Democracy on the ropes?

Democracy on the ropes?

Since 2006, the Economist Intelligence Unit has measured the quality of democracy in 167 countries and territories across the world. Its last index, for 2024, was published in February. Over the past eighteen years, the average score has declined — both globally and for each of the world’s regions —
The struggle against terror and extremism

The struggle against terror and extremism

After the uprising of radical leftist forces and extremist Islamist groups in 1979 and their seizure of power in Iran, a period of brutal repression began, marked by torture, executions, and the systematic assassination of dissidents. Thousands of Iranians were forced into exile. Yet many of us never abandoned the struggle against tyranny and Islamist ...
A triumph of human resistance

A triumph of human resistance

Around 40,000 years Before Present, during the last ice age of the Pleistocene, explorers walked from Wilson’s Promontory, the Australian mainland’s southern-most projection, to northeast Tasmania, crossing an isthmus exposed by falling sea levels. In time, the entire Bassian Plain was exposed — wider than the island itself — and

Democracy on the ropes?

Democracy on the ropes?
Since 2006, the Economist Intelligence Unit has measured the quality of democracy in 167 countries and territories across the world. Its last index, for 2024, was published in February. Over the past eighteen years, the average score has declined — both globally and for each of the world’s regions —

The struggle against terror and extremism

The struggle against terror and extremism
After the uprising of radical leftist forces and extremist Islamist groups in 1979 and their seizure of power in Iran, a period of brutal repression began, marked by torture, executions, and the systematic assassination of dissidents. Thousands of Iranians were forced into exile. Yet many of us never abandoned the struggle against tyranny and Islamist ...

A triumph of human resistance

A triumph of human resistance
Around 40,000 years Before Present, during the last ice age of the Pleistocene, explorers walked from Wilson’s Promontory, the Australian mainland’s southern-most projection, to northeast Tasmania, crossing an isthmus exposed by falling sea levels. In time, the entire Bassian Plain was exposed — wider than the island itself — and