Germany's national security council isn't up

权力是政府的终极通货;有限的权力是民主合法性的基础。在和平时期,当机构、市场和公民社会都在平稳运行的时候,权力和合法性被认为是理所当然的。特别是西方民主国家,它们非常注重限制、平衡和分配权力:在横向上,权力在行政、立法和司法部门之间进行分配;在纵向上,则在联邦政府、州和市之间进行分配。两个多世纪以来,美国一直是全球公认的、平衡且合法的宪政秩序典范。它也是一个仁慈的霸权国;这个仅存的超级大国自愿服从国际法和规则。

But with multiplying wars and crises, and faced with revisionist authoritarians in Moscow and Beijing keen to rip up all the rule books, democratic leaders are struggling to maintain either power or legitimacy. And President Donald Trump is overseeing the greatest unfettering of federal executive power in US history, while swinging the sledgehammer of geoeconomic coercion against allies and adversaries alike.

⋯ 继续阅读请登录会员 ⋯