Fair Observer's five best articles of April.
It is already the end of April and 2013 is speeding up fast. Boston has suffered the tragedy of a bombing, Italy finally has a government, New Zealand and France have legalized gay marriage, Syria continues to implode, and the North Korean drama seems to be simmering down. Obama's budget continues to upset many people and the battle for gun control rages on in the US.
Margaret Thatcher, an iconic British leader, died at the age of 87. The Economist called her a freedom fighter because she championed free markets when her Big Bang unleashed the City of London to emerge as a rival to Wall Street. Yet, the August 1843 publication conveniently forgot that for a number of people of color, Thatcher's support of apartheid hardly qualifies her to be a freedom fighter. The world does not lend itself to easy generalizations and is infernally complex. At Fair Observer, we are acutely aware of this and welcome perspectives from all of you because we believe that a plurality of perspectives leaves us better informed and with fewer blindsides.
Please find below our best articles for April and, if you disagree with any of them, please send us your response. Our goal is to create a global discourse and your voice matters. Educate us and the rest of the world!
1: Egypt: Ten Months of the Muslim Brotherhood — by Sarah Eltantawi
The performance of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in government has at best been mediocre. The Muslim Brothers have used the chance they have been given to entrench their own rule, argues Sarah Eltantawi.
2: Social Development in India: Challenges and Solutions — by Rahool Gadkari
As India focuses on stimulating economic growth, it must not neglect the challenges facing its 360 million below the poverty line citizens.
3: Sex, Demography, and the Future of the European Union — by Glenn Carle
Despite the financial crisis, a diminishing birth rates and seemingly unsustainable welfare states, Glenn Carle believes German leadership might offer a solution for structural reform in Europe.
4: An African Summer? — George Ayittey
George Ayittey, president of the Free Africa Foundation compares the Arab Spring with Africa's village revolutions in the 1990s and explains what is needed to make democracy sustainable.
5: A Note from North Korea: Rhetoric and Realities — by Michael Bassett
After his first of four cultural diplomatic trips to North Korea, Michael Bassett discusses the interplay of rhetoric and reality in the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea.
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