The violence between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip continues. Hamas has launched more than 200 missiles into Israeli territory and has disrupted life in Israel to a considerable extent. Fortunately, there have been no reported injuries from the rocket attacks–the missiles have a short range, they are unguided, and Israel has an anti-missile system (“Iron Dome”) that has shot many of the incoming missiles. Israel has relied on air strikes into Gaza and claims that it has only targeted known military sites. Unfortunately, the air strikes have killed many civilians, and the Washington Post has some extraordinary photos and videos of the havoc created by the air strikes. The tactics used by both sides are profoundly inconsistent with the laws of war.
Both Joko Widodo and Prabowo Subianto have claimed victory in Indonesia’s Presidential election. The unofficial vote gave the election to Widodo, but Subianto has contested that outcome. In this election, there was a relatively clear choice between the old and new guard in the world’s third largest democracy. Widodo is a certified outsider, although he has served as the governor of Jakarta, Indonesia’s largest city. Just nine years ago, he was a furniture salesman, and many young Indonesians strongly identify with him. Subianto is a former general and closely identified with the former dictatorship of Suharto. How Indonesia handles this controversy will be a stern test of its civic culture.
There are serious questions that are being raised about the health of democracy in the world. Such questions are not new, but since 2001 they have been asked more frequently and with greater urgency. Michael Ignatieff is a very perceptive political analysts who has written an essay in the New York Review of Books, that addresses the significance of the rise of authoritarianism in the world and how it challenges our ideas about liberal democracy.
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