Word: pact
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Millions of Saudis, of course, still adhere to the strict religious and social conservatism that dates to the 18th century pact made between Mohammed ibn Abd al-Wahhab, a puritanical preacher, and the founder of the Saud dynasty Mohammed ibn Saud. And many conservatives resent the social changes the King is pushing. "Those around King Abdullah use his peaceful positions to impose secular values," says conservative cleric Mohsen al-Awajy. "But Saudi society is a special, tribal society, and neither King Abdullah or anyone else can impose his own interpretation of Islam. They can do nothing without Islam. There...
...original version of the Oct. 13 news article "Harvard College Library, China Form Pact" incorrectly stated that China's Qing Dynasty stretched from 1644 to 1795. In fact, some of the Qing Dynasty books to be digitized were from that period, but the Dynasty itself lasted until the early 20th century...
...come to think of it as the pact, the willingness of intelligent, well-to-do people to trade certain liberties in return for the promise of either prosperity or security. The model is Singapore, the city-state where I was born and a place that never ceases to fascinate me. But the pact's appeal is now far more widespread and takes in not just the countries you might expect - China, Russia - but plenty you might not. Perhaps even the country you live...
...Russia, Vladimir Putin knows the pact well. Putin has long argued that economic success and social order must come before openness and plurality. Many Russians I know - friends from the early 1990s when we all watched, spellbound, the brief flowering of democracy - have come to agree with him. When I quit as editor of a British political magazine, one Russian friend phoned to declare how happy she was that I would now start doing something worthwhile with my life, like making money. Russians, Chinese and others utter a single word when such a viewpoint is challenged: Gorbachev. Remember, they...
...forthcoming report by the International Energy Agency, sluggish trade, dwindling industrial output and greener government policies have put global carbon dioxide emissions on track to drop 2.6% in 2009, the largest slide in 40 years. Analysts hope the dip will bolster efforts to reach a new climate pact in Copenhagen in December. But so far, despite repeated calls for action, world leaders have made scant progress toward replacing the Kyoto Protocol, which expires...