When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the [...]

As Andrew Sullivan has chronicled, it has been a couple of exciting weeks for those who hope technology will unleash a wave of democratization.  Texts, tweets and technorati have surely played a role.  At the same time, Marx predicted the railroad would lead to the dictatorship of the proletariat, and we all know how that [...]

Dambisa Moyo  is one of Time’s 100 most influential people alongside the women of The View and ahead of Vladimir Putin (influential last year.  This year, meh).  She continues to attract attention and stir acrimonious debate.  But one thing her critics and supporters agree about is that Africa is in a mess.   
I’ve just finished [...]

As the healthcare debate continues raging in the US, universally covered Europeans look on smugly from the sidelines.  (Well, not all Europeans.    Tim Worstall argues that high US health spending is the successful application of the will of the market.) 
Meanwhile, President Obama has been telling his staff to read Atul Gawande on the weak relationship between spending and the [...]

Not Iran this time!
I’ve been in Senegal the last couple of weeks. And, you know? Senegal is (1) 90% Muslim, and (2) a vibrant democracy.
The opposition won the last couple of elections. The press is free — sometimes obnoxiously so. Human rights violations are relatively rare. (Nonexistent, really, [...]

Suddenly, an event manager in London is having a very bad night. Fifty sold-out shows to refund.
Just at this moment, the O2 Arena page reads, “Michael Jackson - THIS IS IT!” I bet it won’t for much longer.

If you’re a human being who speaks French, you’re more likely to be African than European. La Francophonie’s demographic center of gravity is now somewhere around Bamako, Mali.
If you’re a human being who is literate in French — say, at a high school graduate level — you’re probably European. But not [...]

US defeats Spain in the Confederations Cup, 2-0.

One man’s opinion.

Read more… or Read more right here… »

My Iran null hypothesis is now
(1) Neither Ahmadinejad nor Khameini, nor their supporters, were expecting this degree of blowback. The size and intensity of the [...]

about Iran.
via Andrew Sullivan — who, for his work this past week, shall be forgiven much — comes Daniel Larison, fretting about regime collapse and separatist movements in Iran. Those strike me as deeply improbable. Iran is not a failed or even a particularly weak state; if the current incumbents are forced out [...]