18 Facts About Larry Diamond

Larry Jay Diamond was born on October 2,1951 and is an American political sociologist and scholar in the field of democracy studies.

At the Institute Larry Diamond served as the director of the Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law from 2009 to 2016.

Larry Diamond was succeeded in that role by Francis Fukuyama and then Kathryn Stoner.

Larry Diamond has served as an advisor to numerous governmental and international organizations at various points in his life, including the United States Department of State, United Nations, World Bank, and US Agency for International Development.

Larry Diamond is a founding co-editor of the National Endowment for Democracy's Journal of Democracy, stepping down from that role in fall 2022.

Larry Diamond was assistant professor of sociology at Vanderbilt University.

Larry Diamond was founding co-director of the National Endowment for Democracy's International Forum for Democratic Studies.

Larry Diamond was named Stanford's "Teacher of the Year" in May 2007.

Larry Diamond was the dissertation adviser for Regina Ip, former Secretary for Security of Hong Kong during her years at Stanford.

In 2022, Larry Diamond joined Yermak-McFaul Expert Group on Russian Sanctions as an expert to work on elaborating and imposing international sanctions against Russia which invaded Ukraine.

In early 2004, Larry Diamond was a senior adviser on governance to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq.

Larry Diamond's book Squandered Victory: The American Occupation and the Bungled Effort to Bring Democracy to Iraq, published in 2005, was one of the first public critical analyses of America's post-invasion of Iraq strategy.

Larry Diamond believes solving a country's governance, rather than its economy, is the answer.

Larry Diamond has written and edited many pieces on the growth of democracy and its current recession on an international level.

Larry Diamond cites Vladimir Putin in Russia and Hugo Chavez in Venezuela as examples.

Unlike many other political scientists, Larry Diamond doesn't hold economic development, or lack thereof, as the number one factor in the decline of democracy.

Larry Diamond cites the Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki as an example.

Larry Diamond believes if governance is not improved in democratic states, people will turn to authoritarian alternatives.