Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law is housed in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies
"Scholars and pundits in the West have become increasingly alarmed that China’s planned Belt and Road Initiative (B&R) could further shift the global strategic landscape in Beijing’s favor, with infrastructure lending as its primary lever for global influence. The planned network of an infrastructure project—financed by China’s bilateral lenders, the China Development Bank (CDB) and the Export-Import Bank of China (CEXIM), along with the newly formed and multilateral Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank—is historically unprecedented in scope.
The Leadership Academy for Development (LAD) is an innovative program at Stanford’s Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law that trains mid-level government officials and business leaders to be more effective in promoting policy changes in developing countries.
Francis Fukuyama is the 2015 recipient of Portugal’s Estoril Global Issues Distinguished Book Prize for his recent book, Political Order Political Decay – From the Industrial Revolution to the Globalization of Democracy. Awarded every other year, the Estoril Prize recognizes original scholarship that includes a clear set of policy recommendations on global issues. Fukuyama traveled to Portugal to accept the prize in May during the Estoril Conference, which assembles global leaders and thinkers in Cascais, Portugal.
Previous recipients of the award include:
In a recent Q&A for The New York Times, Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow Francis Fukuyama assesses China's political development, asserting that the country's strong state capacity must be balanced by rule of law and democracy. Although the country has found success as a highly autonomous bureaucracy, Fukuyama cautions that bad leadership in both business and government may serve as a source of political decay in the future.
In a piece for The American Interest, Francis Fukuyama discusses President Obama’s recent executive action on immigration. Fukuyama argues that Obama’s power grab will not produce better democratic government and will lead to more gridlock and partisanship.
Francis Fukuyma launches his new volume, "Political Order and Political Decay," at Stanford University in conversation with CDDRL Director Larry Diamond.
Francis Fukuyama and former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry write in the Financial Times, suggesting President Obama's stance on ISIS is "overpromising" and that America should follow lessons from British history and pursue a more sustainable strategy known as "offshore balancing."
CDDRL Senior Fellow Francis Fukuyama's new book "Political Order and Political Decay" was featured in a recent review in The New York Times. Tracing history from the industrial revolution to the globalization of democracy, Fukuyama argues that liberal democracy is still the best system of governance, although he warns that such systems must manage and combat institutional decay.
Olivier Nomellini Senior Fellow Francis Fukuyama shares a glimpse of his forthcoming volume of The Origins of Political Order in a recent journal article for Foreign Affairs. Referencing various historical accounts of public administration pitfalls and triumphs, Fukuyama dissects the intricate web of political gridlock confronting American government today.