> ## 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.

# Feb Front Page
- URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/top-story-february-2009/
- Published: 2009-02-12T16:02:36.000Z
- Updated: 2026-04-17T11:41:56.000Z
- Author: openDemocracy Supporters
- Tags: #en, #Migrated, #Import 2026-04-09 19:57, #ImagesUploaded

![Alleyway, by Alex Strick on Flickr, All Rights Reserved](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/80/3f804bea-4b2d-4ddf-9ff0-6ec7d0afa5fa/content/images/2026/04/2455350918_e52c52af9a_zOjS4PR-1776425878385.jpg)

Alleyway, by Alex Strick on Flickr, All Rights Reserved

## [Somalia: beyond the quagmire](https://www.opendemocracy.net/article/somalia-beyond-the-quagmire)

[Gerard Prunier](https://www.opendemocracy.net/author/Gerard%5FPrunier.jsp)  

A new alignment of forces is a moment of opportunity and danger in the shattered country 

24/25 Feb 2009

![TITLE OF IMAGE ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/80/3f804bea-4b2d-4ddf-9ff0-6ec7d0afa5fa/content/images/2026/04/3294627167_3f2fa085ed_SOspd6F-1776425878332.jpg)

TITLE OF IMAGE

## [The AfPak war: Obama's three options](https://www.opendemocracy.net/article/the-afpak-war-washington-s-three-options)

[Paul Rogers](https://www.opendemocracy.net/author/Paul%5FRogers.jsp)  

The US predicament in Afghanistan and Pakistan is deepening. What will Barack Obama do?

![TITLE OF IMAGE ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/80/3f804bea-4b2d-4ddf-9ff0-6ec7d0afa5fa/content/images/2026/04/3292143411_218ee9b188_J0ZFwOk-1776425878367.jpg)

TITLE OF IMAGE

## [China's stalled reform](https://www.opendemocracy.net/article/chinas-stalled-reforms)

[Li Datong](https://www.opendemocracy.net/author/Li%5FDatong.jsp)  

After thirty years of economic reform, the questions over China's future are multiplying

![TITLE OF IMAGE ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/80/3f804bea-4b2d-4ddf-9ff0-6ec7d0afa5fa/content/images/2026/04/3177041106_94ebcfd511_VDzttRT-1776425878506.jpg)

TITLE OF IMAGE

## [Gaza: the “new war”](https://www.opendemocracy.net/article/email/gaza-the-new-war)

[Mary Kaldor](https://www.opendemocracy.net/author/Mary%5FKaldor.jsp)  

The Israeli public and political establishment must think in terms of human - not national - security to find an exit from a war without end

![Kosovo: One year on](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/80/3f804bea-4b2d-4ddf-9ff0-6ec7d0afa5fa/content/images/2026/04/2274901518_96600846b9_tNixpq5-1776425878531.jpg)

Kosovo: One year on

[](http://flickr.com/photos/opendemocracy/2274901518/?ref=opendemocracy.net)

## [Kosovo: one year on](https://www.opendemocracy.net/article/kosovo-one-year-on)

[](https://www.opendemocracy.net/)

[Florian Bieber](https://www.opendemocracy.net/%E2%80%9Dhttp://www.opendemocracy.net/user/521237%22)  

A constrained independence leaves Europe's newest state living in contradiction

![Pope Benedict XVI ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/80/3f804bea-4b2d-4ddf-9ff0-6ec7d0afa5fa/content/images/2026/04/2845930653_f9954d8186_ztWz2vH-1776425878488.jpg)

Pope Benedict XVI

## [Globalization requires fairness](https://www.opendemocracy.net/blog/2009/02/11/avoiding-the-worst-international-economic-cooperation-and-domestic-politics)

[Jeffrey A Frieden](https://www.opendemocracy.net/user/521043)  

Unfairness fuels sentiments of anti-globalisation. Domestic support for open economies comes from equitable wealth distributions

## [A world in revolt](https://www.opendemocracy.net/article/a-world-in-revolt)

[Paul Rogers](https://www.opendemocracy.net/author/Paul%5FRogers.jsp)  

Economic crisis spreads to the global south. Watch the rise of a transnational anti-elite

![???????? ?????? / Patriarch Kirill](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/80/3f804bea-4b2d-4ddf-9ff0-6ec7d0afa5fa/content/images/2026/04/3244260587_93eac3f9e4_YvwbhcS-1776425878580.jpg)

???????? ?????? / Patriarch Kirill

## [Ambitious new patriarch](https://www.opendemocracy.net/russia/article/Russias-ambitious-new-Patriarch)

[Geraldine Fagan](https://www.opendemocracy.net/user/521032)  

Kirill, the skiing, worldly patriarch must balance openness abroad and diplomacy at home