Happy New Year 2008

Dear 2007 openDemocracy Donors,

I would like to wish you a Happy New Year for 2008.

If you have not read them yet, can I recommend the collection of brief perspectives we have on-site today? Rajeev Bhargava's thoughts on the double-identity of the West --- the one associated with Freedom, Equality, Emancipation, Solidarity versus its twin of Cunning, Calculation and Exploitation --- resonated especially for me with our "Think Long Term" campaign theme of the worldwide retreat from a belief in democracy and human rights. A pessimistic belief that the twin Wests are joined at the hip will justify that retreat.

But I'm with Bhargava in believing that we can still combine the values of freedom and equality without having to be, at some level, violent, unsustainable and exclusive.

If you have already donated to our "Think Long Term" campaign, many thanks. Your gift makes it possible for us to continue to bring openDemocracy to the web and the world.

If you have not yet donated, please click here to give.

Many thanks for your support and readership in 2007. I look forward to bringing the best of independent news analysis and commentary to you in 2008.

Tony Curzon Price
Editor-in-Chief