Editor's Note: Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international humanitarian aid organization that provides emergency medical assistance to populations in danger in more than 70 countries.

Kira Kleaveland
AC360° Production Assistant

I’ve always been intrigued by people who give up a safe and comfortable life, who are even willing to put their own lives in danger, to help complete and total strangers. What could possibly compel someone to act in a manner many would say is irrational?

The doctors of MSF risk their own lives every time they go on a humanitarian mission. Whether it’s to provide emergency medical assistance to civilians caught in the middle of a war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, or to Liberia where most people have no access to basic healthcare after a civil war ravaged the country, MSF and its staff work selflessly to improve the lives of others, in what small way they can.

This documentary sheds light not only on the amazing work of MSF but also on the distressing situation of people all over the world living in poverty, amidst conflict, and without basic human needs. One doctor struggles to treat a young boy struggling to breathe with massive swelling in his belly and under his eyes, with no known cause and no option for fancy diagnostic tests. Another team of doctors rush to drill a hole into an unconscious man’s skull to release pressure after the man was shot in the head, not knowing whether his brains will come out along with the blood. Doctors are tested on a daily basis, facing their own limitations and those of their environment.

Many of us here at 360°, myself included, feel compelled to report these stories, everyday heroes helping people trapped in impossible circumstances. One of the reasons I wanted to work at CNN and at Anderson Cooper 360° specifically, was because of the commitment I saw to responsible journalism, covering not just what touches our everyday lives, but also what touches our humanity.

Watch the documentary, “Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders” above.

Note: The film will be broadcast via satellite from New York City to over 440 movie theaters nationwide. Go here to find the theater closest to you. And go here to buy tickets.

Editor’s Note: Aaron Jackson was a 2007 CNN Hero who co-founded the nonprofit Planting Peace. Among its various projects, the group provides deworming treatment and education to impoverished communities in Haiti and around the world.

Aaron Jackson (back row, center) says his organization is able to deworm 250 children for less than the cost of a pack of cigarettes.

Aaron Jackson
Founder and President, Planting Peace
2007 CNN Hero

Gandhi once said, "When fighting for a just cause people tend to pop up."

As founder and president of Planting Peace, I see this every day in my quest to bring a little peace to the world. When Planting Peace needs someone or something for our cause, people just seem to “'pop up” and reach out to help. In November of 2007, it wasn't just a single person that popped up, but rather, many people – people watching CNN worldwide.

After CNN named me a CNN Hero and aired the CNN Hero documentary on my quest to treat the world of intestinal parasites through Planting Peace, thousands of people responded with open arms and generous hearts. In those first few days, I received literally thousands of letters, emails and phone calls offering monetary donations and a range of services. The response was truly overwhelming.

After seeing my CNN Hero story on the CNN.com, Rainn Wilson, aka Dwight Schrute of the hit television show, ‘The Office,’ contacted me via email. Although his work was previously unknown to me, he and I have since become good friends, and he has joined me in bringing awareness to the need of deworming children in countries in which starvation is so prevalent.

A week after the initial airing of the CNN Hero documentary, I was also a featured guest on Anderson Cooper 360°. Once again, the response by people across the world was overwhelming.

Through the assistance and donations of all of those who “popped up” after viewing the CNN Hero profile or reading my story on CNN.com, Planting Peace has developed national deworming programs aiding over a million people in Sudan and the Dominican Republic.

We have also reached our goal in being able to purchase enough deworming medication to reach all 3.2 million children in Haiti, a program we are deploying this month. Experience has shown that deworming can dramatically reduce malnutrition. One study in Zanzibar found that antiparasite treatment can reduce children’s malnutrition by 62 percent and reduce anemia by 59 percent. We hope to achieve the same great results in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

Stamps on one of Chris Guillebeau's passports.

Chris Guillebeau
AC360° Contributor

This post is relevant for readers with U.S. passports who travel frequently. If you don’t fit in that group, feel free to skip this one — or just read it for the entertainment value.

I’ve mentioned a few times that I have two U.S. passports, and each time at least one person asks me how that works. Well, I’ll tell you exactly how I got the second passport, and what you need to do if this would help you too.

First, the need for a second passport. Why bother?

U.S. passports are good for a number of reasons: notably, they are valid for 10 years, and when you fill up the pages with lots of stamps and visas, the State Department in Washington, D.C. or any embassy abroad will issue more pages at no charge. I’ve had three passport page extensions so far, and without that option I would have needed at least four passports by this point. No other major country of which I am aware offers a passport that includes both of these important features.

As good as a U.S. passport can be, there are still two problems with having only one passport of any kind. First, when you visit politically sensitive countries (especially in the Middle East), the ensuing stamps can cause delays and other problems for you later.

When I recently came back to the states via Miami, for example, the immigration officer had a least a dozen questions for me as he flipped through the passport. Among other things, he asked me:

Why did you go to Pakistan?

How many days were you there?

Who did you meet with?

Who paid you to go to Karachi?

The irony here is that my trip to Pakistan was a while back, and when I returned to the U.S. at the time, I was waved through without any questions at all. This goes to show that when it comes to immigration, you never really know what’s going to happen until you approach the desk.

I should also mention that the questions are not always confrontational. Many immigration officers are impressed with so many passport pages and stamps, and several have even congratulated me. However, the occasional interrogation is enough to cause me concern, especially when I’m far away from home and relying on the mercies of an unfamiliar country.

Second, as I go further and further throughout the world, I frequently need to arrange some of my visas in advance by applying within the U.S. Some countries do not offer visas on arrival or allow travelers to apply from a third country, and if my passport is in the hands of a consular officer for weeks, then obviously I can’t go anywhere until I get it back.

Thus, the problem: to travel to fun places, you need visas, which require you to send off your passport for a variable length of time. While your passport is sitting somewhere, of course, you can’t go anywhere else. This makes travel hacking and advanced travel planning difficult.

How to Fix the Problem

The U.S. government allows independent travelers to obtain a duplicate (i.e., secondary) passport as long as you can demonstrate a need for it. Specially, you need to:

1. Fill out an application

This is easy. The application is here.

2. Decide if you want to use a service company

You can do this on your own and save at least $50. I used a service company mostly because it looked easier to me. I’m not a journalist, so I wasn’t sure if the State Department would reject my application if I sent it in myself. The company was actually quite helpful, so in this case I’m glad I spent the extra money.

3. Write a letter explaining your need for a second passport

You need to write a one-paragraph letter explaining why you need two passports. It helps if you can include an upcoming itinerary to sensitive countries, or at least a record of frequent international travel in the past.

4. Submit the application and the fees

The cost is US $135 plus whatever fee is charged by the service provider if you use one. Also, note that the second passport is only valid for two years. Unfortunately, you can’t get a second 10-year passport.

Having the second passport has already helped me several times, by being able to send off the new one to random embassies (Russia, Eritrea, etc.) with no real worries since I have another one safely in my office.

In fact, while the increased travel freedom is good, the greatest benefit of having two passports is peace of mind. I don’t have a lot of “treasured possessions” – I value experiences much more than physical things—but if forced to pick something, I’d reach for my 100-country passport. Have you seen all the stamps?

Wrap-Up

As mentioned in the beginning, most people need only one passport. But if you’re adventurous, this may be what you need. If not, at least you know how it works.

Editor’s Note: Chris Guillebeau is a writer and world traveler. He publishes the Art of Nonconformity blog at ChrisGuillebeau.com. Follow Chris on Twitter @chrisguillebeau.

The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 symbolized the end of communism across Eastern Europe.

David W. Fitzpatrick
CNN Special Investigations Unit

There’s a lot to read and a lot to see today about the events 20 years ago on Nov. 9, 1989 when East Germany (technically a splendid oxymoron called the German Democratic Republic) took no action and the infamous Berlin Wall was reduced to a footnote of history.

I was there for those tumultuous and joyous events as a producer for the CBS Evening News and above all else, the one thing that sticks in my mind is not the tremendous geo-political fallout, but rather the voices and faces of the people of both East and West Berlin.

When I arrived in Berlin after an overnight flight from New York and then on the only Western airline allowed into West Berlin (remember Pan American World Airways?), enormous crowds had already started to build near the Wall and the adjacent Brandenburg Gate.

One of the first people I recognized — and he, being a seasoned politician enjoyed the recognition — was the mayor of West Berlin, Willy Brandt. His long time symbol was a red rose that he always wore in lapel of his suit. He was beaming as we approached with our camera crew and in perfect English began to give us an interview drenched in politics and logic, but mostly void of emotion.

But the huge crowds around him began almost immediately to cheer. They didn’t hear what he said, of course, but the presence of a Western camera crew and soon thereafter three or four other camera crews meant something big was about to happen.

All throughout the day and into the early evening, there was tremendous anticipation both in the crowd and, of course, in the growing cordon of Western journalists. We could see the East Germans had placed powerful water hoses on top of the extended ladders of fire trucks and wondered whether those hoses would be trained on Germans who were by then taking to the Wall with sledge hammers, picks, whatever they could muster.

As night fell and the reality emerged that no violence would take place and that in fact the Wall would in fact be torn down, the crowd began to sing and dance and cry.

In the darkness, West German authorities along with East German bureaucrats had decided that the subway that had linked Berlin for decades but had been blocked by the Wall, would be open. There would be no checkpoints. Each East Berliner who could make his or her way to the West would be given 50 German marks — not an inconsiderable sum in those days.

East Berliners streamed through the dark streets, many of them holding lighted candles. As far as I could see, there were candles in the distance. And they sang. Sang loudly as I recall. They were singing, many of them, the anthem of the American civil rights struggle of the 1960s — “We Shall Overcome.”

Picture it in your mind. Candles. Huge crowds coursing through the streets. And an American song on their lips. It was as moving a moment as I had experienced covering the disasters and wars of the world.

The next morning all was more or less peaceful. There had been only a handful of arrests among the tens of thousands who had surged across the old dividing line between East and West. And with their 50 marks, what had most East Germans purchased? Not alcohol, although there certainly was a lot of that around. As dawn broke, you could not find a piece of chocolate or any fresh fruit throughout the whole city of West Berlin.

World leaders were gathering in the German capital Monday to mark 20 years since the collapse of the Berlin Wall redrew the map of Europe and brought about the end of the Cold War.

Christopher Chivvis
RAND Corporation

The fall of the Berlin Wall retains its status as an epoch-making event in modern world history, even as it passes from recent into truly historical memory.

The year 1989 ended what the historian Eric Hobsbawm dubbed the “short” 20th century. Over its course, the European states that once bestrode the world spent themselves in two world wars and were then superseded by the new superpowers of East and West, each dedicated to its own ideology, each armed with weapons of unsurpassed destructive force.

To those raised in the shadow of possible nuclear holocaust, the chief sentiment when the Wall fell 20 years ago was disbelief, followed by relief. Relief naturally brought hope that the end of the Cold War would bring lasting peace, and the end of conflict. And in Europe, at least, it mostly did - but not everywhere.

At the time, not a few of Germany’s erstwhile adversaries feared that a reunited Germany would revert to the militarism of its past, that Europe’s “German problem” would be reborn. Here the pessimists were wrong. Reunited Germany opened the door to a new European order and a continent at once whole, free, and at peace.

Was this a world restored? In some ways, yes. The great European powers of the 19th century again appeared ascendant. The United States was free, after half a century, to return to its shores. Though it chose to keep troops in Europe, its focus gradually shifted elsewhere.

By contrast with the past, however, and in part because of it, Europe’s states chose to bind themselves together in new institutional structures around a rejuvenated European Union and a reformed NATO.

If there was peace, however, there were also the seeds of future conflict.

Not all the states with a historical claim to great power status were embraced in the new institutional structures that developed over the next decade. Russia’s exclusion from them may have been inevitable, but it may still prove tragic if the fall of the Wall turns out to have the perverse effect of isolating Russia in its own darkening sphere.

Meanwhile, the Balkans churned, a harbinger of far-reaching changes in the nature of global security affairs. During the Cold War, the era in which contests between advanced industrial states dominated security affairs reached its apex. Bipolarity kept a lid on many civil wars between peoples. When it ended, these conflicts rose again to the surface, not just in the Balkans, but across Africa, the Middle East, and in Asia.

In the world of ideas the dismantling of the Wall also marked the end of old conflicts and the beginning of new ones. It was the death knell of Marxism-Communism and therefore the termination of the central intellectual contest of 20th century European politics.

Yet 20 years later it is still uncertain whether Communism’s defeat also meant definitive victory for liberal democracy. In the last two decades, from Russia to China to Venezuela, democratic processes have proven susceptible to autocratic impulses. Liberal democracy now is forced to compete with new brands of neo-nationalist authoritarianism in these places, and at the same time struggle against the universalist fundamentalism that energizes groups like Al Qa’ida.

Meanwhile, dissolution of the Soviet Union accelerated the nascent process of globalization, unleashing the productive potential of societies across the world and ushering in a new era in the history of free-market capitalism. But these dynamic new forces have proven susceptible to the same crises that have marked the history of free-market capitalism since the 19th century (and of which, ironically, Marx first forewarned).

No surprise then, that we see nostalgia for the days before the Wall fell, when all seemed orderly and predictable. Even today’s nuclear challenges can lead to reconsideration of the improbable upsides of the bipolar “balance of terror” and “mutual assured destruction.” In retrospect, it is self-evident that the events of 1989 meant neither the end of history, nor the end of conflict. But they did mean the end of an era whose successor is still taking form.

Editor's Note: Christopher S. Chivvis is a political scientist with the RAND Corporation in Washington D.C., and adjunct professor in European studies at Johns Hopkins University’s School for Advanced International Studies.

President Barack Obama lights a traditional oil lamp as Sri Narayanachar Digalakote, Hindu Priest from the Sri Siva Vishnu Temple in Maryland, chants in observance of Diwali, or the 'Festival of Lights.'

Devna Shukla
AC360° Production Assistant

As a first-generation Indian American, I am inevitably faced with many interesting cultural experiences.

Growing up in a small town in the Midwest, I often felt as if I lived two parallel lives; I was an American in school and Indian at home. I was truly conflicted and felt unable to share my Indian heritage during my elementary school years, despite my attempts to share the meaning and traditions with others.

My favorite holiday? The festival of Diwali, also known as the Hindu New Year.

Diwali is such a bright, colorful holiday celebrating the epic triumph of good over evil. This holiday is filled with sweets, vibrant clothing, and spending time with families. Not being able to share this with friends and colleagues was similar to a hypothetical situation where Christmas and Chanukah were ignored at schools, department stores, and at work.

Fast forward many years to 2006 when all of a sudden I was faced with a lot of Diwali questions. “When is Diwali this year?” I remember a teacher asking me. Shocked, I had no idea what prompted this newfound cultural awareness. A few days later it dawned on me: the hit NBC sitcom “The Office” actually filmed an entire episode devoted to Diwali.

At first, I was reluctant to watch. I’m so used to the typical “Apu” jokes from “The Simpsons” and wasn’t sure if “The Office” was going to be laughing at or with the Indian culture. Safe to say, the creative team at “The Office” laughed with us, creating one of my favorite television episodes ever made. The buzz about Diwali eventually faded a bit after memories of this episode withered away.

Imagine my surprise as an email landed in my inbox. “Subject: White House Celebrates Diwali.”

The White House, led by President Obama, lit the traditional diya (oil lamp) to celebrate Diwali. This is the first time the White House celebrated Diwali with the full attention of the president, as past presidents had not attended the ceremony.

While this news may have been lost to others more concerned with health care and the economy, it struck a chord with many around the world. I hope that small steps, such as celebrating important holidays around the world, will help to raise cultural consciousness and awareness, if only the slightest bit.

Although at first I was unsure of the impact of this gesture by the Obama Administration, minutes later I received another email from a co-worker with two simple -  yet heartfelt -  words:

“Happy Diwali.”

I’m not sure who to necessarily thank, but I think both President Obama and (the fictional) Michael Scott had something to do with it.

Follow Devna on Twitter @CNNDevna

AC360°

The Obama Administration's push for health care reform has reignited the debate over government involvement in medicine. How does the U.S. compare to other nations across the globe? Click on the image below to see key indicators of overall health: how much governments spend on health care per person vs. overall health care spending, as well as longevity and infant mortality.

The Palace of Happiness in Bhutan.

Chris Guillebeau
AC360° Contributor

When you first head off to places in the world that are a lot different from where you live, a number of things change. You have to learn to adapt.

I still make a lot of mistakes everywhere I go, but I try to learn from each of them. Here’s a short list of things I wish I’d known before I started my routine of extensive overseas travel, especially in countries in Africa, South Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America that are not part of the tourist circuit.

Health Care

1. You can legally buy safe medicine, including prescription drugs, for very little money overseas. When in Africa or Asia, I stock up on anti-malarials that cost $5 a day in Seattle. On location, it’s more like $1 for a 10-day supply.

2. The best health care is not in the U.S., Canada, or the U.K. The best healthcare is in places like Thailand and Costa Rica; that’s why the practice of medical tourism will continue to surge as both travel and overseas healthcare become more accessible.

Money

3. Take a lot of cash with you, and make sure the bills are new and have no writing on them. If you go to a place that accepts credit cards, then you can just redeposit the cash when you get home. It is far worse to end up short of cash with no credit card option.

4. If you do use your credit card, check the online statement at least once a week while traveling to make sure there are no fraudulent charges. Keep all your receipts, especially for large purchases such as hotel stays, and compare the amounts charged when you get back.

5. When you exchange money, hang on to the receipt you get until you’ve left the country. Once in a great while, someone at the airport will want to see proof of all your foreign exchanges.

Outside the Tiger's Nest Monastery in Bhutan.

6. The U.S. dollar is no longer the world’s currency. (In fact, some currency exchange shops will no longer accept dollars!) Travel with a stock of Euros to complement your dollars. The exceptions to this rule include some countries in Africa and Latin America that still use the dollar as their primary currency, and any country that has had a recent war.

Taxis

7. Hire a taxi outside the airport, not from the guys who approach you inside as you’re walking out. Even better, walk further outside the airport to where the taxis pull in, and you’ll get a better deal because the driver won’t have to pay the entrance fee.

8. Never assume that your taxi driver knows where your destination is. Double-check and get him to ask someone before you go if there’s any doubt.

9. The universal rule of taxi haggling, for both driver and passenger, is that once both sides agree on a fare before setting off, neither side can reopen negotiations once you’re en route. You should not try to get a better deal nor should you accept any increase in the fare from the driver after the journey has started.

10. If you have a dispute with a taxi driver and you think you are being taken advantage of, offer to call the police and have them settle it. Many taxi drivers are scared of the police, and often for good reason (see below). If they are being dishonest and you mention the police, they will quickly back down. On the other hand, if they continue to press their claims, they may be right and you’ll need to pay more.

Safety

11. The police are not always your friends. Sad but true—in a lot of places in the world, the services of the police are sold to the highest bidder. Therefore, if you can pay them, they may turn out to be your friends… but in other cases, they may actually be the least trustworthy people in the country. Don’t be afraid, just be aware.

12. When you feel pressured beyond your comfort level by someone who tries to follow you, be polite but increasingly firm. Don’t string anyone along out of guilt—tell them you don’t want their help, and move on. If they keep following you, tell them to stop.

Memorial to the Fallen in Bhutan.

13. When it comes to visas (and all immigration issues), your experience will vary from place to place. The rules are flexible in most places, and sometimes they will work in your favor and sometimes they will work against you.

Planes, Trains, and Buses

14. All plane tickets are changeable no matter what is written on them, and any fees for changing can be waived with the right airline agent. You have a few options for making this happen: a) Hang up and call back to try with someone else, b) Call the Premium Traveler line or ask at an airline lounge, or c) Offer a “tip” at the airline counter (do this at your own risk).

15. Round-the-World tickets are the best bargains for extensive international travel. I use and recommend both the Star Alliance and the OneWorld products. Each have their advantages. SkyTeam also has a Round-the-World product, but it’s not nearly as good as the other two.

16. Most people flying Business Class are not paying full-fare. A high percentage of them on most flights are using awards tickets, special tickets, or have upgraded from Economy. Flying in premium cabins can help you in more ways than just being comfortable on long flights, because the tickets can almost always be changed or refunded without penalty. You’ll also get to hang out in airline lounges and get priority treatment, which may become very useful when you need to get in or out of somewhere fast. First Class is nice too, but the difference between First and Business is rarely as great as the difference between Business and Economy.

17. In some places, buses are better than trains for overland travel… in other places, trains are better than buses. Check out the options before you go to make the best decision for each place.

Culture

18. The concept of personal space means very different things in different countries. You kind of have to get used to that.

19. Like it or not, you have to be somewhat tolerant of smoking. There are lots of places in the world that haven’t picked up on the Western anti-smoking crusade. If this is hard for you to accept, you’ll likely be frustrated.

20. Unless you can be very discreet, never take photos of people without asking. Don’t be surprised if they say no, because many cultures are not comfortable with strangers taking photos of them all the time. If they do say yes, you may find yourselves indebted to them for a gift or other favor.

21. Never touch members of the opposite sex. This includes sitting next to them on buses and trains—you’ll often be shuffled around to ensure that you only sit next to people of the same sex, although you’ll also usually be given the best seat.

22. Don’t point your feet at people or touch anyone on the head. In several cultures, this is disrespectful or otherwise inappropriate.

23. Be careful with all hand gestures, including the “thumbs-up” sign and the “a-OK” sign. Both of these are highly provocative in some places.

24. Never make promises you don’t intend to keep. Don’t tell vendors you’ll buy from them tomorrow, don’t offer to help anyone visit your country, don’t say you’ll write to someone later if you won’t really do it, and so on.

25. Most important: don’t be a colonialist. Be careful about calling people “locals.” Don’t assume that your culture is superior. People are not stupid just because they don’t speak English or think like you do.

Politics

26. Be prepared to represent your country, whether you care about politics or not. For better or worse, many people will expect you to know a lot about politics in your home country and how governmental decisions in one country affect the lives of people thousands of miles away. Don’t say you’re from Canada unless you really are.

27. Always point out that a government’s actions and the beliefs of an individual (e.g., yourself) are not always the same. Most people understand this and some will even say the same thing without prompting, but it’s usually a good reminder to put forward.

28. No matter whom you are talking to, never say anything negative about the government of the country you are in. Many rogue states, from Zimbabwe to Iran to North Korea, employ English-speaking spies who will deliberately try to incite foreign visitors into saying something incriminating. (I’m not making this up. In Guinea I was followed by the Secret Service everywhere I went. A friend of mine went to North Korea and found an extensive tape recording system in his hotel room.)

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Lastly, remember that there are not many “undiscovered” places left in the world. Focus on the places that are undiscovered to you and you won’t go wrong.

Obviously, each place you go to will offer unique challenges, but following this list will get you off to a good start. Above all, don’t forget the cardinal rule of traveling—pack light. You really don’t need all the extra stuff.

Editor’s Note: Chris Guillebeau is a writer and world traveler. He publishes the Art of Nonconformity blog at ChrisGuillebeau.com. Follow Chris on Twitter @chrisguillebeau.

In June, President Obama urged a new chapter in ties between the U.S. and Muslims in a speech in Cairo, Egypt.

Cynthia P. Schneider and Nadia Oweidat
RAND Corporation

“Where are the moderate voices from the Arab world?”

This common lament often leads to nostalgic evocations of the Golden Age of Islam, which stretched from the 7th to the 16th century. President Obama recently harked back to this period of Islamic enlightenment, innovation and tolerance in his Cairo speech, in which he attempted to redefine the relationship between Muslims and the United States.

Actually, there is no need to reach back 1,000 years to find Muslim advocates for tolerance and moderation. There is a need, however, to stop silencing the moderates alive today.

The Arab world is rich in literature - including a surge of new novels and non-fiction - that examines all aspects of Arab life and advocates a vision of a multi-cultural society that respects human rights. These works draw on the traditions of the medieval Golden Age, and of the Arab Renaissance of the 19th and early 20th centuries, when Cairo was to the Arab world what Paris was to the West.

Eight decades ago, the seminal scholar Rifa’i Al-Tahtawi, once head of Al Azhar (Obama’s host in Cairo and the equivalent of the Vatican for Sunni Muslims), advocated tolerance towards non-Muslims and engaged in vibrant debates with contemporary European intellectuals. In his 1830 book An Imam in Paris, he argued for an open, moderate version of Islam. At a time when Egypt offered only religious education, he also urged the state to make modern, secular education accessible to all citizens.

Such ideas were not restricted to Egypt. Writing at the turn of the 20th century, the pious Syrian scholar Abdul Rahman Al-Kawakibi urged the separation of mosque and state to protect the purity of Islam from political manipulation.

Today’s Arab authors also bravely delve into taboo subjects from the correct interpretation of Islam to women’s and minority rights, government corruption, extremism and political oppression. Some advocate a more tolerant version of Islam, one that has become increasingly marginalized. Why are these moderate voices not better known in the Middle East or the West? To begin with, they are banned in most of the Arab world. And it isn’t just governments censoring and persecuting them. Equally important are the self-appointed "thought police" who clamp down on ideas they deem too liberal.

In their quest for legitimacy, many other Arab governments have also institutionalized an interpretation of Islam that frowns upon critical thinking, enforces blind obedience to the ruler as an Islamic duty, and ruthlessly silences dissent. This has helped dictatorships across the region to last for decades with no hope for a genuine rotation of power.

The notorious case of Egyptian Islamic scholar Nasr Abu Zayd illustrates how governments collude with or ignore the intimidation of progressives by fundamentalists. Conservatives branded Abu Zayd a heretic for penning a moderate interpretation of the Koran and filed suit against him in a Cairo court. To the shock of Arabs who support a separation of church and state, the court supported the heresy charge and, in 1996, ordered Abu Zayd divorced from his wife. (Apostates are not allowed to be married to Muslim women.) The couple went into exile amid death threats.

In 2006, Egyptian police went from bookstore to bookstore confiscating copies of a book called The Modern Sheikhs and the Industry of Religious Extremism, which urges religious and government authorities to play a more positive role on such issues as the environment, corruption and women’s rights. They were acting at the behest of al-Azhar’s Islamic Research Center, which under Egyptian law, has the right to censor books and other cultural products.

Novels such as The Sacred Union, which exposes the lack of religious freedoms and women’s rights in Saudi Arabia, are banned in most of the Arab world. The author, a Saudi woman, wrote under a pseudonym to protect her safety.

Publishers as well are persecuted. Mummad Madbouli, the legendary owner of Madbouli Books in Cairo, has been one of the few who dared to publish and sell banned books. He has faced more than 25 lawsuits and was sentenced to eight years in prison. Due to Madbouli’s acclaim among the public and intellectuals alike, the prison sentence was never carried out.

Yet the popularity of books such as The Yacoubian Building by Egyptian author Alaa Al Aswany, now in its eighth reprinting, attest to a growing demand for works that are authentically Arab and not doctrinaire. Like the Nobel Prize winning novelist Naguib Mahfouz, Al Aswany candidly exposes social and political problems plaguing Egypt through stories about the lives of ordinary people - a refreshing departure from the “blame the West and Israel” bombast that Arab publics are typically served.

Still, with few exceptions, the works of these new Arab writers, as well as their predecessors from the last century, are not found in bookstores in the Middle East today. And the contributions of the Arab Renaissance are unknown to all but a tiny intellectual elite.

What is accessible are religious tracts, both historic and contemporary, from authors such Sayid Qutob, who is cited by Osama Bin Laden, and Yousif al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian cleric who has been banned from entering Britain due to his extremist views.

With a click of a mouse anyone can access entire libraries of jihadi texts available online for free. The banned books of moderates could find their way to Arab readers were they posted online, but they are nowhere to be found. Yet it is these writers, contemporary and renaissance, who offer Muslims a tolerant, open-minded alternative, anchored within their own traditions. And they offer the Obama administration the possibility of forging a genuine connection with Arab publics.

The administration aims to replace the advocacy of American values with a new focus on empowering local voices. Those policies, taking shape at the State Department under a new Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, Judith A. McHale, former CEO of the Discovery Channel, represent a promising departure from the failed “spoon-fed democracy” approach that Admiral Mike Mullen rightly criticized recently.

If the U.S. government learns anything from the failure of the U.S.-funded al-Hurrah television station, it should be that foreign bureaucracies should not manufacture messages of democracy and tolerance to be broadcast at the Arab world. Such impulses need to come from within. They should be organic and authentic and free of government fingerprints.

What the United States and its allies can do, however, is help ensure that the voices of moderation are given a platform, equal to that given to fundamentalists such as al-Qaradawi. The Obama administration could start by condemning censorship and persecution of writers, and encouraging investments in education, literacy, libraries and broader Internet access. Non-governmental groups others could support the publication and dissemination of moderate Arab authors through universities and other institutions, such as the Library of Alexandria, which plans to re-issue the Arabic classics.

Westerners cannot and should not attempt to script Arab thought. But they can support a return to the standards of critical thinking and open inquiry that once characterized the Arab world.

Editor's Note: Cynthia P. Schneider, a former ambassador to the Netherlands, is a Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at Georgetown University and a Senior Non-Resident Fellow at the Brookings Institution, which will publish her forthcoming study, A New Way Forward: Encouraging Greater Cultural Engagement with the Muslim World. Nadia Oweidat is a researcher at the RAND Corporation and a D. Phil candidate at Oxford University.

Kiron K. Skinner
Special to CNN

As an American of African descent, I swelled with pride when I heard that the Norwegian Nobel Committee selected President Obama to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. The award further validates what the 2008 presidential election demonstrated: The United States is the most mature and fully functioning multi-ethnic democracy in the world.

Despite its emphasis on multilateralism, the Norwegian Nobel Committee's statement also recognizes the predominant power of the United States.

The accepted wisdom among diplomats is that the international system is multipolar because of the increasingly multilateral governance structure of the world's numerous international institutions. In reality, however, the United States is by far the single greatest economic, military and political power on earth. Furthermore, many international institutions are dependent upon the United States for their survival.

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Editor's Note: With little hope of finding additional survivors, authorities Monday began clearing the rubble left by a pair of devastating earthquakes that rocked Indonesia last week. The death toll from the two powerful earthquakes that struck the country has risen to 608 and 343 people are still missing, though the total number could be much higher.

Allison Zelkowitz
Program Manager, Save the Children in Indonesia

Blog entry, October 5, 2009, 11:40 pm

It’s hard to believe I’ve only been here four days – it feels like weeks! Our team is working very long hours, both here in the field and in our coordination centers. I don’t think twice about calling or texting my team members at midnight, because I know they’ll be up for at least two more hours.

The urgency of this situation keeps us going. Hundreds of thousands of people – including children – are still trying to meet their basic needs. Today I spoke to a number of women who are gathering rain water in order to bathe and wash their clothes.

Save the Children is continuing to provide shelter materials, and I saw people rigging the tarps as soon as they left the distribution post. In nearly every village, community members take turns standing by the main road, flagging down passing cars and gathering donations. Most use these funds immediately to buy food to cook communal meals.

We've reached an estimated 4,600 people in the last two days, including more than 2,700 children, with family hygiene kits, household supplies, and shelter materials. But there are so many more that need help.

Tomorrow we’re traveling to more remote villages northwest of here, near Lake Maninjau. Our team leader toured the area this afternoon – in some communities, every house has collapsed. We’ll do a rapid assessment of the area tomorrow morning and start distributing supplies tomorrow afternoon.

Today, at one of the distribution sites, I spoke to a 54-year-old woman whose mother was killed in the earthquake. I didn’t expect this – there were fewer casualties in rural areas because most homes are only one story high, and people have time to escape. When she told me her story her eyes started welling up, and although I tried to suppress them, mine did as well. In the four years that I’ve been working in development and humanitarian agencies, this is the first time I’ve cried.

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Allison Zelkowitz
Program Manager, Save the Children in Indonesia

Blog entry, October 4, 2009, 11:45 pm

I’m now with a team of 12 Save the Children staff and three volunteers in the village of Pasa Dama, in the district of Padang Pariaman, about 50 kilometers north of Padang City. The earthquake devastated this area - it is the worst hit and, up until now, the least helped .Many areas have seen no relief.

This is where Save the Children will focus its humanitarian response and where we reached more than 450 families today with shelter and essential supplies.

In the last 24 hours, our team assessed 16 of the surrounding villages. We found that 70 to 95 percent of the homes have been severely damaged or destroyed. Almost everyone we spoke to was sleeping on the ground outside their homes, under makeshift tents. Children tell us they are afraid another quake will strike.

Today our team distributed tarpaulins and plastic sheeting to 458 families in two of these hard-hit villages. These items are critical - it’s been storming heavily for the last few hours, and the rains are expected to continue.

We’ve heard from both community leaders and health workers that colds and respiratory infections are on the rise – especially in children – since they’ve been sleeping outdoors, exposed to the elements.

We provided each of these families with “hygiene kits,” which include soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and other essentials. Each kit is enough for a family of five. Although some people were able to rescue their belongings from damaged homes, many lost everything and literally escaped with only the clothes on their backs. I’ve watched a number of families pick through the rubble, looking for anything they can still use.

I’m still shocked when I see another house that’s crumbled, or hear someone’s escape story. But I’m amazed by the local communities’ resilience. And I’m humbled by their generosity.

Our team has crowded into a young couple’s two-bedroom home to sleep – it survived the quake with only small cracks in the walls. Today some villagers insisted that I sit down with them and join in their community lunch. I protested at first, but after much urging took a little rice and vegetables. And yesterday, when I was speaking with three mothers and their children inside a tent, they offered me water to drink – even though all they possessed was a box of instant noodles, an oil lamp, and some bottled water! That time, I politely refused.

Editor's Note: Save the Children is an independent organization creating lasting change for children in need around the world. For more than 80 years, Save the Children has been helping children survive and thrive by improving their health, education and economic opportunities and, in times of acute crisis, mobilizing rapid lifesaving assistance to help children recover from the effects of war, conflict and natural disasters.

E. Benjamin Skinner

Author

For Bill Clinton, it was a characteristically unscripted moment during an uncharacteristically low-profile press conference.

On June 15, Clinton sat next to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and decried the plight of child domestic slaves in Haiti, a country to which the former president had just agreed to serve as UN Special Envoy.

Known as restavèks, a Creole euphemism meaning “stay-withs,” the children are lured from desperately impoverished rural parents with the promise of a better life. Instead, most endure unpaid household labor, compelled through unchecked violence. UN bureaucrats typically tiptoe around words like “slavery,” but Clinton didn’t hold back: “I’m sad to say we’ve even had examples of restavèk children that have been found in Haitian communities in the United States.”

Estimates for the total number of restavèks range around 300,000: a staggering demographic, but just a sliver of those forced to work under threat of violence worldwide. The global slave population may reach 27 million. The vast majority labor in some form of hereditary debt bondage on the Asian subcontinent; criminals traffic hundreds of thousands across international borders annually. The Justice Department estimates that, on average, a person becomes a slave on U.S. soil every half hour.

A 2006 picture of poor housing conditions in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere.

Four years ago, and less than five hours from the UN conference room where Clinton and Ban sat, I haggled with a trafficker to buy one of those slaves, a 12-year-old girl. In broad daylight on a street in Port-au-Prince, the trafficker leaned in: “This is a rather delicate question. Is this someone you want as just a worker? Or also someone who will be a ‘partner.’ You understand what I mean? Or is it someone you just really want to work?” The negotiated price for this domestic and sexual slave: $50.

Paying for human life is unconscionable, and injecting hard currency into an exchange that is typically bartered would give rise to a trade in misery. In the last six years, I have witnessed negotiations for the sale of slaves on four continents, in underground brothels, in front line war zones, on suburban streets.

I spoke with dozens of slaves, traffickers, survivors and abolitionists. I recorded minute details of the trade, and allowed slaves to bear witness through me. I cajoled local police officials to do the right thing and prosecute traffickers, and aided the courageous few who actually did. But I never paid for human life: I was under no illusions that merely buying the freedom of a slave would render him or her free.

The real work of global abolition, a pledge written in the blood of our ancestors, is a complex struggle. It requires not only freeing slaves, but enabling their long-term recovery. It also involves preventing others from entering bondage by arresting traffickers and reducing vulnerabilities among communities that traffickers target.

This week, Clinton’s friends put their money where his mouth is. The Clinton Global Initiative paired Pheonix real estate investor Gil Gillenwater with Free The Slaves, an extraordinarily effective organization that works with local abolitionists in places like rural Haiti to systematically eradicate slavery. Gillenwater committed $54,510 to entirely fund the emancipation and recovery of a north Indian village called Kukraouthi. His commitment will mean freedom for some 20 families that were bonded for generations in farms and carpet looms.

You don’t have to be a millionaire or a former president to be an effective abolitionist. On average, worldwide, Free the Slaves’ programs require an investment of just $400 to bring a slave to the point of self reliance. Please learn more at www.freetheslaves.net.

Editor's Note: E. Benjamin Skinner is the author of A Crime So Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern-Day Slavery (Free Press, 2008), which this week was awarded the 2009 Dayton Literary Peace Price for nonfiction.

Program Note: To learn more about restavèks and the organizations that are working to end this ‘modern day slavery” in Haiti, visit our Impact Your World page.

Rose and her twins in Congo in 2000.

Rose Mapendo
Mapendo International

My name is Rose Mapendo, and I am the Ambassador to Mapendo International. We work to rescue and protect at risk refugees who have fallen through the cracks of humanitarian assistance in Africa.

I am from the Democratic Republic of Congo. When war broke out in 1998, my family and I were arrested and forced into a prison camp because of our Tutsi ethnicity. As my seven children and I huddled together, my husband – their father – was tortured and executed within earshot. Soldiers killed our friends and relatives, while many more died of starvation and disease. Months later, I gave birth to twin boys on the concrete floor of my cell. I used a stick to the cut the umbilical cord, and a piece of my hair to tie it off.

During this time I was so angry at God. I was resentful towards God. I was so angry because they had killed so many of my friends and family. I was so angry because they had raped so many of my friends. I thought I was going to be killed. I decided I did not want to die angry. I forgave my captors. I forgave all the soldiers who were in charge of killing. I named my twins after the camp commanders who were in charge of executing my husband. I did this because I hoped that my children would survive and I wanted to show the commanders that I forgave them and that I was not their enemy. I wanted to show them that I loved them. That moment when I forgave, from my deepest heart, was the moment that I survived.

Rose and her family in Phoenix, Arizona, in 2006.

My story is too long to tell here. There is a story of hardship and horror in every minute of my 16 months in the death camp. But finally my children and I were brought to a safe haven outside of Kinshasa, Congo’s capital city. A U.S. rescue team came to that safe haven and found us there.

That was where I met Sasha Chanoff and Sheikha Ali. They were part of the rescue team. They got me and my family out. They brought us to a refugee camp in Cameroon, and then we finally resettled to the U.S., to Peoria, outside of Phoenix. Then later Sasha founded Mapendo International to rescue other refugees, like me, who were in danger and had no one to help them. He helped my brother Kigabo and his family resettled to the US after we got there. Mapendo has helped many families, that have been separated, to reunite. If you want to help us rescue and reunite refugees, you can text the world ‘rescue’ to 90999 to donate $5.

My brother Kigabo, who is a doctor, is now starting an organization called African Health New Horizons. I am excited about this because there has never been health care in my home and my brother wants to bring health to women and children and others there.

Now, as the Ambassador for Mapendo International, I am a spokesperson for forgotten refugees. Big Mouth Productions is making a documentary movie about my story. Now God has given me the opportunity to tell my story, and to speak for refugees who have no hope and no one there for them. I am alive to tell you that no matter how terrible life is, no matter how deep your despair or fear, don’t give up. Love people. Forgive people. We all need to live together in this world. My name, Mapendo, means “great love” in Swahili.

Thank you.

Editor's Note: Rose Mapendo is Ambassador for Mapendo International, a non-profit organization that rescues and protects at-risk and forgotten refugees in Africa. Earlier this year, Rose received the "Humanitarian of the Year Award" from the UN Refugee Agency for her work highlighting the plight of refugees in Africa, particularly those from the Democratic Republic of Congo, where Rose was born. Rose will be speaking at  Mapendo's next event in New York City – a cocktail cruise next Wednesday,  September 30th, with open bar and live auction. To purchase tickets, go here. Academy Award-winner Susan Sarandon nominated Rose Mapendo as a CNN Hero. Take a look at the video here.

Program Note: For more ways to make a difference, visit Impact Your World.

Program Note: Tune in tonight for Anderson's interview with Bill Clinton on AC360° at 10 p.m. ET.

Photos by Chuck Hadad
AC360° Producer

Former President Clinton took a break from his annual Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York City to sit down with Anderson Cooper. Watch the interview tonight on AC360° at 10 p.m. ET.

Lisa Gibson, who met with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, called herself an ambassador of reconciliation.

Joe Sterling
CNN

Lisa Gibson - who lost her brother in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing - sat down the other day with the man many blame for the notorious attack: Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

The 39-year-old Colorado Springs lawyer said she and another relative of a Lockerbie victim went to see the controversial figure in New York on Wednesday, the same day he delivered a rambling speech to the U.N. General Assembly.

Calling herself an "ambassador of reconciliation," she views the encounter as the latest step in a journey to build bridges between Libyans and Americans - a mission energized by her strong Christian faith.

"I wanted him to know there were some people out there who've lost loved ones who have a different vision and different heart," she said. "He warmly received us."

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Brian Domitrovic
Author and Assistant Professor of History

A secret of the G-20 meetings is that despite the eminence of their attendees – all those heads of state – the meetings never really have accomplished anything, at least anything positive.

In 1994, after another snoozefest of the G-7 (there were only seven members then) in Italy, Time magazine decided to have fun listing some “great moments in G-7 history.” There was the 1977 London meeting, when Jimmy Carter switched the American delegation’s hotel to get a 15 percent discount. The next year, in Bonn, everyone got mineral water to drink, except the Americans, who got the real thing: Coke. And in 1982, Ronald Reagan passed the time at Versailles slipping juvenile notes to his secretary of state, before he slipped into a nap.

The “G” meetings were founded after the 1973 oil shock. The hope was that with top heads of state convening for a few days every year, the world economy could be coordinated. It was a vague mandate, and that is why the main thing such confabs are known for now is what they occasion on the outside: anti-globalization protests, such as the vicious ones at the world trade conference in Seattle in 1999.

There is a way, however, to breathe life into these sorts of gatherings. This is to hold a shadow conference a few weeks before that gives real content for the actual event to ratify. One such shadow conference occurred in 1983, before the G-7 summit in Williamsburg, Virginia. That the summiteers at Williamsburg declined the shadow conference’s recommendations remains the greatest missed opportunity the international economy has seen in the last generation. Indeed, had the shadow conference advice been taken then, we may not be in crisis today.

The 1983 shadow conference was put together by Jack Kemp, the free-market Congressman, and his economics guru, Columbia professor Robert Mundell, who would win the Nobel Prize in 1999. Both men realized that with the Reagan Revolution of tax cuts and deregulation underway in America and incurring imitation abroad – putting the dread stagflation era of the 1970s to pasture – it was time for one last major reform to make the world economy permanently hum. This was to get monetary policy right.

Mundell said at the conference, “we have got more experience with international monetary [policy] in the past 12 years than we have ever had in the history of man” – and this was no compliment. Throughout the long 1970s, as inflation and unemployment both soared as growth sagged, central banks across the globe tried everything, just as today. They flooded the market with money, they goosed demand, they devalued currencies in the vain hope of encouraging exports and jobs. Cut it all out, Mundell said to the world’s central banks, and do one thing and one thing only.

This was to preserve the value of every currency in the world for the long term. What if there were no inflation or deflation every year? What if a dollar saved in 1983 was worth the amount today that it was then? This was the future Mundell sought to bring about at the shadow Williamsburg conference.

Central banks, he said, should do nothing but target inflation. If inflation goes up, they should cut money, if deflation comes, they should release money. With the preservation of the value of money, Mundell argued, there would be no bar to business creation and employment. People would be confident to go about saving, spending, or investing, because they could foresee what their savings or future earnings would be worth. Mundell said that “we have been running the world economy without its natural rudder” – the stability of the value of money.

As Mundell made his remarks, he rued, “I wish George Shultz had stayed to listen.” Shultz was the secretary of state, and he had spent only a moment at the shadow conference. It was too bad, because at G-5 meetings over the next four years, it was arranged for central banks to defy inflation-targeting so that the value of the dollar would sink and the Japanese yen increase. The only results of this policy were the stock market crash of 1987 and the long Japanese funk of minimal growth.

Mundell is still at it. He wants to hold a shadow international monetary conference at the Shanghai world’s fair next year, pushing the same ideas. Thus when the G-20 meets in 2010, it will have a plan to ratify. Will it be wise enough to do so?

Editor's Note: Brian Domitrovic teaches at Sam Houston State University. He is author of Econoclasts: The Rebels Who Sparked the Supply-Side Revolution and Restored American Prosperity, just out from ISI Books.

Tom Foreman | Bio
AC360° Correspondent

I once received an anonymous call at the height of a major trial. A deep baritone, with a measured cadence of confidence spoke. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know who else to call. I believe I have proof of jury tampering.”

“Really?” I responded, my ears pricking up like Spock on a date.

He went on for several minutes describing how the deliberations had been apparently slanted for acquittal by one juror. His information seemed rock solid, his knowledge of the case thorough. Then the bombshell. “How is this happening?” I asked.

“He’s using below-the-horizon surveillance and mind control particle beams.”

That’s the problem with some lunatics. They are unreliably zany. One minute they can be talking about authentic issues in an informed and reasonable way; and the next moment their eyes grow wide, and they lean forward to add, “And it’s all the Jews’ fault!” Such is the case with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran. This week in front of the United Nations he displayed precisely the qualities that most concern the sane leaders of other countries, notably the United States.

When he goes into his “the Holocaust never happened” act, and “the Zionists are the real terrorists” bit, it is easy to say he is simply anti-Semitic. When he says there are no gays in Iran, and it is the most progressive democracy on the planet, it is easy to suspect a massive clot has slammed into a lobe and he’s lost contact with reality. Where is the acknowledgement of the troubles in his country? Staggering unemployment, riots, human rights violations, international outrage over Iran’s nuke program. Ahmadinejad says all he wants is peaceful nuclear energy supply, but few are buying that line.

So why does anyone listen or support him? Because he sprinkles his speeches with enough salt of legitimacy. He is right: The long dispute between Israel and the Palestinians is real, and the 9/11 Commission concluded years ago it must someday be equitably resolved to take fire off of the bubbling pot of terrorism. He is right: Many smaller nations resent the inordinate political, economic, and military influence of big nations, like those holding the permanent seats on the UN Security Council.

And everyone likes to blame problems on someone else. So when Ahmadinejad says, “Our difficulties are really not my fault, not your fault, the rest of the world is unfair” that has enormous appeal to some on the home front.

But history has shown that leaders who step this far outside of the box can truly be dangerous to us all; because while their world views may be fantasies, ultimately their weapons and their willingness to use them, can be all too real.