Unabridged Opinions

Blaine Harden is an author and journalist who reports for PBS Frontline and contributes to The Economist. He worked for The Washington Post as a correspondent in Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia, as well as in New York and Seattle. He was also a national correspondent for The New York Times and writer for the Times Magazine. […]

Loosely paraphrased, Dostoevsky contended that the degree of civilisation in any society could be ascertained by its treatment of prisoners.  In the modern era, the treatment of women is held up as a similar barometer of civilisation.  By this measure, countries such as Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan are often found wanting, and in Dear Zari, […]