Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
Subscribe

 

  • Advertisements

Egyptian military stand guard as officials raid one of the nongovernmental organization (NGO) offices in Cairo, Egypt Dec. 29, 2011. Despite US threats to cut aid, Egyptian judges are not backing off in their case against 43 NGO workers, including at least 16 Americans, for alleged involvement in banned political activities using foreign funds. (Mohammed Asad/AP Photo)

Opinion

Outrage over Egypt's arrest of NGO workers, but US would have done the same

12:56 pm ET -

The outrage over Egypt's arrest of 43 NGO workers, at least 16 of whom are American, is understandable and well deserved. But it also speaks to a little acknowledged paradox: These organizations are conducting democracy-building work that would never be tolerated in the US.

More Opinion

  • China: One fire may be out, but tensions over rural land rights are still smoldering

    The same tinderbox that allowed the Chinese village of Wukan to erupt (the confiscation of farmer’s land without fair compensation) is present in thousands of villages across China. The scale of the problem is a matter of both domestic and global concern.

  • The great wait of China: How long until freedom?

    How long can China's communist regime hold in thrall people who have prospered in an economic system that has many of the hallmarks of free enterprise? Despite attempts to censor the Internet, China's huge, new urban population is aware of the outside world and changes in it.

  • Going green: View my world-class collection of hotel towel cards.

    My global collection of towel cards tells guests how to be green (and save the hotel money) in a dozen instructive, chic, bossy, relieving, euphemistic, paranoid, minimalistic, and earnest ways.

  • Russian protests – echoes of US civil rights movement

    To see the December protests in Russia as primarily a political wave is to miss a more fundamental leaven at work in Russian society: a moral awakening akin to the American civil rights movement. An early test is Saturday, when a massive protest in Moscow is planned.

  • Three factors that will determine Syria’s future

    The most realistic scenario in Syria is quagmire: Assad still has loyalty; the opposition is splintered, though protests continue; and the international community is indecisive, including the Arab League. But stalemate could finally prompt foreign intervention and a needed ‘safe zone. Benedetta Berti, a fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies of Tel Aviv University, lists the three factors that will determine Syria’s future.

  • Mario Monti is working through Italy's debt crisis. Is the US watching?

    Italy may find Prime Minister Mario Monti's dose of discipline hard to swallow, but his depoliticized democracy is the only form of government that can move Italy forward. Monti's experiment may also serve as an antidote to the political dysfunction in the West – especially the US.

  • A look back: In spite of super PACs, this isn't the most negative campaign in history

    Negative campaigning is actually an American tradition. In fact, attack campaigning has been around since the beginning without derailing the electoral process. Mudslinging can hardly be called a positive campaign feature, but it is a sign of democracy in action.

  • Ex-CIA spy: History of failed negotiations shows Iran won't deal

    President Obama errs in pushing nuclear negotiation, writes this ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard. Four US presidents tried and failed. The problem lies in Iran's fanatic ideology. Biting sanctions and US overt support for the Iranian people will bring real change.

  • A conservative worries: Will Gingrich return America to the days of King George?

    As a conservative constitutional scholar, I am deeply troubled by Newt Gingrich's vision for executive power over the courts – even if it is to strike back at liberal judges. Such a seizure of power threatens the rule of law upon which free and equal citizenship is founded.

  • Congress makes Elmo cry by defunding Palestinian 'Sesame Street'

    In protest of the Palestinian statehood bid at the UN, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen froze $192 million in funding for USAID programs, including a Palestinian version of 'Sesame Street.' The move has not only jeopardized the show, but US Mideast policy.

About these ads
About these ads

What happens when ordinary people decide to pay it forward? Extraordinary change. See how individuals are making a difference...

Charlie Weingarten pictured during a Common Threads cooking class in Los Angeles. The program, one of many projects started by Mr. Weingarten, aims to teach children to love healthy cooking and eating.

Charlie Weingarten finds fresh ways to champion selfless acts of philanthropy

A member of a philanthropic family founded Explore.org to inspire selflessness and lifelong learning.

Become a fan! Follow us! YouTube Link up with us! See our feeds!