All The Monitor's View
- A Thanksgiving lesson for the #MeToo movement
In starting the holiday during the Civil War, Lincoln sought not only to encourage gratitude but a humility to repent. The current civil strife over sexual wrongdoing will require similar penitence.
- Time to tally up Africa’s progress in governance
Events in Zimbabwe point to a continental shift toward democracy, driven by a mass of young people demanding accountability.
- Zimbabwe's new liberation struggle
The surprise sidelining of a longtime dictator has many in Zimbabwe looking inward on their role in propping him up. Their mental liberation may influence the ongoing power struggle
- Protecting the innocent from cyber warriors
With new warnings of harm to civilian networks, the world may need a ‘digital Geneva Convention.’
- What really fell in Zimbabwe’s coup
The Army’s sidelining of President Robert Mugabe came after he picked his wife to rule after him, denying democratic ideals rooted in equality. History is littered with the overthrow of family dynasties and progress toward basic rights.
- A petrostate’s path back from the debt brink
Despite its vast oil wealth, Venezuela has entered a debt crisis of its own making. The only way out is to return to democratic ideals and lift the ‘resource curse.’
- Measuring the kindness of strangers
Nations and online users are being tracked on their kindness toward strangers. One country in particular, Singapore, actively promotes it.
- Thanksgiving’s ties to safety and comfort
The spirit of giving expressed in Lincoln’s Thanksgiving proclamation during a violent war has endured in helping to curb today’s violence.
- An awakening to end mass shootings?
Even without a shift on gun control, the US can still devise a strategy to prevent large-scale attacks. One country in North Africa shows how.
- A sweet note of religious harmony in Indonesia
A court in the world’s most populous Muslim country bans religious discrimination by the government, creating a legal beacon for the region and Islamic world.
- The budding Saudi revolution
A powerful crown prince has upended the old pillars of governance with major arrests and the sidelining of religious clerics. But will he anchor new pillars in democratic ideas?
- Why mass shootings at a church are different
The motives of such killers matter less than how the faithful respond. After the Texas church massacre, locals turned to qualities of thought that deny a place for hate.
- Social media shine a light on themselves
Russia meddling in US politics has forced social media giants to better parse the truth and civility on their platforms. A divided citizenry should follow their example.
- A lesson for states that expand gambling
Pennsylvania follows many other states in a major expansion of gambling. Yet the US must heed warnings from other countries, especially Britain.
- New York’s response to a truck terrorist
The attack on a city bike path was meant to instill fear. Instead, the city rallied with calm and aplomb to thwart ISIS’s aim of defeating people through fear.
- What Ukraine can teach the US about Russian meddling
As details emerge in the indictments by the special consul probe, Americans can learn how to respond by looking at Ukraine’s long experience with Moscow’s interference.
- Tanks in Barcelona’s streets? Not on EU’s watch.
Despite some violence and threats of confrontation, Spain’s crisis over Catalan independence bid is tempered by Europe’s postwar principles of rule of law and democratic ideals.
- What drives K-12 school reform?
Reformers like the Gates Foundation admit their ideas and approaches often fail. That humility has now led to better listening to local stakeholders, whose love of children really drives education.
- Trump’s urgency to end the opioid crisis
President Trump is the second president to try to stem the rising death toll from drug overdoses. The common theme: Addiction can be cured, especially with more public support.
- Why #MeToo spread around the world
The allegations of harassment made against a Hollywood mogul have sparked a global social media campaign denouncing sexual assault. Now the task is to turn this campaign toward peace and healing.