As Iran and much of the Middle East is in a state of ferment, the ideas of freedom are being injected into the debate at an increasing rate. Thanks to the staff of the Atlas Global Initiative for Free Trade, Peace, and Prosperity, Iranians, Afghans, Arabs, and Kurds can now access the works of Frederic Bastiat, Milton Friedman, John Stuart Mill, David Boaz, and others online and through printed books. Seven books have appeared in print this year, in addition to many hundreds of articles syndicated in the media, online resources, and more. The Persian web platform, Cheragheazadi.org, has been posting articles at a fast pace and linking them on popular Persian-language websites, such as Gooya, which are widely read in Iran.
Books released to bookstores so far in 2009 include:
Persian (spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, the Gulf, and neighboring areas):
Capitalism and Freedom, by Milton Friedman
Libertarianism: A Primer, by David Boaz
Common Sense Economics, by James Gwartney, Richard Stroup, and Dwight Lee
(Forthcoming: On Liberty, by John Stuart Mill)
Arabic (spoken in Arab countries, Iran, and neighboring regions)
Not a Zero-Sum Game, by Manuel F. Ayau
The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible, by Ken Schooland
(Forthcoming in 2009: Who Needs an Islamic State?, by Abdelwahab El-Effendi, Islam and Mammon: The Economic Predicaments of Islamism, by Timur Kuran, Islam and Liberty, by a variety of scholars from Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey, and the Arabic Middle East, and The Evolution of Cooperation, by Robert Axelrod)
Kurdish (Sorani dialect, spoken mainly in Iraq and Iran)
Common Sense Economics, by James Gwartney, Richard Stroup, and Dwight Lee
Libertarianism: A Primer, by David Boaz
(Forthcoming: On Liberty, by John Stuart Mill, Reinventing Civil Society, by David Green, Who Wants an Islamic State?, by Abdelwahib El-Effendi, and Not a Zero Sum Game, by Manuel Ayau)
According to Atlas Global Initiative Director Dr. Tom G. Palmer, “Our colleagues in the Middle East are really stepping up their work at this critical time. If the people of the region are to enjoy peace, the rule of law, freedom, and prosperity, it’s simply imperative that the ideas of liberty be made more widely available, often for the very first time, in the languages that people speak every day.” In addition to the stepped-up publishing, Palmer pointed to the use of social networking sites such as Facebook and new media such as Twitter (which has gotten a lot of attention lately in Iran). This year also sees the first Atlas Liberty Academies in the Arabic language, in co-sponsorship with the Smith Family Foundation. One was held in July in Morocco and the other will be in Lebanon in September. Participants were selected from among the participants in the “Raise Your Voice” essay contest.
Copyright © 2010 The Atlas Network.
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excellent work! there are a lot of freedom loving people in the middle east and this effort is highly appreciated.