Global cyclical change led to a gradual shift from monarchies and empires to republics in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. But the cyclical age of “democratic republics” is now itself passing, as the world moves again from defensive to offensive posturing.
And what does that mean for the next era of strategic alliances? A new NATO? A new period of diminished cooperation between the US and Mexico, the US and European NATO, and so on?
Perhaps the “experiment” in universal, forced literacy, has been a failure, an historical blip. Literacy is in retreat because of technology and because inquiring minds challenge leadership patterns. Yet intellectual capacity— signified by literacy— determines strategic success. What is to be done?
