Nobody can predict the course of developments in Iran in the next year or two. But Iranians won't stop supporting freedom and calling for an open, moderate country with an accountable government.
The recent brazen murders of two Bishkek-based journalists have shocked human rights groups that seek to pressure Central Asian governments into investigating such crimes and bringing the guilty to justice. But J.G. Cefalo says it is increasingly clear that those governments themselves are behind much of the violence, leaving any hopes that justice will prevail futile.
If trafficking is to be abated, if Moldova is to get back on its feet economically and politically, and if civil society and democracy are to be strengthened, Moldova needs to pay attention to the rights and democratic responsibilities of women.
The initial signs are that for all the promises of "sharp and serious" changes, the only real outcome of Russia's proposed police reforms is likely to be more centralization.
Iranian dissident Akbar Ganji says the Green Movement has achieved much in seven months, including reflecting broad dissatisfaction and bringing Iranians together.
Russia was only recently predicting a bright future for Gazprom. But demand from Europe is declining, the Russian economy has contracted, and even Gazprom's ability to provide future gas is under question.
Paul Goble says few can doubt that recent Russian claims that Georgia is providing support for Islamist and nationalist militants in the North Caucasus are absurd provocations. But he also says even fewer in Tbilisil seem to recognize that far more is riding on their responses.
An extensive study has revealed how little information Ukraine’s largest banks are willing to share about their finances and their management.
When the adolescent spirit reflects on questions of the world and humanity’s place in it, it is impossible to ignore the ubiquitous paradoxes of being.
We are enjoying our freedom of speech. We have the ability to express ourselves on particular topics and to do so in open public spaces and the mass media. But we must nonetheless express our beliefs within the limits and the terms of language itself. If language forms our thoughts (and vice versa), then totalitarianism has marked us in a fundamental way.
This essay was a runner-up in a contest of student essays sponsored by the Vaclav Havel Library to mark the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution.
For teenagers like me in the 1960s, Ashura was a time of sorrow and grief, yes, but the schools were closed for a few days. Now it is grief and politics, a lot of politics. Hate and a lot of slogans. "Down with..." or "Death to..." for political opponents -- even those who are Shi'ite clerics -- and moderates, and everybody and anybody who is not fully behind the current rulers of Iran.
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