In The News

Liam Fox's Atlantic Bridge Linked Top Tories and Tea Party Activists

Jamie Doward October 18, 2011
It’s a nation’s worst nightmare – secret foreign meddling in national politics. A British investigation of the charity Atlantic Bridge has led to the resignation of the British defense secretary. Atlantic Bridge, a charity, was also a networking group for conservatives to defend common interests in a globalized economy, linking corporate interests with British cabinet members, US senators and...

Coptic Christians Rage Against Egypt’s Army

October 12, 2011
Egypt’s revolution demanding human rights and just representation could be high-jacked by special interests. Tensions between Muslims and Coptic Christians, the latter making up about 10 percent of Egypt’s population of 80 million, are on the rise. The military took brutal measures on Coptic Christians protesting the burning of a church by Muslim extremists, and at least 25 people died. The...

Emerging Democracies Coy on Denouncing Syrian Repression

Christophe Jaffrelot October 10, 2011
The Arab Spring protests have put emerging powers on the spot. French scholar Christophe Jaffrelot explores whether fledgling democracies have an obligation to aid the citizens of repressive states in securing democratic freedoms – why India, Brazil and South Africa resisted a UN Security Council resolution to intervene in Libya and declined to seek resolution against Sryia’s al-Bassad regime for...

Will Asia Save Global Capitalism?

Pepe Escobar October 6, 2011
Companies of the West collaborated and profited from the rise of Asian economies: The ascent of neoliberalism lifted, then disappointed the West’s middle classes; the rapid rise of the middle class in China, India and elsewhere may give capitalism but a temporary reprieve, argues Pepe Escobar in an essay for Al Jazeera. Global inequities clash with shared aspirations that are unsustainable...

The Arab Spring’s Unintended Consequences

Christopher Hill September 29, 2011
As the Arab Spring protests continue, the region endures repression and economic upheaval, to be exacerbated with impending US troop withdrawal from Iraq. Christopher Hill, former US assistant secretary of state for Asia during the Bush administration, links sectarian clashes with US withdrawal in Iraq in a Project Syndicate essay. A US-led international coalition deposed Iraq’s dictator, leading...

Taking It to the Streets

Nayan Chanda September 14, 2011
Inspired by protests in the Arab world, thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in August to support one man’s fast. India is already the world’s largest democracy, and the goal of these protesters is reforming democracy to expose and end pervasive corruption. Government employees at every level routinely demand extra fees, small and large, simply to do their job. Favoritism, bribes and...

Democratic Hysteria

Pranab Bardhan September 8, 2011
Democracy requires an educated and well-informed citizenry, and to paraphrase former US President Thomas Jefferson, a nation cannot expect to be both ignorant and free, living in a state of civilization. Two intelligent leaders, Barack Obama and Manmohan Singh, are being sidelined by ignorant and passionate debates, observes economist Pranab Bardhan in an essay for Project Syndicate. In a quest...