Civil Society
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Snapshot,
April 11, 2013
As recent protests indicate, Indians increasingly believe that their government is letting them down. New Delhi's faults -- criminalism, cronyism, and corruption -- are well known. Less understood is that these problems result from positive developments, that they will get worse before they get better, and that the solution is not less democracy, as some have suggested, but even more.
Snapshot,
April 9, 2013
The whole of Europe seems to be in economic and political crisis. But there is a small area of calm at the continent’s core: Switzerland. Although much of what makes the country successful would not translate to the rest of Europe, the parts of its political framework that encourage popular legitimacy would -- and they would go a long way toward solving other European governments' problems.
Snapshot,
April 5, 2013
The U.S. embassy in Cairo's Twitter feed is once again embroiled in controversy. As the episode shows, tweeting can occasionally lead to trouble. But social media is good for governments and for citizens. For officials to ignore or disdain it would amount to professional malpractice.
Anti-Americanism might have ebbed momentarily thanks to U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and support for the Arab Spring. But hostility is once again mounting in the Arab world. In Amaney Jamal's new book, she tries to determine why.
Snapshot,
March 13, 2013
In February, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff announced that she would seek a second term in office. Given the country's poor economic performance, the coming election season will not be an easy one for her.
Snapshot,
February 19, 2013
Rooting out poverty is difficult. In the case of India, however, addressing landlessness has already improved the lives of millions and sparked inclusive and sustainable economic growth.
Snapshot,
January 20, 2013
Recent reports have oversimplified the conflict in Mali, hinting that the country hosts a coherent Tuareg separatist bloc and a popular radical Islamist movement. In fact, mainstream Malians love neither. Most of them just want a return to democracy with broader participation and more freedoms -- the precise opposite of what they fear the separatists and Islamists would bring. As long as French assistance helps hold those groups off, it will be welcome.
Snapshot,
January 15, 2013
In the run up to elections this spring, the complicated power struggle between Pakistan's politicians, judiciary, and military has erupted, resulting in the judiciary issuing an arrest warrant for the prime minister and the military perhaps backing a huge protest demanding the government's dissolution. If Pakistan's elected government weathers the storm, it will become the country's first to complete a full term in office -- a feat that might not be as impossible as it seems.
Snapshot,
January 9, 2013
In November, former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's closest adviser was sentenced to ten years in jail for corruption. Now, the highest court seems determined to go after Lula himself. Whatever the final result, the judges' campaign has convinced Brazil's taxpaying middle class that it is time to stop tolerating graft.
Snapshot,
January 2, 2013
When Victor Hugo wrote the original Les Misérables, he aimed to reconcile France's Catholic and revolutionary traditions. But Tom Hooper's film adaptation of the musical version focuses on the redemptive power of religion, not of revolution, illustrating the modern world's pessimism about revolutionary change.
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