Belfast Agreement shows it is possible to achieve great good in politicsMay 19, 2018Source: The Irish Times / www.theirishtimes.com / By Path Leahy / Pat Leahy: politics has been described as a combination of high purpose and low cunning It is one of the greatest political achievements that many of us will ever see, and there are many lessons to take from the …
In pictures: From inmate to president: leaders who served timeMay 18, 2018Source: ENCA / www.enca.com / By AFP / KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Anwar Ibrahim’s release from a Malaysian jail on Wednesday paves the way for him to become prime minister, a path from prison to power that has been trodden by some of the most famous leaders of the last …
The dream he hadMay 16, 2018Source: The Hindu / www.thehindu.com / Ramin Jahanbegloo / Fifty years after his assassination, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s ‘revolution of values’ resonates just as clearly We commonly say that historical figures are best known for their deeds. What manner of man was Martin Luther King, Jr.? To answer this question, …
Working with Students to Reclaim the Revolutionary Roots of Czech TheatreMay 16, 2018Source: HowlRound / www.howlround.com / By Hannah Sachs / “Now let’s create an image of exclusion,” I explained to the classroom of young Czech teens. Silently, they arranged themselves into a landscape of frozen poses, working together to create a tableau based on their personal understanding of the word. Some …
A revolution of values: Freedom, responsibility, and courage in the Armenian Velvet RevolutionMay 7, 2018Source: The London School of Economics and Political Science / www.lse.ac.uk / Mass protests in Armenia, which began in April and led to the resignation of Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan, have been dubbed a ‘Velvet Revolution’. Armine Ishkanian explains that this revolution has been rooted in the values of Armenian …
Ombudsman nominates Georgian activist in occupied Akhalgori for UN and Vaclav Havel PrizesMay 4, 2018Source: Agenda.ge / www.agenda.ge / The Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria has nominated Tamar Mearakishvili, a Georgian activist based in the country’s occupied Akhalgori area, for the United Nations Human Rights Prize and Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize for her “outstanding contribution to defending the rights of conflict-affected population”. Lomjaria …
Chris Jones: Stage Left Theatre has a real history in Chicago — now future is in doubtMay 4, 2018Source: The Pantagraph / www.pantagraph.com / By Chris Jones / CHICAGO — As I walked my dog near Wrigley Field the other night, the two of us stopped among the bars and the noise, and stood and stared outside 3408 N. Sheffield Ave. That address used to be the home …
Can It Happen Here? Madeleine Albright Examines Fascism Then and NowApril 28, 2018Source: The New York Times / www.nytimes.com / By Sheri Berman / FASCISM A Warning By Madeleine Albright with Bill Woodward 288 pp. Harper/HarperCollins Publishers. $27.99. The fall of the Berlin Wall caused euphoria in the West. George H. W. Bush declared that “the end of the Cold War has …
Kaepernick honored with Amnesty International award… in the NetherlandsApril 27, 2018Source: The Wild Card / www.westernjournal.com / Todd Windsor / Colin Kaepernick has antagonized many Americans with his divisive national anthem protests, his police-as-pigs socks, his defense of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro and his $25,000 donation to a group honoring a convicted cop-killer. But his actions have earned him accolades overseas …
Chinese money sows European disunionApril 27, 2018Source: Nikkei Asian Review / www.asia.nikkei.com / Hiroyuki Akita / TOKYO — The roots of democracy once looked destined to spread worldwide. Yet now they are withering as one country after another veers toward authoritarianism. This is especially noticeable in Eastern Europe. And lest anyone in Asia consider it a distant …
Sudhakar Solomonraj: The last of the MohicansApril 27, 2018Source: Mumbai Mirror / www.mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com / By Ramu Ramanathan / His Wilson College colleagues, who share the staff room (not that he is oft-spotted in the staff room), say there is a mystique about Sudhakar Solomonraj. I noticed him for the first time at the Mumbai University when I used …
Lithuania, a new democracy, a new friendApril 27, 2018Source: The Columbia Star / www.thecolumbiastar.com / By Warner M. Montgomery, Ph.D. / According to Lithuanian government figures, unemployment in Uzupio is 13 percent, 80 percent of the people are ethnic Lithuanian, the average age of the citizens is 65, 75 percent of the homes are privately owned, and …
An Armenian rhapsodyApril 27, 2018Source:The Christian Science Monitor / www.csmonitor.com / Spontaneous mass protests in the former Soviet state of Armenia have ended a deceitful power play by a longtime ruler to stay in office. In throwing off their fears, Armenians showed others in repressive countries how to ‘live in the truth.’ April 24, …
How To Make a Leader Step DownApril 3, 2018Source: Jstor Daily / www.daily.jstor.org / Farah Mohammed / President Xi Jinping has recently managed to abolish term limits, sounding alarm bells that China is about to return to strongman rule. What compels some leaders to discard the rules of the very systems that led them to power? Scholar Alexander …
Prague Spring 50 event to bring ‘world-class’ artists to Lincoln for commemoration of Czech historyApril 3, 2018Source: Lincoln Journal Star / www.journalstar.com / By Hana Muslic / For several months in 1968, before the Soviet-ordered Warsaw Pact invasion, Czechoslovakia experienced a short, sweet time of political liberalization under an authoritarian regime. This period was called the Prague Spring and, though the attempt was ill-fated, it instilled a …