http://www.project-syndicate.org/series/the_world_in_words <p><em>Although terms like “globalization” are invoked regularly by political leaders, public discussion about their meaning and the values they imply is mostly unsystematic and uncoordinated. Countries with common interests and concerns too often talk past each other.</em></p> <p>That need not be so. Project Syndicate’s weekly <strong>The World in Words</strong> commentaries inform general audiences around the world of the best and most influential ideas in politics, economics, and society. They establish a vehicle for broadening debate and exchanging ideas between East and West, North and South. They offer a unique framework within which newspapers can provide their readers with a deeper understanding of current developments in their own as well as distant societies.</p> en 2012-02-10T06:00:52+01:00 webmaster@project-syndicate.org webmaster@project-syndicate.org 1994-01-01T00:00:00+01:00 4 hourly http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/laidi1/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/laidi1/English>WEEKLY: Obama’s Middle East Malady</a> No sooner did Barack Obama welcome home US troops from Iraq and laud that country’s stability and democracy than an unprecedented wave of violence revealed the severity of Iraq’s political crisis. Is that crisis an unfortunate exception, or, rather, a symptom of the failure of Obama’s Middle East diplomacy, from Egypt to Afghanistan? Zaki Laidi 2012-02-08T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/gabowitsch1/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/gabowitsch1/English>WEEKLY: A Strategy for Russia’s Snow Revolution</a> So far, Russia's protesters have gotten much right: they have focused on a single demand – fair elections – and have united liberals, communists, nationalists, and otherwise apolitical citizens in a broad coalition. If their movement is to succeed, however, maintaining a commitment to non-violence is likely to be the key. Mischa Gabowitsch 2012-02-05T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/ashour9/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/ashour9/English>WEEKLY: What do Egypt’s Generals Want?</a> One year after Egypt's revolution began, the country's Praetorian rulers are eager for a system in which they maintain their vast economic holdings, legal immunity, and a final say over high politics. But the generals must contend with Islamists in Parliament and pressure from the street, suggesting that a more democratic system is possible. Omar Ashour 2012-01-30T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/burki13/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/burki13/English>WEEKLY: Demilitarizing Muslim Politics</a> The paramount question in countries as disparate as Egypt, Pakistan, and Turkey is whether Muslim governments can free themselves from their powerful militaries. To do so, they will have to overcome a tradition of governance dating from Islam’s founding in the seventh century. Shahid Javed Burki 2012-01-25T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/khanfar1/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/khanfar1/English>WEEKLY: The Arab Spring’s Balance Sheet</a> As the Arab world's old regimes vanish, the region’s entire value system, forged by autocracy, is also being transformed. But, if the Arab Spring fails from lack of external support, the result will not be dictatorships that are loyal to the West, but rather a tsunami of rage that will spare no one. Wadah Khanfar 2012-01-18T00:00:00+01:00 http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/ayoob1/English <a href=http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/ayoob1/English>WEEKLY: Turkey’s Balancing Act</a> A few months ago, many Americans were livid at what they perceived as Turkey’s betrayal, reflected in the country’s deteriorating relations with Israel and improving ties with Iran. But America’s anxiety wrongly assumes that it is a contradiction for Turkey to seek good relations with both the West and the Muslim Middle East. Mohammed Ayoob 2012-01-09T00:00:00+01:00