HIS FIVE AND NINETY THESES DROVE THE POPE TO PIECIES :

Arab world lags behind in human development, report says (NADIA ABOU EL-MAGD, July 2, 2002, Associated Press)

The entire Arab world is suffering deficits in three critical areas: freedom, women's empowerment and knowledge, a regional human development report released on Tuesday said.

"Out of the seven regions of the world, Arab countries had the lowest freedom score in the late 1990s," according to the first Arab Human Development Report.

"The Arab region has the lowest value of all regions of the world for voice of accountability," particularly in regard to political processes, civil liberties, political rights and media independence. [...]

Arab scholars spent 18 months writing and researching the report, which was commissioned by the United Nations Development Program. Its findings were discussed at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, on Tuesday.

Freedom, as the West has amply proven, is a two-edged sword. On the one hand, freedom does not suffice to create a good society and can create rotten ones, as witness the current decline of Japan and Europe. On the other hand, without some significant measure of freedom your society is unlikely to develop much at all. What remains to be seen is whether the Arab world has the courage to even pick up the sword. Posted by Orrin Judd at July 2, 2002 7:36 PM