Taiwan’s elected officials were not given a seat at this week’s summit in Beijing between the American and Chinese leaders. Yet the Taiwanese people – or, rather, their resolve to run a free country by respecting individual sovereignty – were very much there. 

So much so that China’s overall stated goal for the summit was to gain the United States’ help in breaking Taiwan’s democratic spirit.

The specific requests by Chinese leader Xi Jinping are that U.S. President Donald Trump oppose any attempt by Taiwan to officially declare independence and that he end U.S. military sales to the second-freest nation in Asia. Whether Mr. Trump acts on those requests is almost secondary to the fact that Mr. Xi indirectly admits he is failing to break Taiwan’s civic identity of individual freedom and inherent rights. 

Despite years of trying to subtly influence the Taiwanese by incentives or coercion, Mr. Xi has not subsumed the island nation to bring it under the control of the Chinese Communist Party. The party fears that its 1.4 billion subjects on the mainland might be influenced by Taiwan’s 23 million people, especially in their rejection of the CCP’s ideology that sovereignty resides with the party – because it believes ordinary Chinese don’t know what’s good for themselves or the country. 

Already, one-third of people in China oppose an armed invasion of Taiwan, according to a 2023 survey. Only 1% support an immediate war.

“The fact that Beijing spares no effort to pressure governments ... into erasing Taiwan’s existing sovereignty makes clear that despite all its power, Xi Jinping’s CCP cannot marginalize Taiwan alone – it requires our help to do it,” wrote Taipei-based American journalist Chris Horton in Nikkei last month.

After more than three decades of democratic rule, Taiwan’s confidence in demonstrating that sovereignty is inherent to individuals, not the state, has made it a global example. In a speech last year to a group at the European Parliament in Belgium, Taiwan’s vice president, Hsiao Bi-khim, said one of the country’ss goals is to help all democracies thrive. 

“We are not just defending what we have, but building what we want the future to look like, where free people and societies are more connected, more united, and more capable, and of course stronger together,” she said.

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Taiwan now ranks as the world’s 12th-most democratic country, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit. And many of its economic statistics per capita surpass those of China. The bedrock for such success lies in an understanding that each individual’s dignity and intelligence are the basis for building a harmonious and caring society.

The founder of this newspaper acknowledged that “Human will-power may infringe the rights of man.” But Mary Baker Eddy also wrote, “Know, then, that you possess sovereign power to think and act rightly, and that nothing can dispossess you of this heritage.”

This week’s Africa Forward summit in Nairobi, Kenya, signals both continuity and change – or, to put it differently, continuing change in perceptions of the continent’s opportunities and abilities to decisively shape its future.

Co-hosted by Kenya and France, the May 11-12 event has drawn some 30 heads of state and 7,000 government and business representatives to the East African capital city. Discussions are focused on investment (in artificial intelligence, renewable energy, and infrastructure) and on ways to reform international trade and finance systems to address indebtedness and unlock capital flows.

In opening remarks, Kenyan President William Ruto consigned the era of “aid, dependency, and unsustainable borrowing” to the past, calling for “a new paradigm grounded in investment, innovation, ... [and] partnerships built on sovereign equality and mutual benefit.”

“Let’s take a leap together” into “equal partnership,” his co-host, French President Emmanuel Macron, urged, announcing the mobilization of €23 billion ($27 billion) of investment from French and African companies. Since taking office in 2017, Mr. Macron has sought to reinvent the former colonial power’s relationships with African countries, having visited almost 20 – more than any previous French president. “He loves the energy, the creativity, the optimism there,” a former classmate and adviser told Le Monde.

Such recognition of the continent’s dynamism and drive marks a subtle and necessary shift in long-held attitudes toward Africa. While it might not yet be evident in other Western capitals, Mr. Macron could be setting an example for national self-reflection and a willingness to forge new relationships based on two-way respect and regard.

When such qualities imbue diplomatic and economic outreach, they are more likely to strengthen trust and cooperation. In an era of major geopolitical uncertainty. France and many African nations are increasingly aligned on the need for upholding a stable and dependable world order. During the summit, Mr. Macron noted a common interest in building “strategic autonomy” for Europe and Africa, remarking, “If we build it together, we will be much stronger.”

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Despite France’s fraught history in West and North Africa, some Africa observers are expectant of transformation and progress. Foreign investment can bring exploitation alongside “needed infrastructure, jobs, expertise and financing,” pointed out Kelvin Ndunga in an op-ed in a Turkish paper this week. But improving continental cooperation and “building internal systems” to frame equitable partnerships can help counter the risks, he noted.

As veteran journalist Yinka Adegoke observed in Semafor Africa on Monday, “The conversation [in Nairobi] is less about the French reclaiming influence in Africa ... than about African countries widening their options.” More such options are key to unlocking meaningful progress on a continent where 60% of inhabitants are under 25 years of age.

One gauge of a society’s level of interpersonal trust lies in how much the central government shares power – with local authorities, courts, private citizen groups, and others. For the last 16 years in Hungary, such trust has been evaporating. An increasingly authoritarian leader, Viktor Orbán, had been centralizing power and creating “us versus them” polarization around often-fabricated issues.

On Saturday, all that changed with the swearing-in of a new prime minister, Péter Magyar. His broad-tent Tisza party won big in elections a month ago. In his inaugural speech, Mr. Magyar pledged not to rule over Hungary but to “serve” it – through reconciliation, inclusiveness, and democratic renewal.

“We are going to remake the constitutional system so that such a concentration of power can never happen again,” he declared. Mr. Magyar also apologized to people who had been marginalized and maligned by the state during Mr. Orbán’s long tenure.

In many countries where authoritarian rulers have recently been turned out, decentralization has become a prime goal, along with curbs on corruption that often accompany an aggregation of power. Hungary’s agenda under a new leader provides a template for such reforms.

Mr. Magyar promises to reinforce judicial independence and restore autonomy to local governments and universities. He has been adamant in ending government controls over Hungarian news media.

He plans to limit a prime minister to two terms – and reactively apply that rule to Mr. Orbán. “I saw how power can destroy a man,” said Mr. Magyar, who once served in his predecessor’s government.

Part of his distribution of power began during his speech to a large crowd in Budapest. He gave credit to the huge majority of voters who elected his party. “You have taught the country and the world that it is the most ordinary, flesh-and-blood people that can defeat the most vicious tyranny,” he said.

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He also proclaimed a repairing of societal trust. “What connects us will be stronger than what divides us. Hungary will be home for every Hungarian, and everyone can feel like they have a place in the Hungarian nation. Family, friends and communities will be able to speak to each other again.”

Even before the election, Mr. Magyar was sure of the example that his party would set by winning. At one campaign event, he noted the presence of journalists from a pro-Kremlin Russian newspaper: “I welcome the Russian propaganda media. Enjoy the freedom – and the regime change!”

Just over halfway into the term of Guatemala’s reformist leader, the “democratic spring” that he and his Movimiento Semilla (Seed Movement) sought to nurture is sending up fresh shoots of hope for lawful governance.

President Bernardo Arévalo has appointed a new attorney general, marking what he calls a “new chapter” for the small Central American nation. The outgoing attorney general, María Consuelo Porras, had tried to derail Mr. Arévalo’s 2024 inauguration, and has since obstructed multiple efforts to promote judicial impartiality and transparency.

To many Guatemalans, Ms. Porras’ tenure symbolized entrenched political impunity and corruption that used the power of the state to settle scores with perceived enemies and make allowances for allies. In 2022, the United States cited her for repeatedly undermining anti-corruption efforts to “gain undue political favor.”

“Justice has all too often been a tool of revenge. It is time to leave that past behind,” the president said on May 5, when naming Gabriel García Luna to the post. An attorney general, Dr. Arévalo affirmed, should uphold “an independent and impartial justice system dedicated to the [Guatemalan] people” rather than serve an incumbent president or “particular ... political interests.”

Mr. García, who was on a six-person shortlist nominated by an independent commission, has expressed similar sentiments. “The Public Prosecutor’s Office ... must act free from political and any other kind of pressure,” he said during his interview process, emphasizing the need for “transparency in all actions” and restoring public confidence.

According to Prensa Libre, local analysts believe Mr. García’s 25-year record of experience will help bring “greater independence and stability ... in the Public Prosecutor’s Office.” He is expected to prioritize criminal investigations, invest in technology and modernization, and support merit and teamwork, the paper reported.

Such moves are especially encouraging in a region that has continued to see democratic backsliding and increased narco-trafficking, trends that helped fuel high migration to the United States in the recent past. (In 2023, Guatemalans made up nearly 9% of total migrants.) 

As Mr. Arévalo’s 58% vote tally in the 2023 election showed, his anti-corruption message struck a chord with citizens. So did his demonstrated humility and willingness to seek the input of citizens, especially the often-neglected Indigenous population. His government has scored gains in education and healthcare and subdued gang violence to some extent. The economy grew at close to 4% in 2025 (well above the projected 2.4% rate for the region), and he has negotiated favorable trade terms with the Trump administration.

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“Arévalo’s mere survival as president has been an achievement of its own,” one expert on the region observed in America’s Quarterly in March.

With honest and impartial leadership of its judicial system, Guatemala moves one step closer to reaping the harvest of that promised democratic spring.

North Korea has closely watched Russia’s failure to conquer Ukraine along with Iran’s calamitous missteps in trying to dominate the Middle East with proxy militias. This week, news broke that the regime in Pyongyang might have learned a lesson about avoiding such misguided aggression.

After more than seven decades of threatening to use force to reunify with South Korea, it officially gave up claims on its neighbor on the Korean Peninsula. It rewrote its constitution to remove an obligation to “realize the reunification of the fatherland” and the ethnic Korean people.

This does not mean Seoul and its American ally can now stand down their defensive forces against the North’s nuclear arsenal. Nor has South Korea given up hope of peaceful reunification. But the constitutional change, which was first signaled in 2023, suggests a warming of what has been a long, cold peace.

To add to a possible new normal, a North Korean women’s soccer team will travel to Seoul to compete against a South Korean team, the first such match in years. The May 20 tournament, held by the Asian Football Confederation, means the two nations must coordinate on security and other arrangements.

Under its new policy, North Korea frames the match as between separate countries. In general, it describes relations as “two hostile states,” perhaps a recognition that the two are only technically at war after a 1950-53 conflict that ended in an armistice.

Despite that, the constitutional change “may provide part of the institutional groundwork for peaceful coexistence between the two Koreas,” Lee Jung-chul, a North Korea expert at Seoul National University, told The Korea Herald.

Other changes hint that the country’s leader, Kim Jong Un, might now realize that North Korea – and its largely closed economy – must be more open. “This fits in the context of a prolonged effort to redefine North Korea as a ‘normal state’ just like any other,” Christopher Green of the International Crisis Group, told the Financial Times.

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The previous normal – preparing to break through the borders of another country – has lately not worked well for a few other countries.

Back in 2018, during his first term as president, Donald Trump called for a curb on a federal requirement that publicly traded firms report their performance every three months. The idea is to nudge both investors and corporations toward longer-term perspectives and focus less on a fluctuating stock price. This week, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) unveiled a plan that will allow such companies to provide reports every six months.

In the intervening eight years, ever-faster algorithms have enabled warp-speed stock trading, inflating shareholder impatience and expectations of instantaneous information and returns. In 2021, a Cornell University study confirmed that “firms were actually becoming more short-term oriented across the market” – a trend linked to the growing demand for more data and short-term projections for the investing public and markets.

The relative flexibility offered by this rule change will likely save time and repeated effort for the managers and accountants who put together the SEC-mandated reports. Beyond that, the change is a small but key step that can support sustained investment choices and also encourage privately held companies to consider going public.

“More companies are choosing to remain private or returning to private ownership, rather than face mounting regulatory burdens and costs associated with being publicly traded,” according to a 2025 report issued by Nasdaq. The document noted a 36% decline in the number of publicly listed companies since 2000 – while firms funded with private capital grew by 475% in the same period.

Public capital markets have been described as an engine of economic growth – and their expansion widens opportunities for ordinary Americans to obtain a stake in the country’s economic success, through retirement plans and other investments.

Business titans such as Warren Buffett and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon have long advocated for patient, value-focused investment and growth approaches that benefit both business and society more generally. The practice of quarterly projections, they warned in The Wall Street Journal in 2018, “leads to an unhealthy focus on short-term profits at the expense of long-term strategy, growth and sustainability.”

Such short-termism undermines investment in research and development, new equipment or technology, and staff upskilling. These are inputs that spur both innovation and productivity, even if they do not generate immediate shareholder returns.

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“Building resilience to the risks of tomorrow ... requires time spent learning, thinking and strategizing,” as the Kenan Institute for Private Enterprise at the University of North Carolina has noted.

And those processes require America’s corporate decision-makers and shareholding public to pursue a measured approach to wealth building that values broad societal benefits over mere stock market speculation.

In the week since the Supreme Court barred gerrymandering of districts intentionally based on race, many state legislatures have been busy debating how to redraw electoral maps. Some lawmakers have offered non-race-based ideas – including proportional representation – to ensure all disadvantaged voters have a voice. Such ideas, however, might first entail a dialogue, both across the aisle and across races. 

In Alabama, one legislator, Rep. Curtis Travis, offered a different kind of dialogue Monday. In an opening prayer at a State House session on redistricting, he asked “Eternal God” for His wisdom. Here is part of that prayer:

As this House considers matters that shape representation and influence the future of communities across our state, we ask for Your steadying hand.

Today, as lines are considered and decisions are weighed, grant wisdom that is not partisan, but principled.

Grant all of us clarity of mind, humility of spirit, and a commitment to fairness that rises above pressure, preference, or partisanship.

Grant courage that is not self-serving, but just.

Grant discernment that sees every citizen not as a number on a map, but as a soul created in Your image, worthy of dignity and fair representation.

He then asked this for his fellow lawmakers of all parties:

Bless each representative with courage, patience, and discernment for the work ahead.

In the United States, over its 250 years, prayers like that have often helped defuse tensions in race relations. In many statehouses now, however, the discourse is largely defensive and retaliatory, seeking partisan electoral advantage. Yet many Americans might be looking for what inter-race facilitators call “bridging.” 

In their 2024 book “Belonging Without Othering,” john a. powell and Stephen Menendian of the University of California, Berkeley wrote that ways to link people across racial or religious divides “can be as simple as an interfaith dinner or a multicultural concert.”

“Active and empathetic listening is perceived and felt as a form of caring and regard, and it builds trust,” the authors wrote. “Remarkably, it may have a greater tendency to induce change or shift opinion than listening for purpose of persuasion, to change a person’s opinion.” Such mutual recognition, they add, can help reduce the kind of zero-sum competition found in neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, and politics.

In his prayer, Representative Travis conveyed a similar note:

Where there is division, bring clarity.

Where there is pressure, bring integrity.

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Where there is uncertainty, bring reverence for what is right.

Taking a moment for prayer in the Alabama State House, he later wrote on Facebook, is a reminder that leadership carries weight “grounded in reflection, humility, and a sense of service to something greater than ourselves.”

As reported in the Monitor last week, the recent U.S. indictment of 10 Mexican officials poses a key test for President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo: how best to balance pressures from its neighbor and largest trading partner with the domestic imperative to defend sovereignty – while also tackling cartel crime and serving justice for ordinary Mexicans?

More broadly, this development also tests both countries’ determination to collaboratively pursue legitimate shared interests in a way that stabilizes rather than further disrupts already-shaky economic, political, and security relations.

Last Thursday, President Sheinbaum said the U.S. request for extradition of the 10 officials did not provide enough evidence for arrests. Instead, she said, Mexican prosecutors would investigate the cases to determine evidence of criminality. Her declaration came in the wake of increasing unease after a roadway incident in late April pointed to CIA involvement inside Mexico.

The Trump administration has ramped up demands – including veiled military threats – to curb the flow of illegal drugs into the United States. Last year saw record-level fentanyl seizures, the extradition of dozens of alleged traffickers to the U.S., and increased intelligence sharing.

But even before President Donald Trump took office, the Sheinbaum government had launched Operation Swarm in November 2024, targeting cartel crime and political collusion at the municipal level. By February of this year, 60 people across six states had been arrested, including mayors and security officials from the ruling party. According to two researchers at the Washington-based Brookings Institution, this shows “Sheinbaum’s willingness to clean up her own party, something her predecessors ... were unwilling to do.”

“Some 30% of those arrested ... have been convicted. That’s crucial, and unusually high,” the researchers wrote, noting that successful prosecution rates in Mexico rarely top 7%.

Some critics fault Dr. Sheinbaum’s pursuit of corruption among high-level officials, whom she has sometimes negotiated out of office with a golden parachute rather than with prosecution. These apparent concessions to powerful interests underscore the immense challenges to professionalizing police, security, and judicial structures.

Still, according to the Mexico News Daily, Dr. Sheinbaum is charting a different course from her predecessor and “moving with increasing confidence and speed.” In March, several polls showed her approval rating at or above 70%, with 57% of respondents saying Mexico was on a “good/very good” path, though 41% viewed the relationship with Mr. Trump as “bad/very bad.”

Ultimately, effectively tackling cartel-related crime requires Mexico and the U.S. to deepen confidence and predictability in one another’s intentions and efforts, according to Earl Anthony Wayne, a former U.S. ambassador to Mexico.

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“Trust needs to be nurtured,” he wrote in a commentary for the Center for Strategic and International Studies in January. “This is worth much more than rapid, uncoordinated moves that hit criminal groups, but weaken cooperation and build mistrust.”

Each country “brings critical capabilities,” Ambassador Wayne noted. Success depends on crafting mutually supportive, acceptable, and consistent approaches to combat corruption and pursue justice.

In its daily use of social media (three hours, 32 minutes on average), Latin America leads the world. Over the past quarter century, it has nearly tripled the number of people attending university and cut poverty by about half. This list of notable trends could go on, regardless of concerns about crime, corruption, and caudillo-style rulers. Together, however, they might help explain this latest news:

Last year, the region saw the greatest improvement in key indicators of democracy, such as political participation and civil liberties, compared with Asia, Africa, and elsewhere. In fact, it was the only region to improve.

And Latin America did so after seeing nine years of decline on the index of democracy compiled annually by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). More than half of the region’s countries raised their scores in 2025. Bolivia stood out for its election of a centrist presidential candidate after nearly 19 years of a descent into deep political polarization. (Colombia had the sharpest decline, mainly due to political violence.)

Perhaps part of the reason for the shift is a rise in conservative leaders who exhibit an unusual bent for reforms more than for power.

“Today’s Latin America is a region where the tone and substance of some political events would not seem out of place in Texas or Nebraska; where mainstream political leaders speak glowingly of fiscal discipline and police crackdowns; and where demands for social justice seem to have been superseded, at least for now, by invective against narcoterrorists and socialist dictators,” wrote Brian Winter, editor-in-chief of Americas Quarterly, in Foreign Affairs.

The region’s relative democratic success helps bolster the index’s key global finding: A slide in democracy has paused for the first time in nearly a decade. “The evidence is more promising than not,” the EIU declared, even as it pointedly criticized a democratic decline in the United States.

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A critical dynamic in the current trends is the rise and impact of political participation, aka civic engagement. One factor might be young people’s intense use of social media. In fact, last year’s pro-democracy uprising in Nepal, led by Generation Z protesters, was triggered by a government ban on popular social media platforms. A similar stirring is underway in Russia as the Putin regime tightens its grip on digital freedoms.

For all its flaws, social media and its popularity reflects a passion for individual freedom while also providing a place for connection. “Traditional means of political participation have not enabled significant political change,” the EIU stated. For Latin America – a region known for its culture of community and personal interactions – a surge in mobile connectivity might now be reshaping the political landscape.

New data on global deforestation has the potential to infuse a breath of fresh air into conservation efforts and the world’s ongoing quest to balance environmental and economic priorities.

Findings released this week from the University of Maryland’s Global Land Analysis and Discovery laboratory show that tree loss worldwide registered a 14% decline from 2024 to 2025. More significantly, deforestation in tropical rainforests – which help regulate weather by absorbing carbon and releasing water vapor and oxygen – plummeted by 36%.

“Improved governance, recognition of Indigenous land rights and corporate commitments” helped spur these achievements in countries such as Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Colombia, noted the World Resources Institute. While the advocacy group and other environmental experts caution against reading too much into what may be a one-year “lull,” signs of progress are present.

Recent years have seen more countries engaging in measured policymaking and enforcement efforts; pursuing private- and public-sector cooperation; broadening civic engagement and participation of Indigenous peoples; and using technology such as satellite imagery to monitor performance. In addition, sophisticated financial instruments are also being used to incentivize forest protection. (This includes the Tropical Forests Forever Facility launched last November to target investment capital to countries maintaining low levels of deforestation.)

These trends of thought and practice indicate a shift away from what climate change critics have called alarmist or exaggerated tactics to more considered conversations that acknowledge both the ecological and economic value of forest resources.

When it comes to the Amazon – which makes up one-fifth of the world’s forests – “Its services are immensely valuable,” The Economist pointed out last October. “Treating its carbon storage, water regulation and biodiversity as services rendered, rather than free gifts – would make its preservation economically rational.” Conserving this resource, it said, requires “creativity, diplomacy and clear-sightedness.”

Such clarity can also be supported by a greater degree of humility and readiness to go beyond “expert” opinions and learn from local communities – and from nature itself. For instance, studies show that collaborative, community-based forest management can reduce tree cover loss by 55% to 66%, compared with areas overseen by government staff alone. And in early April, scientists expressed surprise and delight at what they discovered about nature’s rapid resilience. In the course of a four-year study of deforested areas in Ecuador, they found that complex ecosystems can recover in a few years or decades – rather than the century or more they had previously believed necessary.

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“It’s been a huge surprise for all of us,” one of the study’s authors told The New York Times. “None of us expected it to be so impressive and so quick.”

The challenges of continued rainforest loss remain serious and extensive. Population and economic pressures are often compounded by corruption, poverty, and inefficiency in many countries. But, as the quality of governance, scientific inquiry, and democratic participation improve, so, too, can principled stewardship of the world’s natural treasures.

By many accounts, these are the days of resource nationalism. China tries to control exports of its rare earth minerals. The United States restricts certain exports of advanced computer chips. Even a few West African countries that dominate cacoa production often collude to control prices for the world’s chocolate-makers.

Yet history teaches that a zero-sum mentality of resource manipulation or price-fixing among rivals often ends up pushing consumers to find creative ways to adjust. Cartels or monopolies then crack apart. The natural state of free competition in a market returns. And the notion that one can only get ahead if somebody else loses starts to recede.

A good example of how mercantilism can melt away could be happening now. On Tuesday, one of the world’s top oil producers, the United Arab Emirates, announced it is quitting OPEC, along with the cartel’s stringent quota system among member states to rig global petroleum prices. The UAE, which produces about 12% of OPEC’s oil, said it would now align its prime export “with demand and market conditions.”

The Gulf Arab nation has other reasons to exit. A fellow OPEC member, Iran, has bombed the UAE more than it has Israel during the recent war. Saudi Arabia, the cartel’s strongest member, differs with the neighboring UAE on many geopolitical issues. And the UAE wants to align more closely with nations that practice market fundamentals in anticipation of the end of the fossil fuel era.

And it seeks to quickly monetize its current oil deposits, free of quotas. “Oil, no matter how much we defend it, it’s in decline mode,” UAE Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei said publicly in 2022. “To assume oil is going to be there forever is wishful thinking.”

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Most of all, oil-consuming nations have adjusted since OPEC’s oil embargo of 1973 and its price-fixing ever since. In particular, the U.S. shale-oil revolution has eroded the cartel’s clout. At its peak, OPEC had 16 members and controlled most of the world’s proven oil reserves. As some of its smallest-producing members have quit, and now that oil giant UAE is leaving, its market share will be less than 50%. It will be left with only 11 members.

Further defections are now widely anticipated. As Robert Frost poetically opined, “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.” One of history’s most powerful cartels might finally be discovering that it cannot put up barriers to market freedom and creative ideas in energy uses. Material resources may be finite. But not the resources available to human thinking.

A majority of Americans – two-thirds – feel that the nation’s corrections system does well on maintaining prison security, thus contributing to a sense of overall public safety. But only 16% believe that the system does a good job of rehabilitating incarcerated individuals.

With 95% of these individuals rejoining society after serving an average of about three years, the likelihood of reoffending is concerning for families of those convicted, the communities to which they return, and local law enforcement and justice systems.

In response, more than a dozen states have intensified efforts to reorient their correctional systems toward reformation and rehabilitation. Reforms range from providing more mentorship and educational access to the ambitious reconstruction of San Quentin State Prison in California and – on the East Coast – a statewide shift away from what the National Institute of Justice has described as a “command-and-control culture.”

The emerging approaches recognize and build on individuals’ humanity and capacity to reflect, reform, and respond positively to respectful treatment.

“These innovations reflect a focus on human dignity for both those who work and those who live in our nation’s prisons,” said the Brennan Center for Justice in a study published in early April. The changes are occurring across “politically and geographically diverse” states, the study found, and are helping to reduce violence, improve working conditions, and equip incarcerated people to “successfully reenter society.”

The Chester State Correctional Institution near Philadelphia was one of the early adopters, piloting a residential unit known as Little Scandinavia after study visits to Norway and Sweden. Since the pilot began in 2022, “We’re seeing fewer incidents of disorder, a near absence of violence, less use of isolation,” Jordan Hyatt, Drexel University professor of criminology and justice studies, told WBUR’s “On Point” program last week.

An even more striking example of change is in Maine, where the state’s Department of Corrections emphasizes “rehabilitation, mutual respect, human dignity, and community reintegration.”

“Our job as law enforcement and correctional professionals is to release people healthier than when they arrived in our setting,” Randall Liberty, the commissioner of corrections, told “On Point.” He promotes a “redemptive environment” and “non adversarial approach” that supports opportunities for self-government, enrollment in college programs, and remunerative online jobs while still in prison.

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Some critics, he said, ask, “Where’s the punishment in that?” His response: These activities give incarcerated persons “the opportunity to be responsible ... to feel like an adult and care for their families” by paying mortgages, child support, restitution, and taxes. In addition, the Brennan Center report said, state data between 2017 and 2024 has shown dramatic reductions in assaults among prison residents (by 40%) and in staff use of force (by 69%).

“I believe in redemption,” said Mr. Liberty, who has served in law enforcement and corrections for more than 44 years and saw his father cycle in and out of prison during his childhood. “That’s how you make our community safer and stronger.”

One mark of a maturing democracy is a high proportion of independent voters, unbeholden to organized factions and attuned to unifying a civic community on shared hopes. In the Middle East, such sentiments have risen in recent years, from Iraq to Lebanon and perhaps soon in a newly liberated Syria.

But in Gaza? After two years of devastating war?

On Saturday, in an election held for the first time anywhere in Gaza in nearly two decades, voters showed a surprising degree of autonomy from the two major Palestinian parties. Balloting was held in only one city, Deir al-Balah, with more than 70,000 people, due to every other city in Gaza being flattened during fighting after the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. And voting was only for 15 seats in the municipal council.

In preliminary results, a list of candidates perceived as being Hamas-aligned won only two seats, while a list loosely aligned with the Fatah party of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank won only six. The majority of seats went to two independent Gaza-based groups, Future of Deir al‑Balah and Peace and Construction.

One young Palestinian voter told Le Monde that she wanted a change in governance. “We want to make our voices heard to start a new life,” said Soumaya Abou Obeid.

The leader of the Peace and Construction list of candidates, Mohammed Abu Nasser, told The New Arab that the focus is on practical governance. “This stage requires solutions far from political polarisation,” he said. “We are relying on expertise to address accumulated service failures.”

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The one-city balloting in Gaza was a pilot run organized by the Palestinian Authority, which also ran municipal elections in the West Bank on April 25. The main purpose of the elections, Rami Hamdallah, chair of the Ramallah-based Central Election Commission, told journalists, is to send “a political message that national unity is possible.”

The future of Gaza is still unclear after a ceasefire took effect in October. But if this one election reflects a shift among Palestinians away from Hamas-like confrontation, it was also a shift toward consensus-based governing focused on rebuilding – of both the bombed-out structures of Gaza and a war-torn society seeking reconciliation.