Word: opinion
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...wonder whether the writer of "In Defense of the Microsoft Monopoly" can see how his arguments apply to the Microsoft situation (Opinion, Nov. 17). First, his claim that the Sherman Anti-Trust Act targets monopolies which rely on market power rather than market merit is amusing. I would like to ask: Does Microsoft truly possess a monopoly because its products are far and away the top in their field, or is it instead because of the chance licensing of the DOS operating system by IBM for the PC, which led to a massive install base for Windows...
...country where, in 1996, 50 percent of Russians supported Chechen independence, the current approval ratings represent more than a drastic shift in public opinion. Instead, they represent the return of Soviet style tactics of governmental deception, press censorship and ethnic intolerance--all of which are used to maintain support for the Chechen conflict. They undermine the Russian government's claim that it is just following democratic precepts by following the will of the people...
What will bring an end to the Chechen conflict is the same thing that is fueling it right now--public opinion. Yet, neither the international community, nor Russians themselves, will be able to accurately assess the true dangers of the current Chechen conflict without truthfulness on two fronts...
Moreover, an informed public opinion relies upon truthfulness from the press. Yet, this truthfulness is complicated by the fact that the Russian government enjoys a virtual monopoly over mass media. The government has severely restricted live coverage of the events in Chechnya on national television, effectively keeping millions of Russians uninformed of catastrophic civilian casualties. More troublesome is that the Russian government has restricted foreign and independent news agencies' access to Chechnya as well. Most of the Russian government's claims about the Chechen conflict cannot be independently corroborated, meaning that the Russian people--and the world--are basing their...
This view has given birth to a framework of legally binding agreements, including nearly universal participation in the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). Of course, neither law nor world opinion can compel nations to act against their own best interests. But most countries find it in their interests to operate within the law and be perceived as doing...