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The Rise of Populism: The Munk Debates
The twenty-third semi-annual Munk Debate, held on November 2, 2018, pits Stephen Bannon, the CEO of the Donald Trump presidential campaign, against columnist and author David Frum to debate the future of liberalism against the rising tide of populism. Throughout the Western world, politics is undergoing a sea-change. Long-held notions of the role of government, trade and economic policy, foreign policy, and immigration are being challenged by populist thinkers and movements. Does this surging populist agenda in Western nations signal a permanent shift in our politics? Or is it a passing phenomenon that will remain at the fringes of society and political power? Will our politics continue to be shaped by the post-war consensus on trade, inclusive national identity, and globalization, or by the agenda of insurgent populist politics, parties, and leaders? The twenty-third semi-annual Munk Debate pits former Donald Trump advisor Stephen K. Bannon against columnist and public intellectual David Frum to debate the future of the liberal political order.
144 pages, Paperback
Published June 18, 2019
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About the author
Stephen K. Bannon
12 books15 followersStephen Kevin Bannon is an American media executive, political strategist, former investment banker, and the former executive chairman of Breitbart News. He served as White House Chief Strategist in the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump during the first seven months of Trump's term.
Bannon was an officer in the United States Navy for seven years in the late 1970s and early 1980s. After his military service, he worked at Goldman Sachs as an investment banker, and left as vice president. In 1993, he became acting director of the research project Biosphere 2. In the 1990s, he became an executive producer in Hollywood, and produced 18 films between 1991 and 2016. In 2007, he co-founded Breitbart News,
In August 2016, Bannon was named the chief executive officer of Trump's 2016 presidential bid. Following Trump's victory, Bannon was appointed Chief Strategist in the Trump administration. He left this position on August 18, 2017 and rejoined Breitbart.
After leaving the White House, Bannon opposed the Republican Party establishment and supported insurgent candidates in Republican primaries. Bannon's reputation as a political strategist was questioned when Roy Moore, with Bannon's support, lost the 2017 United States Senate election in Alabama. Bannon has declared his intention to become "the infrastructure, globally, for the global populist movement." Accordingly, he has supported many national populist conservative political movements around the world.
Bannon was an officer in the United States Navy for seven years in the late 1970s and early 1980s. After his military service, he worked at Goldman Sachs as an investment banker, and left as vice president. In 1993, he became acting director of the research project Biosphere 2. In the 1990s, he became an executive producer in Hollywood, and produced 18 films between 1991 and 2016. In 2007, he co-founded Breitbart News,
In August 2016, Bannon was named the chief executive officer of Trump's 2016 presidential bid. Following Trump's victory, Bannon was appointed Chief Strategist in the Trump administration. He left this position on August 18, 2017 and rejoined Breitbart.
After leaving the White House, Bannon opposed the Republican Party establishment and supported insurgent candidates in Republican primaries. Bannon's reputation as a political strategist was questioned when Roy Moore, with Bannon's support, lost the 2017 United States Senate election in Alabama. Bannon has declared his intention to become "the infrastructure, globally, for the global populist movement." Accordingly, he has supported many national populist conservative political movements around the world.
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May 14, 2020This is the script form of the debate between David Frum and Steve Bannon on the rise of populism and whether the future will preserve the liberal order or herald economic nationalism. In effect, this debate is between the two versions of American conservatism-- the old guard that believes in free markets and limited government but also in free trade and the liberal international constellation of nations, and the Trumpian model that seeks nationalist protectionism.
Steve Bannon seeks to portray his position in sympathetic terms-- his premises sound very Bernie Sanderesque as he says he sides with 'the little man' (his own words) that have suffered while the elites have enriched themselves In particular, he cites the permanent, 'uni-party', political apparatchik in Washington that have triggered and supported the trillion-dollar bailout of the financial class. He says his main goal is to bring back manufacturing jobs and high-value-added jobs back for 'the little man' in the United States.
However, he departs from Sanders in two ways that I feel uncover his hypocrisy. First, he sidesteps the issue where the Trump administration he installed actually helps the financial and political elite, in that Trump gave the elites a trillion-dollar tax cut and propagated the policies of political elites. Second, as David Frum points out, populism appears benevolent in theory-- who can be against politics 'of, for, and by, the people'-- but is harmful in practice-- because it translates to a division between the rightful people and the scapegoats, who often enough are already isolated and demeaned in the social order for being poor or brown. Bannon seeks to detach the tag of 'fascism' from his movement, but could not deny the real aftereffects of Trumpian politics in society
Steve Bannon seeks to portray his position in sympathetic terms-- his premises sound very Bernie Sanderesque as he says he sides with 'the little man' (his own words) that have suffered while the elites have enriched themselves In particular, he cites the permanent, 'uni-party', political apparatchik in Washington that have triggered and supported the trillion-dollar bailout of the financial class. He says his main goal is to bring back manufacturing jobs and high-value-added jobs back for 'the little man' in the United States.
However, he departs from Sanders in two ways that I feel uncover his hypocrisy. First, he sidesteps the issue where the Trump administration he installed actually helps the financial and political elite, in that Trump gave the elites a trillion-dollar tax cut and propagated the policies of political elites. Second, as David Frum points out, populism appears benevolent in theory-- who can be against politics 'of, for, and by, the people'-- but is harmful in practice-- because it translates to a division between the rightful people and the scapegoats, who often enough are already isolated and demeaned in the social order for being poor or brown. Bannon seeks to detach the tag of 'fascism' from his movement, but could not deny the real aftereffects of Trumpian politics in society
November 16, 2024
I really can’t even begin to deny or lie, this was actually kind of scary to absorb and read about. Wanting to understand more of who Stephen bannon is, I wanted to dive into this debate book to better understand his political stances and if hindsight is truly a thing than this should’ve been a warning bomb. While Frum did a fantastic and detailed defense and debate especially in his closing arguments, I can’t help but see an almost perfect correlation between what bannon claimed would help trump succeed political victory again in the future and then almost to the word with his plan, not only following and executing it but sadly seeming to have turned it out exactly as they hoped/planned for.
April 30, 2020
Of course, the subject is of utmost importance and both debaters are intelligent and articulate. That said, I was underwhelmed: Bannon, as usual, lives in some fantasy world decoupled from historical realities it is instructive to see how absolutely *wrong* his predictions for mid-term elections turned out tobe); Frum just seems half asleep most of the time, missing most obvious targets.
Overall: Bannon, with whom I disagree completely, was more coherent overall. Frum, whose position at least here I support, was mostly ineffective and hand-wavingly vague. No wonder the final results did not differ from pre-debate polls.
Overall: Bannon, with whom I disagree completely, was more coherent overall. Frum, whose position at least here I support, was mostly ineffective and hand-wavingly vague. No wonder the final results did not differ from pre-debate polls.
February 18, 2020
Very informative....Steve bannon seems to make sense , but then makes nonsense...cannot get a grip of what he really means as it feels like its not ' just what hes saying'Definately actually supporting the monetarry elites though saying he supports the little guy!!!
Worth reading...
America and europe are going into damgerous autocratic support.
Thanks for the read .....ihave no more words.. not even 1
Worth reading...
America and europe are going into damgerous autocratic support.
Thanks for the read .....ihave no more words.. not even 1
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews