Europe is in shambles: France sleepwalking, Germany in a tailspin, the euro falling, the left in disarray. Now, just weeks after the defeat in France and Holland of the innovative new treaty that was supposed to usher in a new constitutional era for an enlarged Europe of 25 nations, terrorist bombings in London are reinforcing […]
Benjamin Barber
Benjamin Barber is the Gershon and Carrol Kekst Professor of Civil Society at the University of Maryland and a principal of the Democracy Collaborative, with offices in New York, Washington, and the University of Maryland. He is the author of many books, including Jihad vs. McWorld, Fear's Empire: War, Terrorism, and Democracy and the forthcoming Consumed: The Fate of Citizens under Capitalism Triumpant.
Posted inFeatures
Neither Consent nor Dissent
As President Bush rushes headlong into war with Iraq, there are endless reasons for concern; but the one that is most disturbing has been least remarked on. The president can be faulted for waiting so long to consult Congress, the United Nations, America’s allies and the Middle Eastern nations likely to be affected (Jordan, Turkey, […]
Posted inFeatures
Globalizing Democracy
Can globalism be governed? Or, as a first step, can we start by building a global civil society? Until recently, one could look in vain for a global “we, the people” to be represented. That is now changing. There is another internationalism, a forming crystal around which a global polity can […]
Posted inBooks, Arts and Culture
The Reconstruction of Rights
Too many Americans today think of rights solely as limiting their obligations to others and responsibilities as citizens. But rights, rightly understood, flourish only when democracy flourishes, too.