Possible topics this quarter will include conflict and war, corruption, culture, protest movements and rebellion, state capacity and development, autocratic politics, and democratization.
Indeed, the Raptor is a prime example of the strange alchemy that can happen when a company takes an autocratic approach to product development.
For many Indians looking longingly over the garden fence at autocratic China's rapid development, there is only one candidate for a no-nonsense, charismatic leader who promises growth and clean government (and who won't take shit from Pakistan, China or America): Narendra Modi.
Yet this "giving" culture also helps support and spread a distinctly authoritarian form of economic development that mirrors the autocratic leadership style of the executives who predominantly fund it.
But in democratic India, unlike autocratic China, acquiring land for development is a greater bar to industrialisation than any tax particularly in West Bengal, the country's most densely populated state.
In short, the Confucian state is a double-edged sword: it can be deployed for national development, whether via autocratic or democratic means, or for the attainment of the objectives of a "bad emperor".
But we and others who believe that countries often remain poor precisely because they retain autocratic political structures believe that a development-first strategy perpetuates a deadly cycle of poverty, conflict, and oppression.
He warns, "If the region's autocratic regimes were magically to fall, the development of strong private sectors and civil societies could take decades".
Nicaragua can be characterized by its agricultural economy, its history of autocratic government, and its imbalance of regional development—almost all settlement and economic activity are concentrated in the western half of the country.
Mr. Flaherty, a member of the City Council since 2000, had criticized Mr. Menino's stewardship of the public schools, accused him of making backroom development deals and questioned his autocratic style.
Ying Zheng's autocratic rule lasted 37 years and saw incredible tyranny alongside incredible development, yet despite his controversial role in history, the Terracotta Warriors represent the greatest evidence of his legacy.
