New York Times (December 2)
“The dictatorship remains, and those detained as a result of the street protests are presumably still in jail. But Wednesday’s announcement is a remarkable turnabout. Historically, popular protests in modern China have not resulted in more freedom but in less.” “The dictatorship remains, and those detained as a result of the street protests are presumably still in jail. But Wednesday’s announcement is a remarkable turnabout. Historically, popular protests in modern China have not resulted in more freedom but in less.”
Tags: China, Detained, Dictatorship, Freedom, Jail, Popular protests, Remarkable, Street protests, Turnabout
Washington Post (August 18)
“Just as Afghanistan refuted the Soviet delusion that communism was the future, it has rebutted the American fantasy that there is a functional liberal democracy inside every theocracy or dictatorship, just waiting for us to let it out. Ethnicity, culture and religion are fundamental elements of human nature that have to be acknowledged, not engineering problems that can be solved.”
Tags: Acknowledged, Afghanistan, Communism, Culture, Delusion, Dictatorship, Ethnicity, Fantasy, Future, Human nature, Liberal democracy, Rebutted, Refuted, Religion, Soviet, Theocracy, U.S.
Wall Street Journal (March 10)
“The Venezuelan dictatorship is trying to use a nationwide power outage against its political opposition by claiming sabotage.” A more plausible reason is “the colossal failure… to invest in the country’s decrepit hydroelectric plants…. The blackout and the chaos that has ensued is a metaphor for the catastrophe known as Venezuela. Every aspect of the nation’s infrastructure, physical and institutional, has broken down.”
Tags: Blackout, Broken down, Chaos, Colossal failure, Dictatorship, Hydroelectric, Infrastructure, Power outage, Sabotage, Venezuela
The Economist (March 3)
“Last weekend China stepped from autocracy into dictatorship. That was when Xi Jinping, already the world’s most powerful man, let it be known that he will change China’s constitution so that he can rule as president for as long as he chooses—and conceivably for life.”0
Tags: Autocracy, China, Constitution, Dictatorship, President, Xi
Financial Times (January 29, 2014)
After such great hope, the Arab Spring evaporated. Whether some countries ultimately took steps forward or backwards remains unclear. A few have obviously fallen into anarchy. “Still, amid all the gloom, there is one country – Tunisia – which suddenly appears within striking distance of successfully completing the journey from dictatorship to democracy.” With a new constitution clearing the path for free elections, Tunisia may be able to stand “as a beacon of what can be achieved if Islamists and secularists set aside their differences for the greater good.”After such great hope, the Arab Spring evaporated. Whether some countries ultimately took steps forward or backwards remains unclear. A few have obviously fallen into anarchy. “Still, amid all the gloom, there is one country – Tunisia – which suddenly appears within striking distance of successfully completing the journey from dictatorship to democracy.” With a new constitution clearing the path for free elections, Tunisia may be able to stand “as a beacon of what can be achieved if Islamists and secularists set aside their differences for the greater good.”
Tags: Anarchy, Arab spring, Constitution, Democracy, Dictatorship, Differences, Elections, Greater good, Hope, Islamists, Secularists, Tunisia
Washington Post (August 15)
The “refusal to take a firm stand against massive violations of human rights is as self-defeating for the United States as it is unconscionable. Continued U.S. support for the Egyptian military is helping to push the country toward a new dictatorship rather than a restored democracy.” The U.S. should suspend all aid until “the generals end their campaign of repression and take tangible steps to restore democracy.”
Tags: Aid, Democracy, Dictatorship, Egypt, Human rights, Military, Repression, U.S., Violations