Democracy

Lonely Planet Responds to 'Leftist Planet'

The quotes in Michael Moynihan's article are taken out of context and mischaracterize Lonely Planet's mission.

BY STEPHEN PALMER | AUGUST 22, 2012

The Point Guard

Susan Rice calls the plays for Barack Obama at the United Nations. Could she lead his foreign-policy team next? Should she?

BY JAMES TRAUB | SEPT/OCT 2012

Revolutionary Calculus

Hussein Ibish is too quick to dismiss the Arab Spring as a failure.

SEPT/OCT 2012

Failed States Index

The troubling ambiguity of FP's rankings. Plus: Finland comes in last for once.

SEPT/OCT 2012

The Reformer in Rabat

Is Morocco’s King Mohammed VI the savviest ruler in the Arab world?

BY JAMES TRAUB | AUGUST 10, 2012

Fiasco in the Levant

Unless the United States gets serious now about its postwar planning, Syria could spin out of control.

BY JAMES DOBBINS | AUGUST 8, 2012

Smokeless Stoves, Girl-Friendly Schools, and the Bloc That Wasn’t

Academic economists usually air their new ideas first in working papers. Here, before the work gets dusty, a quick look at transition policy research in progress.

BY PETER PASSELL | AUGUST 3, 2012

Burma's Lost Boys

The government in Burma is promising to clean up its act. But the army is still recruiting child soldiers.

BY PATRICK BODENHAM | AUGUST 2, 2012

Local Bloodshed, Global Headache

Sectarian conflict in Burma is once again spurring talk of a “global war against Islam.”

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | AUGUST 1, 2012

The Arabian Horse

Can Egypt's economy deliver on the revolutionary promise of a better future for all?

BY MOHAMED A. EL-ERIAN | JULY 31, 2012

The Full Measure of Freedom

Can democracy be benchmarked?

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | JULY 25, 2012

The House of Nehru-Gandhi

India ought to consider becoming a constitutional monarchy. After all, it already has a royal family.

BY SADANAND DHUME | JULY 20, 2012

Baby Steps

With the slow but steady consolidation of militias and the success of moderate democratic parties, despite all odds, it seems like Libya might be on the right path.

BY JAMES TRAUB | JULY 20, 2012

Democracy, Salafi Style

One of Saudi Arabia's most popular hardline clerics just embraced democracy. Should we worry, or applaud?

BY AARON Y. ZELIN | JULY 20, 2012

Rebuilding the Police in Kosovo

In the wake of its war with the Serbs, Kosovo faced a yawning law enforcement gap. Here's how the international community helped an embyronic country rebuild its police.

BY MORGAN GREENE, JONATHAN FRIEDMAN, RICHARD BENNET | JULY 18, 2012

Hope But No Change

Why has President Obama abandoned the one country in Africa he promised to help?

BY MVEMBA PHEZO DIZOLELE | JULY 16, 2012

Give Mexico a Chance

It wouldn’t actually be that hard to restore Mexico’s economic fortunes -- if the new president is willing to show some backbone.

BY ROBERT LOONEY | JULY 16, 2012

Talking a Great Game

So far, Washington's pivot to Asia has included a lot of work on security and trade. Democracy, not so much.

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | JULY 11, 2012

India Singhs the Blues

Why the country will pay the price for its wildly overrated prime minister.

BY SADANAND DHUME | JULY 9, 2012

Latin America's Paraguayan Hangover

Some Latin American leaders have peculiar ideas about what constitutes an assault on democratic principles.

BY MAC MARGOLIS | JULY 9, 2012

The Women of Tahrir Square Fight Back

The revolution in Egypt isn’t over -- at least as long as female revolutionaries have anything to say about it.

BY CHRISTIAN CARYL | JULY 5, 2012

Burma's Misled Righteous

How Burma’s pro-democracy movement betrayed its own ideals and rehabilitated the military

BY FRANCIS WADE | JULY 5, 2012

Unipolar Disorder

Why are American voters so all over the place when it comes to foreign policy?

INTERVIEW BY MICHAEL A. COHEN | JULY 3, 2012

The Return of the Mexican Dinosaur

Mexico's pretty-boy president is more dangerous than he looks.

BY JOHN M. ACKERMAN | JULY 2, 2012

Reach Out to Morsy

Egypt's new president may be no moderate, but he deserves a chance to prove he's no enemy.

BY YOSSI BEILIN | JULY 2, 2012

Mexico's Bright Light

Even as the country around it sinks into a morass of drug-fueled crime, Mexico City has remained surprisingly safe.

BY LARRY KAPLOW | JUNE 29, 2012

Sympathy for the Devil

Nostalgia for an ousted tyrant is on the rise in Ivory Coast.

BY AUSTIN MERRILL | JUNE 29, 2012

Disorganized Like a Fox

Why it's a great thing that the Syrian opposition is fragmented.

BY ELIZABETH O'BAGY | JUNE 29, 2012

The Missing 50 Percent

There’s no real democracy without full representation for women.

BY SUSAN A. MARKHAM | JUNE 29, 2012

Putin's Got America Right Where He Wants It

And that's bad news for Obama.

BY MICHAEL WEISS | JUNE 28, 2012