All Recent FutureChallenges Posts

There she was, sitting in a sweltering sitting room in Cairo, her scarred face haloed by her Islamic headscarf, her pregnant belly pushing out a bit, her 18-year-old hands resting lightly in her lap. Her name is Ghada, and she is one of the bravest women I have ever met.

A traditional Khmer saying  “sartrey bangvil cheung kran min chum”, meaning  women cannot do anything besides moving around the kitchen,  seems no longer valid in contemporary Cambodian society, at least to a larger extent. A quick glance at some figures can show why this is so: around 65 percent of […]

Abstract: By force of masterful juggling, women have taken to pieces the myth of feminine inferiority, which so much worried the past generations of activists. Many of us have by far demonstrated how scary capable we are, when the time comes to assume a score of roles at the same […]

Western cultures have developed an illusion of the welfare state. The US and Europe must correct this cultural misperception of what a welfare state can and cannot accomplish before they can successfully address its economic problems.

When you consider what nations have the most effective health care systems, most Mexicans think of countries like Cuba, where the welfare state provides comprehensive general medicine, or France, where the complete health care system is mostly financed by a governmental national health insurance. Their home country of Mexico hardly comes to mind. […]

Internet is a promising tool in the strengthening of democracy, thanks to its potential to foster more participation in public affairs. In Rio de Janeiro, a project called Meu Rio is empowering citizens to voice their opinions with respect to local politics, in a non-partisan perspective.