It’s a world of strugglers and sufferers

The celebrations surrounding the royal nuptials provide rare relief in a world that seems in a permanent state of turmoil, with terrorism, war and uprisings the order of the day, not to mention rising food prices.

So it is not surprising to find a survey of “global wellbeing” shows just 15% of the world’s countries can describe themselves as “thriving” while the remainder are either “struggling” or “suffering.”

The terms are part of Gallup’s annual poll  of about 1000 adults in each of 124 countries, excluding only those where such polls are either impossible or forbidden (some 70-odd if membership of the UN is a criterion).

New Zealanders won’t be surprised they rank among the 19 countries where most say they are “thriving” – defined as rating 7 or higher on the Cantril Self-Anchoring Striving Scale  and 8 or higher in five years’ time.

Neither is it a surprise to learn the very top countries comprise the likes of Denmark, Sweden, Canada and Australia – all with a median thriving percentage of 65% or above.

But the next placings may be a shock: Finland equal with socialist-ruled Venezuela at 64% and New Zealand level with Israel at 63%; the Netherlands and Ireland are just below that.

The Americas are the highest-rating region with an average median of 39%, even though Haiti is second bottom with just 2%, while Europe, with Bulgaria at 9%, comes in at an above average 28%.

What’s in a name? A: More money
Kate Middleton will have a new name after tomorrow but it won’t be Mrs Kate Windsor. I am told it is actually Princess William of Wales, though it is more likely to stick as Princess Catherine. (UPDATE: The couple are now officially known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.)

A Dutch study suggests a way for most brides to be wealthier is to not change their names at all. The survey found women who kept their maiden names were judged to be more professional than married-name doppelgangers and proved more likely to win a job.

They also attracted higher pay, which won’t be a problem for Ms Middleton, whatever she's called.

Professors at the University of Tilburg began their research by studying existing data for more than 2400 married Dutch women. Three-quarters had taken their husband's name, 7% had hyphenated last names and the rest kept their maiden names.

The results showed women who kept their names had higher average education levels and fewer children, and that they worked more and had higher salaries.

(A 2004 study in the US found that the percentage of women graduates who kept their surnames at marriage jumped from 2% to 4% around 1975 to just less than 20% in 2001. I couldn’t find any New Zealand research.)

Doing what can’t be done
Western media reporting of events in Libya and Syria is heavily slanted to showing despicable events and the implication something should be done about it.

A Washington Post editorial, which is probably the first to be read in the White House each day, says of Syrian President Assad’s crackdown:

Massacres on this scale usually prompt a strong response from Western democracies, as they should. The Assad regime is one of the most implacable US adversaries in the Middle East. It is Iran's closest ally; it supplies Iranian weapons to Hizbullah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza for use against Israel…

It’s no different in Libya, where despite western sanctions and “no-fly” zones, the Gaddafi regime is still pounding its own population. But, as the Washington Institute’s Jeffrey White observes, Nato’s strategy has failed to degrade Gaddafi’s

ability to command and sustain his forces or employ heavy weapons against rebels and civilians… [A]llied forces have not broken the regime's willingness or ability to continue the fight, and Nato is reluctant to take the military steps needed to turn the tide rapidly.

In earlier years, western governments held back when the Burmese junta let its people starve rather than allow foreign aid in after Cyclone Nargis struck in 2008. Nor were forces sent in to prevent recent massacres in Darfur or the Congo.

The recent overthrow of President Gbagbo in Cote d’Ivoire was an exception, because French troops were already on the ground. The reason, of course, is geopolitical realties; the freedom-loving instincts of the world’s “thriving” minority may be constantly offended but that doesn't mean they want anything done about it.

The despots’ club strikes again
One reason why the so-called “international community” is helpless against despots and totalitarian religions is the failure of the United Nations to fulfil the purpose for which it was formed at the end of World War II.

The renamed Human Rights Council (which replaced its discredited predecessor) is an example of how the UN is easily manipulated to thwart its high-minded objectives. Most civilised organisations have a list of rules that are disobeyed on risk of expulsion.

The UN works the other way round, with membership coming as of right and votes doled out on the basis of geography (Australia, New Zealand and Israel are, for these purposes, part of the smallest-voting European bloc).

So it raises few eyebrows that the Asia bloc is promoting Syria as one of its four nominees to the 47-member HRC. All Syria needs to get in is a simple majority vote of 97 votes in the 192-member General Assembly.

UN-watcher Claudia Rosett, of the Foundation for the Defence of Democracies, says this won’t be hard:

When Libya ran for a seat in 2010 (from which it was only recently suspended), it got 155 votes. In 2009, Saudi Arabia got 154 votes, Cuba got 163 and China got the same number as the US – 167.

Meanwhile, CNN reports the Security Council has failed to condemn Syria on grounds it would be “outside interference” (Russia), those being shot are “armed criminal elements” (Syria) and that political dialogue and peaceful resolution were preferable (China and India).

No foreign journalists are allowed in Syria, but that doesn’t mean some wise commentaries aren’t available. Sample these: Barry Rubin, author of a book on Syria, on the Islamist threat in the Arab upheavals; historian Benny Morris on the Palestinians’ bid for unconditional membership of the UN; and Amir Taheri on Iran’s backing of Syria.