All The Monitor's View
- An artistic lift after disasters
Performers and other artists rose to the occasion after recent hurricanes and other recent tragedies. The arts can play a crucial role in healing a community of fear and trauma.
- Why elections in Europe spring a surprise
Germany follows France in holding an election in which voters showed a new independence from the main parties and seem to seek a different political identity.
- Why the Supreme Court is rarely in the dock
A new poll suggests why Americans put more trust in the high court than in the other branches. Even as the justices take on difficult cases, their role is seen as essential in applying the highest ideals to individuals and society.
- Aid to North Koreans? The idea has roots.
South Korea’s offer of humanitarian aid to North Korean children and pregnant women, despite the North’s military threats, fits a trend to protect the innocent even in the midst of a conflict.
- Lessons in identity from Kurds and Catalans
Coming votes for independence in Kurdish Iraq and Spain’s Catalonia represent a challenge of shifting identity in the 21st century. Both peoples must be careful in defining a new collective ‘self.’
- The awards and rewards of grasping infinity
Two mathematicians who made a breakthrough in understanding infinity were recently given a medal. Their work itself reflects an unbounded progress in explanations of reality.
- Apple thinks different – and the same – about the ‘town square’
The company plans to turn its stores into community centers (while still selling Apple products) in yet another sign of how much the Digital Age creates new groupings even as it feeds a natural desire for connection and shared destiny.
- What to think of North Korea on Peace Day
One reason the United Nations is so focused on preventive diplomacy regarding North Korea is a growing emphasis on ‘positive drivers’ of peace. One example is the widening celebration of International Peace Day.
- EU advice for nations with big visions
A leader of the European Union reflects on the need for values as other parts of the world try to link up Asia into EU-style unions.
- The West’s learning curve on Russian election meddling
After seeing Russian attempts to influence the US and French vote, Germany has learned to firmly protect the integrity of its democracy before a Sept. 24 vote.
- Getting up close with the criminal justice system
A bipartisan group of state officials has started to visit prisons, meet crime victims, and engage with the criminal justice system. The goal: bring better reform to a broken system by understanding it more closely.
- Redirecting Myanmar’s dominant faith to peace
The military’s persecution of minority Muslims comes out of fears among many Buddhists for their religion. Aung San Suu Kyi can help relieve those fears with a higher moral narrative.
- How one hurricane left a lesson in gratitude
As the East Coast hunkers down for Irma, Vermont’s post-hurricane experience in 2011 provides an opportunity to learn the power of appreciation for a community’s spirit and its resiliency.
- When combatants turn democrats
This month, Colombia’s former guerrilla group called FARC transformed itself into a peaceful political party, perhaps setting a model of reconciliation for other countries in armed conflict.
- A Kenyan court lifts a lamp of integrity for Africa
Never before has a court in Africa annulled the election of a sitting president, yet Kenya’s justices did just that last week, adding to other successes on the continent in adopting democratic ideals.
- What helps a city like Houston recover after a disaster
Disaster experts point to a community’s devotion to qualities such as trust, patience, listening, and equality as essential to planning and achieving a recovery. Houston’s success in its rescue efforts gives it a head start.
- A clear signal to help the problem gambler
Britain imposes a record fine on a gambling site that failed to screen customers who had gambled despite signaling they wanted to be self-excluded. Both the gambling industry and its regulators worldwide must be more diligent.
- No relapse allowed for Guatemala’s anti-corruption wins
The Central American country, after a decade of progress against graft, defies a president’s backsliding and again sets a model for the hemisphere.
- Harvey’s lesson in weather forecasting
The accuracy in forecasting the hurricane helped Texas better prepare and shows the ongoing desire to live in rapport with nature by improving the intelligence of meteorology.
- Heading off preemptive violence
The world is less violent today because of restraint by people or nations in justifying the use of violence to prevent violence against them. That trend should not be easily reversed as the US ponders attacking North Korea or as groups in the US justify violence at public protests. Humanity has grown in its understanding and use of empathy as a tool for peace.