F ew today in the United States have borne the kind of scars Dr. George Kieh has for freedom.

Born and raised on a rubber plantation in Liberia, Georgia College & State University’s latest Coverdell Visiting Scholar learned about injustice firsthand. His father worked the plantation 35 years, and treatment for laborers could be harsh.
 
By middle school, Kieh had organized his first social-justice movement. He later became president of the University of Liberia’s Student Government Association. When he was in college in 1979, he was arrested, charged with treason and tortured.

He was imprisoned three months.

After his release, Kieh went to the United States to get his master’s and Ph.D. in political science from Northwestern University. Going back to Liberia in 1983 to research his dissertation—again, Kieh was arrested. This time, he was sent to a maximum-security prison and did four month’s hard labor.

Kieh was imprisoned both times for protesting against his government.

Twice, in 1989 and 1999, Kieh witnessed the oppression that disintegrates countries into civil war. He knows how hard it is for freedom to come back once a nation embraces the absolute power of dictatorship.

These life lessons pushed him to become an educator, and it’s what continues to energize him—prompting him to warn all who will listen: “Don’t go down that path.”

“The best authoritarian system is worse than the most flawed democratic system,” Kieh said, pointing to Russia, China and Venezuela.

“We no longer want democracy; we want autocracy, because it's like a shiny object that people run after that’s gonna solve all their personal and group problems and whatnot,” he said. “But Americans need to be mindful. We need to preserve this system, because I will argue that it provides the best opportunity for us to advance both the country's best interests as well as our own.”

Kieh spent his long career promoting those very notions.

He’s an expert on foreign policy, conflicts, civil wars, global terrorism and genocide. He taught politics at six universities including the University of West Georgia, University of Memphis in Tennessee, Illinois Wesleyan University and Morehouse College in Atlanta.

His subjects range from international relations and comparative political systems to contemporary African politics and democracy. Right now, he’s on sabbatical from Texas Southern University in Houston, where he was dean of the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs.

His resume is 39 pages long—an illustrious career filled with teaching positions, research, administrative experience, academic memberships, grants received, leadership and teaching awards and many publications of books, book chapters and journals.

As Georgia College’s Coverdell Visiting Scholar—a position that started in 2019 through the College of Arts & Sciences—Kieh is expected to teach a course, lead campus conversations and hold public events.

He recently lectured on “Clashing Political Values” during Constitution Week.

While imperfect, he argued, American democracy is still better than living with rigged elections and people disappearing when they “cross the line” or their political use is gone.

The longest-running democracies are the United States, United Kingdom and France. That’s why the recent years of political rancor in America concerns him. Each year, there are fewer democracies in the world.

Autocracy would only bring instability, he said, not improvement.

“One of the good things about democracy in America is that at least it provides an opportunity, a way for citizens who have grievances. They can freely express opinions without fear of recrimination from the government,” Kieh said.

“Democrats, Republicans, Independents, whites, Blacks, Hispanics, Catholics, Protestants Muslims—irrespective of our differences, we need to cross the broad divide,” he said. “Americans need to come together to preserve democracy. If I’m a Democrat and you’re a Republican, we’re enemies now. It’s gone from being opponents to being enemies. It’s like a ticking time bomb.”

Kieh presents these arguments in his sophomore class on “Democratization and Democracy.” Students are asked to choose a country and make presentations on political systems. They also watch documentaries on countries that are autocratic or leaning in that direction.

On Oct. 26, Kieh’s class will be in the audience for a student townhall forum on “The State of Democracy in the U.S.” Four political science students and a history major will present on topics such as elections and access to ballots. It will be followed by questions and discussion.

Then, Nov. 9-11, Kieh is hosting a conference at Georgia College on “Democracy in the World.” Thirteen professors will speak from Georgia College, the University of West Georgia, North Carolina Central University and as far away as California.

The presentations will become chapters in two books Kieh plans to publish.

Ultimately, Kieh hopes to make an impact at Georgia College by making a case against complacency.

He wants Americans to wake up before it’s too late and firmly say “Enough.”

“You know, it doesn't matter to me where you come from or what you look like, if we have shared ideals,” Kieh said. “I've been across the U.S., and I've had the privilege of working with different groups from churches to civic organizations. In my experience, that's the best way to solve our problems. Come together.”

“Otherwise, a civil war is not outside the realm of possibility, because people are so divided,” he warned. “I believe in this country. I believe in democracy. But you got to rejuvenate it from time to time and, unfortunately, that rejuvenation is not taking place.”