La Suisse n’a subi aucune attaque terroriste de musulmans et aucun musulman suisse n’a été impliqué dans une attaque terroriste en-dehors de la Suisse. Cette communauté très diversifiée se croyait bien intégrée. Ses membres pensaient être de bons citoyens, payant leurs impôts et apprenant les langues du pays. Ils voient maintenant leur concitoyens se tourner contre eux et leur dire : « Non, vous n’êtes pas intégrés. » Comme si la majorité des Suisses leur adressait un message de « désintégration ».

There has not been one Muslim terrorist attack in Switzerland… This varied and diverse community thought of itself as well integrated, thought it had done all that was needed, pay their taxes, have learnt the national languages. Now their fellow-citizens have turned on them and said ‘no, you’re not integrated’. A majority of Swiss have sent them a strong signal of ‘dis-integration’…

It’s not often that Switzerland makes the headlines around the world. But frankly, this is publicity that we could have done without! Last weekend, 57% of the Swiss who voted (53% turnout, which is high by Swiss standards) approved a constitutional amendment to bar the building of minarets.

Noorullah Delawari, an Afghani American who is founder and CEO of the Afghan Investment Support Agency, as well as Minister Adviser to President Karzai, says his long connection with Initiatives of Change helped him to take responsibility for his country—including the enormous task of restoring stability to the currency. He told his story to an Initiatives of Change meeting in McLean, Virginia, in October.

Sonali Samarasinghe Wickrematunge now carries the title “Editor in Exile”. In September of 2008, she was the second winner of the Global Shining Light Award in Norway, presented by the International Conference of Investigative Journalists for exposing how a government minister “used his power and connections to the President of the country to run roughshod over the media and the justice system.” Less than four months later her husband of two months, the well known editor of the Leader newspaper, Sri Lanka, was brutally gunned down as he drove to work. Sonali was forced to flee the country, along with other members of her family—hence her unusual title. 

It’s a delicate plant, that needs the gardening skills of all of us.

There can be no foreign city closer to the heart of a Russian than Kiev. The two countries’ history is so intertwined that events in one have a deep impact in the other.

Jose Carlos Leon Vargas was in Ukraine during the ‘Orange Revolution’ in December. What he saw got him thinking.

If America is to advance the cause of democracy world-wide, she will have to work harder at applying democratic values universally, argues Richard Ruffin.

The elections underlined the progress we’ve made in a decade.