Vol. 5 No. 3 (2015): Dangerous Ideas

Welcome,

It is my pleasure to present to you Leviathan’s final instalment of the academic session. This issue is about ideas and their ability to inspire fear, reform, and revolution. We discuss censorship, religion, radicalism, the role of the individual, the merits of violence, economic threats, and the subversion of conventional wisdom on democracy, nuclear proliferation, and the environment. In short, we explore the destructive and healing capacity of thought.

But why ‘dangerous’ ideas? In his memoirs, the writer and comedian Stephen Fry defends the importance of familiarising ourselves with concepts that make us uncomfortable. Discourse around ideas often borrows from notions of health and cleanliness. An attitude might be unhealthy, discontent might breed like bacteria, and a conviction might spread like a virus. An ideologue is considered pure, while the most unseemly thoughts are deemed inflammatory, like eczema or arthritis. But although we can universally and objectively agree that conditions like ‘cholera, typhus, and typhoid are unhealthy, we are unable to come anywhere close to consensus as to the healthiness or otherwise of ideas’.

Some of the articles herein advocate heterodox approaches to global and regional crises; others warn us away from the tempting but false promises of simple and potentially toxic solutions. We welcome this diverse number of interpretations and believe that they all deserve to be heard. We are grateful to our new and returning contributors for the hard work and boldness reflected in their writing.

This is the first-ever issue of Leviathan to use a colour photograph on its front cover. The image was taken during the late-2013 protests in Kyiv, but might as well be portraying Athens, Cairo, or Ferguson. It depicts a moment of politics at its most primal, the moment when an idea ceases to be ethereal and takes on the form of a Molotov cocktail soaring towards a phalanx of government enforcers. Read in the context of Ukrainian resistance at the time, it tells us that liberalism – to tyrants – is still a dangerous idea in the 21st century.

In light of this, I reject the notion that ideas should be considered secondary to ‘objective interests’ in our understanding of politics. The recent attack on Charlie Hebdo and the culture of radicalisation in Europe attest to the visible capacity of ideas both to provoke ire and to inspire violence. From the Silicon Valley to the streets of Hong Kong, the life of the mind continues to drive the forces of social change. To some, like the extremists of Boko Haram, learning itself is a dangerous idea.

As in previous issues this year, we chose to highlight seven articles as special profile pieces in each region. We found the propositions in these stories to be fascinating, thought-provoking, and worthy of your attention. The conflict in Nigeria was born out of a struggle to end drastic inequality, yet the extremist ideas of northern militants threaten to impoverish the region even further, according to Andrew Barlow. In a rejection of much of Western scholastic arrogance and complacency, Yuechen Wang argues that democracy is neither likely nor desirable without a reconceptualisation of the Confucian social doctrine that underlies the foundations of Chinese society. David Kelly insists that political theory cannot exist separately from human undertaking, particularly the undertaking of individuals who change the course of history. Latin American and Caribbean societies must exorcise the demons of xenophobia in order ensure a progressive future, warns Kanzanira Thorington. Alejandro Salamanca Rodríguez explains why the misrepresentation of dangerous ideas undermines the intellectual integrity of honest debate. Vilde Sofie Rodin investigates ways of reining in and reforming America’s drone programme. Finally, Lene Kirstine Korseberg challenges the traditional understanding of the social contract and emphasises the need to come up with alternative theories of authority. We hope these profiles capture a variety of perspectives and present a mosaic of our chosen theme.

Leviathan will begin hiring new staff members for the coming academic session in September of 2015. Although the journal is quite young, our alumni can already be found at The Financial Times, the European Parliament, the Pentagon, and the City of London, as well as in the halls of the University of Chicago, the Naval Postgraduate School, and King’s College London. If you are interested in editing, production, or fundraising for the journal, I encourage you to get in touch. Working at Leviathan is an opportunity to promote your credentials, meet new people, and help others.

For five full years, we have served as the leading platform for political writing at the University of Edinburgh. With pride, I can report that the state of the journal is stronger than ever. With sadness, I must announce that this is my final issue as editor in chief. The three years in which I have been involved in producing the journal and leading this excellent team have amounted to the greatest experience of my life, and no other endeavour thus far has made me feel prouder or more fortunate. Although I will miss Leviathan and this university, I have every confidence that the incoming editor Jessica Killeen will continue our legacy of student thought and engagement.

As ever, I would like to thank our loyal readers, esteemed contributors, and dedicated members of staff. I would particularly like to express my appreciation for Lene Kirstine Korseberg, Maxwell Greenberg, and Prof. Ailsa Henderson for their crucial and continued role in ensuring the success of this journal. Additionally, Leviathan could not exist without the support of the University of Edinburgh PIR Department and the PIR Society. The individuals who constitute this community have made this the best year for us yet. Our new team will doubtlessly carry on this journal’s tradition of leadership and innovation. I wish them luck and look forward to seeing what comes next.

Thanks for a great year, and I hope that you enjoy the talent and vision reflected in these pages.

Sincerely,

Marko John Supronyuk

Editor in Chief