Word: disdain
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...great-power nationalism more akin to 19th century Europe than to the end of the cold war. He is under no illusions about the fundamental differences between the U.S. and its increasingly formidable rivals, Russia and China, whose "rulers believe in the virtues of a strong central government and disdain the weaknesses of the democratic system." Kagan notes that "Russian leaders today yearn not for integration with the West but for a return to a special Russian greatness." As for China, its "trend towards regional hegemony is unstoppable" - and "Asia is not the E.U., and China is not Luxembourg." Adding...
...shut down the network. But government leaders responded only by saying that they would refer the issue to the army, which is considered the country's only neutral institution. A Hizballah spokesman rejected the overture, and on the streets today, opposition fighters viewed the government proposal with visceral disdain. "These are the orders of Olmert," said one, referring to Israel's Prime Minister. "If they choose Israel instead of us, they will die with Israel," said another...
...disdain of Turkey's Sunni authorities may explain why many Alevi venerate the country's secularist founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. In his separation of mosque and state, they finally found freedom from discrimination. But that eroded under subsequent governments, often violently. As recently as 1993, a group of 33 prominent Alevi poets, writers and musicians were burned to death by a fundamentalist Sunni mob in a hotel in eastern Turkey...
...Such disdain for the democratic process raises a question: why bother with elections at all? Other African tyrannies have dispensed with the awkward trial of popular votes altogether, and ruled as unapologetic autocracies. So why the need for a veneer of respectability, however thin, in Zimbabwe? The answer lies in the psychology of Mugabe and his fellow liberation leaders, many of whom came from a background of elite academia. Mugabe himself has seven degrees, most of them earned during the 11 years he spent in prison when the country was called Rhodesia...
...same year, Miss Bolivia, Gabriela Oviedo, also from the country's east, suggested Bolivia shouldn't be considered an indigenous nation: "I'm from the other side of the country. We are tall, and we are white people, and we know English.") Morales backers say it is precisely this disdain for the indigenous that is driving what they call the secessionist agenda behind Sunday's autonomy referendum - which is not legally sanctioned by the National Electoral Court or recognized by the Organization of American States. But autonomy supporters say they're only seeking states' rights on questions such as taxation...