Katrina vanden Heuvel and Bill Emmott agree on one thing. They both think America is at a defining moment in its history. However, when you ask them if the U.S. is going the way of empire or republic, that’s when the verbal fireworks start. Vanden Heuvel, editor of the leftwing journal The Nation is alarmed by what she sees as Bush administration tendencies to strong arm the world, neglecting democracy and civil rights in the process. Democracy doesn’t come at the tip of a bayonet, she says.
Bill Emmott, who edits the more conservative British magazine, The Economist, says America can be clumsy, and a bit misguided, but that generally it wields its considerable power for good, and that is just what this unstable, unsafe world needs. America is at full power, but in forward or reverse?
Guests:
Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor, The Nation
Bill Emmott, editor, The Economist