September 2, 2005

Liberalism: the Fuel of Empires?

By DAVID GLENN

2 political scientists at Princeton help revive debate on how European liberals of centuries past viewed colonialism and imperialism

It is one of the most troubling puzzles in the history of political thought: Why were some of Europe's early liberal theorists -- the people who imagined and promoted tolerance, universal suffrage, the rule of law, and minimal government -- also enthusiastic supporters of European colonization, conquest, and empire in Asia and

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