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Submitted by Brian Sonenstein on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 10:34am.

Mark Weisbrot of the Huffington Post wrote an article last night about Washington's reluctance to stand up for democracy in the wake of the Honduran military coup--while the US Government could and should be using this opportunity to overhaul its shameful reputation in the region, it instead seems to be succumbing to the same, dangerous elite-pandering it was infamous for during the last 40 years.
The High Court in India overturned a ban on gay sex, stating that the existing law violated fundamental human rights. The historic court decision will likely fortify movements toward dissolving a 148-year-old colonial law which describes homosexual relationships as "unnatural offenses"
A Gallup poll released today indicates that Iranians have doubted the US commitment to democracy in the region, and muses that the Obama Administration's endorsement of opposition candidates may in fact be a kiss-of-death to their movement for free, transparent governance.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev hopes that Obama's visit to Moscow next week will catalyze a new relationship between the former Cold War enemies, which remains on pins and needles 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall due to tensions surrounding stalled nonproliferation efforts, the construction of US anti-missle systems in Europe and a general history of distrust that needs to be reconciled before the two nations can convene and tackle important global economic and political issues.