Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Word of the day: hegemony

The word of the day is hegemony:

Greek ἡγεμονία, < ἡγεμών leader. Compare French hégémonie.
 
Leadership, predominance, preponderance; esp. the leadership or predominant authority of one state of a confederacy or union over the others: originally used in reference to the states of ancient Greece, whence transferred to the German states, and in other modern applications. (OED)


"Barack Obama, who came to office not least because of his opposition to the war in Iraq, went to Cairo in 2009 intent on assuring the Muslim world of a new kind of policy: engagement without hegemony. 'I know there has been controversy about the promotion of democracy in recent years, and much of this controversy is connected to the war in Iraq,' he said. 'So let me be clear: no system of government can or should be imposed upon one nation by any other.'"

 - David Remnick, "Judgment Days", February 14 & 21, 2011 The New Yorker

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