatorship to democracy without violence?

“The mantra in our Western society is that democracy equals freedom and prosperity. But are we in fact imposing our free market democracy with the same arrogance that colonial missionaries claimed they were civilising poor natives a century ago? Is perhaps democracy merely a figleaf to protect strategic interests and access economic markets? Or is it simply that no one has yet had a better idea?”

Talk at the Royal Geographical Society by Humphrey Hawksley, BBC foreign correspondent, author and commentator on world affairs on March 23, 2010

The Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR
doors open at 6pm and there is a pay bar.

Humphrey Hawksley’s Website

Tickets cost £20 each.

Tickets may be bought at the RGS on the night.