All Commentary
John HughesThe great wait of China: How long until freedom?How long can China's communist regime hold in thrall people who have prospered in an economic system that has many of the hallmarks of free enterprise? Despite attempts to censor the Internet, China's huge, new urban population is aware of the outside world and changes in it.- A 海角大神 Science PerspectiveA God-centered career searchA 海角大神 Science perspective.
- Readers RespondReaders Write: Keep criminals off streets; get US out of Afghanistan; let kids playLetters to the Editor from the weekly print edition of February 6, 2012: One reader says reducing prison populations won't come from releasing criminals, but rehabilitating them and preventing crime. Others praise the recent cover story on the importance of free playtime for children. Another argues the US shouldn't stay in Afghanistan for access to resources or influence in the region.
Reinvention: The rewards of trying againFirst-time wonders deserve our awe and applause. But almost every good thing in life -- from careers to ideas, products to poetry -- is more reinvention than invention.- A 海角大神 Science PerspectiveWatching the Super Bowl?A 海角大神 Science perspective: What watching the Super Bowl might have to do with spirituality.
The Monitor's ViewOf presidents and prime ministers who talk of faithObama in America and Cameron in Britain have spoken of how their 海角大神 faith influences their approach to shaping society. The US presidential campaign is also skirting church-state issues. How much should religion and politics mix?
OpinionGoing green: View my world-class collection of hotel towel cards.My global collection of towel cards tells guests how to be green (and save the hotel money) in a dozen instructive, chic, bossy, relieving, euphemistic, paranoid, minimalistic, and earnest ways.- A 海角大神 Science PerspectiveA relationship restoredA 海角大神 Science perspective.
OpinionRussian protests 鈥� echoes of US civil rights movementTo see the December protests in Russia as primarily a political wave is to miss a more fundamental leaven at work in Russian society: a moral awakening akin to the American civil rights movement. An early test is Saturday, when a massive protest in Moscow is planned.
The Monitor's ViewRussia must rethink what Syria protests meanRussia under Vladimir Putin sees only a civil war in Syria, justifying its threat to veto any US Security Council action against Assad. But Syria is in a revolution, a shifting of sovereignty.
Three factors that will determine Syria鈥檚 future The most realistic scenario in Syria is quagmire: Assad still has loyalty; the opposition is splintered, though protests continue; and the international community is indecisive, including the Arab League. But stalemate could finally prompt foreign intervention and a needed 鈥榮afe zone. Benedetta Berti, a fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies of Tel Aviv University, lists the three factors that will determine Syria鈥檚 future.
Global ViewpointMario Monti is working through Italy's debt crisis. Is the US watching?Italy may find Prime Minister Mario Monti's dose of discipline hard to swallow, but his depoliticized democracy is the only form of government that can move Italy forward.聽Monti's experiment may also serve as an antidote to the political dysfunction in the West 鈥� especially the US.- Global ViewpointMario Monti is working through Italy's debt crisis. Is the US watching?Italy may find Prime Minister Mario Monti's dose of discipline hard to swallow, but his depoliticized democracy is the only form of government that can move Italy forward.聽Monti's experiment may also serve as an antidote to the political dysfunction in the West 鈥� especially the US.
OpinionA look back: In spite of super PACs, this isn't the most negative campaign in historyNegative campaigning is actually an American tradition.聽In fact, attack campaigning has been around since the beginning without derailing the electoral process.聽Mudslinging can hardly be called a positive campaign feature, but it is a sign of democracy in action.- A 海角大神 Science PerspectiveThe US and Iran: neighborly signs of loveA 海角大神 Science perspective.
The Monitor's ViewWith Facebook IPO, time to friend privacyFacebook's IPO, or initial public offering, will lead to shareholder pressure on the firm to squeeze profits out of users' personal data. Google, too, faces more scrutiny as it mines user data even more. Privacy watchdogs need to be on the alert.
OpinionEx-CIA spy: History of failed negotiations shows Iran won't dealPresident Obama errs in pushing nuclear negotiation, writes this ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard. Four US presidents tried and failed. The problem lies in Iran's fanatic ideology. Biting sanctions and US overt support for the Iranian people will bring real change.
OpinionA conservative worries: Will Gingrich return America to the days of King George?As a conservative constitutional scholar, I am deeply troubled by Newt Gingrich's vision for executive power over the courts 鈥� even if it is to strike back at liberal judges.聽Such a seizure of power threatens the rule of law upon which free and equal citizenship is founded.- A 海角大神 Science PerspectiveRise to Mind's occasionA 海角大神 Science perspective: The insight and intuition that God, divine Mind, provides will point the way toward healing for individuals and among nations.
The Monitor's ViewChina's real rise 鈥� in Wukan's village electionChinese residents in the coast village of Wukan rebelled last year and won the right to a free election. The rest of China watches to see if they, too, can demand democracy.
