Does Democracy Avert Famine? "Democracies are often run by ethnically based groups prepared to do terrible things to other ethnic groups," said Frances Stewart, a professor of development economics at Oxford University. "Or they can be very corrupt, dominated by elites." She added: "Capitalist, democratic states put the emphasis on the private sector, which doesn't always deliver on social goods. The free press is good on major disasters like classic famines, but it tolerates chronic hunger as much as anyone else." To be fully represented, she said, the poor need institutions like trade unions and political parties that speak for them.

Why George wants Saddam’s head Toppling Hussein pales in comparison to the decision to modernise Islam. When future scholars look back on the history of the Middle East in the early part of the 21st century, I hope that they don’t ask ‘what went wrong?’ but instead ask ‘Why did it go right?"