The State of the World Atlas [ff]. Dan Smith

      These are all risks – the potential is there. Even so, if the United Nations as an

      organization and those governments that have been particularly committed

      to the work of ending armed conflicts can stay focused and keep their efforts

      properly resourced, there is every reason to expect a reasonably successful

      record of building peace to continue.

      RIGHTS & RESPECT

      This is the ninth edition of this atlas. The last one before this came out in

      2008. At that time, 43 per cent of the world’s population lived in established

      democracies. In this atlas, it is recorded that in 2012 48 per cent live in

      established democracies.

      For all its flaws, viewed from the perspective of ordinary citizens and their

      shared interests, democracy is by far the best, most stable, and freest political

      system. It is based on a bargain that concedes power to the state as long

      as it is accountable to the people. It is a system in which the social and

      economic elite has to accept constraints on its power. When it works properly,

      it protects us from the negative consequences of our own short-sightedness

      and tunnel vision. And it does so on the basis of our consent. It is the system

      that has, on average, been associated with the most successful economies.

      It is, however, like peace, a trend and benefit that needs safeguarding; it

      cannot be taken for granted. Achieving democracy is perilous, and is closely

      associated with violent conflict. And when it is well established and the

      struggle to achieve it has been forgotten, it often seems barely to be taken

      seriously by those who could most benefit from it. In countries that have

      recently entered a democratic transition, there will always be false friends

      of democracy, ready to try for power that way if that’s all that's possible,

      but to grab and hold it against the democratic will if that becomes possible.

      Similarly, in the established democracies there are always economic and social

      elites who are content with democracy as long as they can rig its rules in their

      favour, but are ready to cry foul if it ever threatens to rule against them.

      These fake and shallow supporters of democracy reveal themselves by trying

      to call the language of rights into service for one segment of society and not

      for others, or by claiming exemptions from national and international legal

      responsibilities whenever it suits them.

      HEALTH OF THE PEOPLE

      Without our good health, what can we do? Providing for our own and each

      other’s health is fundamental to us, both as individuals and as social beings.

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