Number of words: 176 But inside the USSR, Amalrik’s book was not dismissed as the ranting of lunatic. The leadership new that Amalrik had exposed the Soviet regime’s soft underbelly. They understood their vulnerability to dissident ideas: even the smallest spark of freedom could set their entire totalitarian, dissident books were confiscated, and every typewriter … Read more

Number of words: 274              Take Russia for example. For hundreds of years, the Russians were believed to be “different” from their European cousins.  When the French political theorist Jean Bodin visited Russia in the 16th century, he observed that the czarist regime’s abosolute power stood in sharp contrast to the more limited rule of … Read more

Number of words: 199 Atfirst glance, the case against democracy taking hold in the Middle East is a powerful one. It is not without  reason that The Economist, a magazine not known for its anti-Muslim prejudices, asked whether there was something “hard-wired” into Islam that made it “incompatible with democracy.” In democracies, The Economist tells … Read more

Number of words: 262 Notwopeople, much less all the members of a community, have the exact same background, tastes, interest, priorities, will invariably lead people to respond to new situations in different ways. No matter how homogenous a society may seem, eventually differences will emerge and grow. The speed with which this process occurs will … Read more

Number of words: 268 Democracies, it is often observed, do not go to  war with one another. That scholars have taken to combing the annals of diplomatic history in search of notable exceptions only proves the rule. But though this familliar axiom is often stated as if it needs no further explanation, the logic behind … Read more

Number of words: 129 Years later, close advisers of Gorbachev admitted that the realization that the USSR could never complete with star wars made them finally accept demand for internal reform. A leading Soviet economist, put it this way. Had it not been for the Reagan defense buildup, if the United States had not demonstrated … Read more