Scholars, advocates, and activists seeking to make the U.S. a more responsible global partner.
Human Rights
Two Leaders, Two Deaths

Two Leaders, Two Deaths

by | Dec 19, 2011

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and Czech leader Vaclav Havel occupied the opposite ends of the political continuum. One fought against the corrupt communist powers; the other consolidated communist rule. One tried to inject morality into the practice of politics while the other pursued political ends with little or no reference to morality. Having made their marks first in the artistic sphere, they were both in some sense reluctant politicians. Once in power, they managed to stabilize their respective countries during difficult times. But they failed in their efforts at more dramatic transformation.

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Review: Zahra’s Paradise

Review: Zahra’s Paradise

by | Dec 16, 2011

A full year and a half before a popular uprising in Tunisia jolted the Arab world, a dramatic and still unfinished prelude was playing out in Iran’s Green Revolution. The enormous demonstrations against the apparently fraudulent reelection of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad – and the vicious crackdown subsequently unleashed by the country’s Supreme Leader – definitively severed, in the eyes of the world, the aspirations of Iran’s people from those of the thugs-cum-theocrats who had, until then, monopolized the country’s representation on the world stage.

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Can the West “Export” Gay Rights?

Can the West “Export” Gay Rights?

by | Dec 13, 2011

During the Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOG) meeting in Perth, Australia in late October, UK Prime Minister David Cameron warned a number of African leaders that if their respective countries ban homosexuality, they could risk losing UK aid money.

He may not have anticipated the swiftness and fury of the African response to his statement. 

 

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The Democratic Spectacular

by | Dec 12, 2011

What is happening at Occupy Wall Street? This has been a tauntingly difficult question for those not involved in the occupation to answer. Of course, there is an answer in every sign, and every carefully crafted rhyme. The sum of the signs point to an overwhelming wrong, impossible to reduce, a cacophony of misdeeds. Critics, aided and abetted by a media only too willing to set up oppositions where none exist, see in the ocean of signs a weakness. The guardians of the status quo would like to believe that, when it comes to demands, our unwillingness masks an inability. 

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Appeasement Complex

by | Dec 6, 2011

Back in 2008 when the Burmese military junta announced a new constitution as a step toward civilian rule, the international community responded with considerable skepticism. The military didn’t look as though it intended to give up any real power. When Thein Sein won election as president earlier this year, The New York Times described it as “a move that cements the military’s control of a new political system.” The new president was widely considered a puppet of the top military general Than Shwe.

Sometimes, though, puppets manage to take on a life of their own. 

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