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Abstract
Plato's references to Empedocles in the myth of the Statesman perform a crucial role in the overarching political argument of the dialogue. Empedocles conceives of the cosmos as structured like a democracy, where the constituent powers 'rule in turn', sharing the offices of rulership equally via a cyclical exchange of power. In a complex act of philosophical appropriation, Plato takes up Empedocles' cosmic cycles of rule in order to 'correct' them: instead of a democracy in which rule is shared cyclically amongst equal constituents, Plato's cosmos undergoes cycles of the presence and absence of a single cosmic monarch who possesses 'kingly epistēmē'. By means of a revision of Empedocles' democratic cosmology, Plato's richly woven myth is designed precisely to reject the appropriateness of democracy as a form of human political association and legitimate monarchy in its stead.

IN THE COMING YEARS, THE EUROPEAN UNION (EU) FACES THE PROSPECT OF ENLARGEMENT FROM FIFTEEN MEMBER STATES TO AS MANY AS TWENTY-SIX. IF PROPERLY PREPARED, AN ENLARGED EU COULD BRING INCREASED SECURITY, STABILITY AND PROSPERITY TO EUROPE. THE NEXT ENLARGEMENT WILL CLEARLY PRESENT DIFFERENT PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES FROM THOSE PRECEDING, AND THE UNION MAY HAVE TO FIND NEW APPROACHES AND NEW SOLUTIONS. THE PROSPECT OF EU MEMBERSHIP CONTINUES TO OFFER THE BEST INCENTIVE TO THE CENTRAL AND EAST EUROPEANS TO PERSEVERE WITH POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION. THE CHANGES WHICH HAVE TO BE MADE ARE OFTEN PAINFUL, AND SO FAR HAVE BROUGHT LITTLE REWARD FOR POLITICIANS IN OFFICE. WITHOUT THE SUSTAINED ENCOURAGEMENT OF THE EU, A NUMBER OF COUNTRIES COULD EASILY BE BLOWN OFF COURSE.

At the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, known as COP27, leaders from around the world are gathering to discuss solutions to climate change and global warming. Brookings experts explain what is on the agenda, and how the negotiations may play out. MADIHA AFZAL (@MadihaAfzal) Fellow, Center for Middle East Policy and…