> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.opendemocracy.net/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Questionable benefits of international attention: March 12 - 18 on openDemocracy
- URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/questionable-benefits-of-international-attention-march-12-18-on-opendemocracy/
- Published: 2012-03-26T00:03:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-04-23T00:54:38.000Z
- Description: Will the Greek bailout really move Europe forward? Vassilis Fouskas says the only possible progress lies not in bond-swaps but in an exit from the euro-zone in a leftward direction under a radical left movement. Markha Valenta is more nuanced, but agrees the fiscal technocrats do not help, offerin
- Author: openDemocracy Supporters
- Tags: The Week in 1 Minute, #Migrated, #en, #Import 2026-04-09 17:19, #appended-excerpt

In Bahrain, Stephen Nash reports from Pearl Roundabout, where ‘Freedom Square’ is being kept in a lock-down but resistance [continues](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/e456f3b23b/b5696a98c8/ba52f87da2&ref=opendemocracy.net). There is better news from [Burundi](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/e456f3b23b/b5696a98c8/8901cf9e59&ref=opendemocracy.net), where a campaign is freeing many women from a climate of fear and silence. However, in England, while [poverty may be ‘more comfortable’](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/e456f3b23b/b5696a98c8/8a677b17c5&ref=opendemocracy.net) now than it was when George Orwell published *The Road to Wigan Pier* in 1937, we ask is this the best that could have been done? Anthony Lock claims that a ‘cyborg-Orwell’ would be looking very hard in 2012 for that democratic socialism he sought 75 years ago.

Britain’s prison service still maltreats the mentally ill, as a [shocking exposé](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/e456f3b23b/b5696a98c8/1cedad6924&ref=opendemocracy.net) reveals and the fate of another type of prisoner, Abu Qatada, is still to be decided as Robert Lambert says [lessons must be learned](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/e456f3b23b/b5696a98c8/3a47f59107&ref=opendemocracy.net) about detention without trial. 

Nicu Popescu argues that the EU and the US positively hamper [opposition movements in Russia](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/e456f3b23b/b5696a98c8/ed500c0e4b&ref=opendemocracy.net) by offering their vocal support. They should strengthen civil society instead by backing the media and a visa-free regime. A stronger grassroots base would help in India, too, says Siddarthya Swapan Roy, where [the privileged, urbanised ‘Twitterati’](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/e456f3b23b/b5696a98c8/34899bc030&ref=opendemocracy.net) have not done enough. And in one of this week’s most important debates, we consider the [campaign to bring down Joseph Kony](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/e456f3b23b/b5696a98c8/4ebf54fa48&ref=opendemocracy.net) of the Lord’s Resistance Army. Here, too, an international media event is bringing questionable benefits, while local communities often bear the brunt of the resulting violence.

**Also not to be missed this week -**

[Explosive theatre: plays about the bomb](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/e456f3b23b/b5696a98c8/84862fe842&ref=opendemocracy.net)

[Feminism is funny: humour and The Female Artist](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/e456f3b23b/b5696a98c8/5cb63f94ce&ref=opendemocracy.net)

[Corruption at the fair: censorship on the Indian fine art scene](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/e456f3b23b/b5696a98c8/1430718de8&ref=opendemocracy.net)

**Three articles we wouldn’t want you to miss from elsewhere on the web:**

[Don’t Elevate Joseph Kony](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/e456f3b23b/b5696a98c8/fa0fd43d29&ref=opendemocracy.net)

[A President for Moldova](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/e456f3b23b/b5696a98c8/b7488aa9d4&ref=opendemocracy.net)

[Breaking Down the Species Barrier](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/e456f3b23b/b5696a98c8/907bde7f32&ref=opendemocracy.net)

**openDemocracy’s week in 400 words is emailed to Members and Friends to help pay for our great content. Please forward this to any contact you think might be interested and want to join; they should see** [**here**](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/e456f3b23b/b5696a98c8/1d4cbb11c7&ref=opendemocracy.net) **or email**[**supporters@opendemocracy.net**](mailto:supporters@opendemocracy.net)**.**

Will the Greek bailout really move Europe forward? [Vassilis Fouskas](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/e456f3b23b/b5696a98c8/e1c8c5ac71&ref=opendemocracy.net) says the only possible progress lies not in bond-swaps but in an exit from the euro-zone in a leftward direction under a radical left movement. Markha Valenta is more nuanced, but agrees the fiscal technocrats do not help, offering [All stick and no carrot](http://cts.vresp.com/c/?openDemocracy/e456f3b23b/b5696a98c8/b7284af361&ref=opendemocracy.net).