COVER: The Lame Left (Atlantic edition). European Economics Editor Stefan Theil looks at the state of Europe's left political parties, which are looking listless, chaotic and confused. In Britain, Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown's popularity has hit rock bottom. Germany's Social Democrats are a dwindling party. In France and Italy, telegenic new-style rightists have managed to reduce the left-wing opposition to tatters. Even Spain's Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero looks increasingly besieged as the late Spanish economic miracle crashes all around him. Europe's left is facing a center-right increasingly adept at cherry-picking policies that used to be considered theirs, like education, environmentalism and social justice. But the biggest dilemma is that most parties on the left have not figured out how to adapt their old welfare-statist ideologies to modern economic realities-while appealing to voters who see modern reform as a betrayal of their parties' traditional socialist ideals, and who often have more-extreme left-wing parties to turn to.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/158701
Why Europe's Left Can Rise Again. Sunder Katwala, general secretary of the Fabian Society, writes in an essay that Europe's left is in trouble. After governing almost everywhere in the 1990s, the center-left is now out of office or struggling. But Europe's left has important reasons to be confident too, he writes. "First, Europe's center-right has prospered by aping the center-left. European conservatism often now means adapting to a broadly social democratic status quo, and seeking modest reforms within it. With the exception of Silvio Berlusconi, most party leaders of Europe's center-right show no interest in fighting culture wars against liberalism, and most have political beliefs closer to the U.S. Democrats than Republicans."
http://www.newsweek.com/id/158713
COVER: India Isn't Shining (Asia edition). Special Correspondent Jeremy Kahn reports that although Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh secured for India a waiver allowing it to purchase uranium and civilian nuclear technology abroad, and his Congress Party is well positioned for the next election, Singh's government remains stubbornly unpopular. The disaffection stems from Singh's inability to deliver on promises and bridge India's rich and poor gap. Thrust into power almost by chance, lacking a clear mandate and constrained by his party and his allies, Singh has often seemed meek and indecisive. And he's been unable to seize a series of once-in-lifetime opportunities. The reforms that ignited India's boom in the early 1990s-and that Singh helped implement as Finance minister-have stalled. Spiraling inflation, well into the double digits, has begun to pinch the wallets of even middle-class Indians.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/158705
COVER: What Women Want (Latin America edition). Senior Editor Julia Baird writes that although the building excitement over Sarah Palin has given John McCain an 11-point shift among white women, according to the latest Newsweek poll, history suggests that policy issues, rather than gender identity, may determine the outcome of this election. "What is now known as the Palin Effect seems to be overturning almost a century of wisdom about the way women think and vote," Baird writes. That's partially because pollsters for most of the past century neglected to actually ask them what they want. "They do want a better economy, their sons and daughters brought home from war, better health care, a good educational system. They want fairer media (the Newsweek Poll found that 34 percent of white women think the media have been too critical of Palin, and that one quarter of Clinton supporters agree). And to see more mothers making decisions that affect their lives. To have the chance to run for office alongside men without being called hags or fools. And, as Aretha Franklin might say, a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T."
http://www.newsweek.com/id/158893
COVER: Don't Fear Me (Africa only). Africa Bureau Chief Scott Johnson profiles Jacob Zuma, the 67-year-old head of the ruling African National Congress and the presumptive favorite to become South Africa's next president when elections are held in 2009. Zuma, who just fought off criminal charges, is a flamboyant former antiapartheid leader and exile who served as deputy president of South Africa from 1999 to 2005 before breaking with President Thabo Mbeki and later seizing the reins of the ANC. While his rise has been impressive, he's been dogged by controversy throughout his career. But in recent months, a different Zuma has emerged. He has begun taking pains to improve his image, reaching out to various constituencies and preaching moderation.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/158700
Britain's Tough Talker. London Reporter William Underhill reports that barely a fortnight after Russian troops crossed into Georgian territory last month, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband was in Ukraine to show solidarity with one more worried neighbor. He was unsparing in his comments, saying Russia needed to "change course" if it wanted "respect and influence." It was time for the West to examine the "nature, depth and breadth" of relations with Moscow. To the Kremlin, such tough talk was an example of British hypocrisy. But if the Russians were listening, so too were important audiences back home and in Western capitals. Miliband has been tipped as the most likely successor to the beleaguered Gordon Brown as leader of the Labour Party, and possibly prime minister.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/158703
Looking Past Mr. Kim. Special Correspondent B.J. Lee and Investigative Correspondent Mark Hosenball report that with no solid information on the health of North Korea's Kim Jong Il, Washington could only hope North Korea wasn't on the verge of a succession crisis. Kim has no designated successor. While no one in North Korea is in a position to challenge the military's grip on power, rivalries within the top ranks might get ugly, South Koreans worry. "The possibility of a complete collapse of the system [in the North] is not low," warned the influential Seoul daily Chosun Ilbo. "In that case, it will be difficult to predict the moves of the 1.17 million North Korean soldiers armed with nuclear, chemical and biological weapons."
http://www.newsweek.com/id/158736
Who's Got The Jumper Cable? Hong Kong Bureau Chief George Wehrfritz reports that across Asia, and more broadly in emerging markets, a decadelong economic boom is quickly turning into a bust as the slowdown that first gripped the United States and Europe spreads. Last week Asian stocks fell to their lowest point since 2005, a drop of 32 percent since last November. Key industries that defined the boom-including airlines, manufacturing, construction and even finance-face dangerous new constraints. Asia's economies aren't crashing-far from it-but growth has cooled significantly. Wehrfritz reports on the impact.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/158706
WORLD VIEW: The World Isn't So Dark. Newsweek International Editor Fareed
Zakaria writes that if he were to ask the two U.S. presidential candidates how
they see the world we live in, they'd give different answers, with Barack
Obama's view much more benign than John McCain's, which would be closer to his
own. "We live in remarkably peaceful times," Zakaria writes. "A
http://www.newsweek.com/id/158764
THE LAST WORD: Maj. Gen. Jeffrey J. Schloesser, U.S. commander of 19,000 combat troops in Afghanistan. He says he's encouraged to see that the Pakistani military is involved in military operations in the Bajaur region along the Afghan border. "We've had discussions of that nature with them in the preceding months, and to see it occurring is a good news story. At this time it's too early to say if there is a definite decrease in the amount of cross-border activities by the insurgents. This is what I'm hoping for."
http://www.newsweek.com/id/158714
SOURCE Newsweek
International News / Press Release source: PR Newswire
Copyright PR Newswire. All Rights Reserved.