{"id":254826,"date":"2026-05-02T01:59:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T01:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/254826\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T01:59:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T01:59:09","slug":"former-uk-prime-minister-discusses-political-polarization-at-um-roundtable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/254826\/","title":{"rendered":"Former UK prime minister discusses political polarization at UM roundtable"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Martina Panteleon (left) and Olivia Samur (right) interview Boris Johnson on April 22 on UM’s campus. \/\/ Photo credit: Madison Block.<\/p>\n

While some see political polarization as a challenge to democracy, Boris Johnson, the former UK prime minister, sees an opportunity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Democracy cannot thrive without disagreement, as long as it is civil \u2014 this openness to different viewpoints was a trait he praised about the University of Miami campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d rather have a country that is capable of polarization than a unipole,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n

Johnson was the Provost\u2019s visiting lecturer at UM this semester, and on Wednesday, April 22, he held a roundtable discussion with UM\u2019s media, including The Miami Hurricane. He discussed democracy, international intervention and the fragile state of the world order.\u00a0<\/p>\n

His message was simple: \u201cYou have to fight for [democracy].\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Johnson\u2019s view of democracy shapes his support for the recent U.S. foreign intervention, which is strong but not unconditional. He backs the U.S. involvement against Iran\u2019s \u201cnightmare government,\u201d yet is critical of the go-it-alone approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmerica would be stronger if America\u2019s allies were on its corner,\u201d Johnson said. Without a coordinated coalition, he argued, Iran found room to exploit the situation. \u201cEngland\u2019s vast knowledge of the area would have proven useful to the U.S., and maybe even could have prevented the current blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.\u201d<\/p>\n

Venezuela is a conflict that Johnson knows more personally. He was once sent to negotiate with Nicolas Maduro, an experience he recounted with characteristic self-deprecation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI was sent to try to talk to Maduro and to persuade him to be a democrat,\u201d he said. \u201cPretty hopeless venture.\u201d When he urged Maduro to put opposition leader Maria Corina Machado on the ballot, Maduro refused. \u201cHe said, \u2018No, no, she is a traitor.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the U.S. moved to remove Maduro in January, Johnson was not surprised. In fact, he largely approved. Democracy, though, was not the only motivation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cVenezuela, as\u00a0 everybody knows, has got among the world\u2019s largest reserves of oil,\u201d he said, \u201cAnd the US has massive refining facilities which are, purely by coincidence, for just that type of oil.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Still, he hoped \u201csomething good will come out of this for the people of Venezuela.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

So far, President Delcy Rodr\u00edguez, who took power after Maduro\u2019s capture, has released 51 political prisoners.<\/a> \u201cIt\u2019s not a total transformation,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cYet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Critics like Brazil\u2019s President Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva<\/a> called the intervention a \u201cregrettable chapter in the continuous erosion of international law.\u201d Johnson is unmoved.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cInternational law is very important,\u201d he said. \u201cBut even the most liberal-minded people are not consistent with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

His closing thought returned to democracy itself: imperfect, often contested and essential.<\/p>\n

In a world where there are more autocracies than democracies, Johnson makes the case for the latter. The benefits outweigh the cons. Economic growth, peace of mind and \u201cfun\u201d are things worth fighting for. He does not view political polarization as an enemy to any of this.<\/p>\n

\u201cPolitical polarization is a feature of freedom to dissent,\u201d Johnson said. The ability to disagree is more valuable than a country without plurality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Martina Panteleon (left) and Olivia Samur (right) interview Boris Johnson on April 22 on UM’s campus. \/\/ Photo…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":254827,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-254826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254826","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=254826"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/254826\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=254826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=254826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=254826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}