Former Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf PhD ’81 made a forthright call for integrity and the expression of a common purpose in politics, while accepting MIT’s 2023 Robert A. Muh Alumni Award.
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Former British foreign minister David Miliband SM ’90 offered a sobering warning about human rights and democracy while delivering a special MIT lecture on Wednesday and outlined how we might confront the emerging “age of impunity,” in which authoritarian governments and even democracies are increasingly flouting the rule of law.
“The next decade promises to be a race or a fight between accountability and impunity, within our own countries and internationally,” Miliband said, noting that lawlessness on the part of and within countries “applies in politics, in economics, even in respect of the environment.” About 68 percent of the world’s population is now living under autocratic rule, representing a 20 percentage point increase over the last decade, he said. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit index, about 70 percent of the world’s countries, including many democracies, saw a reduction in political freedom last year.
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Former British foreign minister David Miliband SM ’90 offered a sobering warning about human rights and democracy while delivering a special MIT lecture on Wednesday and outlined how we might confront the emerging “age of impunity,” in which authoritarian governments and even democracies are increasingly flouting the rule of law.
“The next decade promises to be a race or a fight between accountability and impunity, within our own countries and internationally,” Miliband said, noting that lawlessness on the part of and within countries “applies in politics, in economics, even in respect of the environment.” About 68 percent of the world’s population is now living under autocratic rule, representing a 20 percentage point increase over the last decade, he said. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit index, about 70 percent of the world’s countries, including many democracies, saw a reduction in political freedom last year.