Webcast – Tyranny and Democracy: Ancient Lessons for a Global Crisis

November 22, 2013

On November 12th in the New York Public Library Professor Ryan Balot was one of three guest speakers discussing the topic of Tyranny and Democracy: Ancient Lessons for a Global Crisis. The talk was organized by the Onassis Foundation and also featured two other speakers: Professor Newell from Carleton and Professor Strauss from Cornell.

“Are we living in an era in which expectations of freedom and the proliferation of tyranny are intensifying simultaneously? Does the removal of tyranny itself guarantee that people will naturally become democrats – or might they want to exact revenge against their former oppressors, thereby becoming oppressors themselves? Waller Newell, along with Barry Strauss and Ryan Balot, explored the contest in today’s world between tyranny and freedom, which reminds us that democratic self-government was first experienced in ancient Greece, along with an awareness of the threat posed to democracy by tyranny. This event marked the publication of Professor Newell’s new book, Tyranny: A new Interpretation (Cambridge University Press, 2013).”

You can listen to the event through Onassis’ online webcast:

Webcast: Tyranny and Democracy