In The News

Syria Is Dying

Azeem Ibrahim August 29, 2013
A brutal civil war reigns in Syria, as demonstrated by scenes of a neighborhood waking to a chemical attack that killed hundreds. International critics allege that the regime, clinging to power, is responsible for the attack, even as the United Nations investigates. The country has become the center for a regional proxy war and a battleground for the two leading branches of Islam, explains Azeem...

Mosque or Modernity?

Michel Rocard August 28, 2013
The Arab Spring toppled some dictators, but countries have yet to organize strong institutions for democratic governance. Inequality and poverty destabilize the region, along with violence in Egypt, Libya, Iraq and Syria. “There are no easy ways out of underdevelopment without challenging traditional lifestyles, customs, and social relations,” writes former French Prime Minister Michel Rocard....

Winners and Losers After Arab Spring

Lindsay J. Benstead, Ellen M. Lust, Dhafer Malouche, Gamal Soltan, Jakob Wichmann August 27, 2013
Each political transition underway since the Arab Spring has its own characteristics, reports a group of researchers who conducted post-election surveys in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia. The international community should resist applying stereotypical responses. “A one-size-fits-all approach to the transition processes – and particularly to development assistance aimed at fostering democratization –...

Philippines Web Activists Show Power of Internet Campaigns

James Hookway, Joesphine Cuneta August 26, 2013
An internet campaign in the Philippines has shamed politicians on special-interest spending that directs funding to projects in specific districts. The president has taken steps to end legislative discretionary-spending budgets after an internet campaign blasted phony and unnecessary projects listed in the Priority Development Assistance Fund, reports the Wall Street Journal: “Philippine...

China-US Vie for World Approval

Bruce Stokes August 22, 2013
Results of a Pew Research Center survey suggest global citizens anticipate shifting balance of power resulting from China’s economic rise. Most respondents in the nations surveyed expect China to eventually overtake the US, reports Bruce Stokes, director of global economic attitudes at the Pew Research Center. Yet inevitability may not coincide with preference. “As its influence grows, China is...

How to Keep the NSA Out of Your Computer

Clive Thompson August 21, 2013
Creating a regional “mesh” online connection, avoiding the internet, began as a cost-cutting move in rural areas of Spain, Greece and Africa to avoid costly connection fees. But activists in countries as diverse as Syria and the United States now create exclusive mesh networking systems as a way to avoid surveillance systems. “Scores of communities worldwide have been building these roll-your-own...

How the Wealthy Keep Themselves on Top

Tim Harford August 20, 2013
Inequality is pronounced and widening, particularly in the United States and the United Kingdom, but also Australia and Canada. People tend to care more about inequality during times of economic crisis, suggests Tim Harford. “The uncomfortable truth is that market forces – that is, the result of freely agreed contracts – are probably behind much of the rise in inequality,” he writes for the...