American exceptionalism

Outraged Turks and Brazilians have taken to the streets protesting authoritarianism and corruption. 

Outraged Americans have taken to Facebook and Twitter protesting the firing of a TV cooking host.

Coup attempt in Turkey?

This essay is part of an occasional feature on this blog that presents compelling stories from elsewhere in the world, particularly Africa, that are little reported in the American media. It's part of my campaign to get people to realize there is a lot going on in the world besides fake debates over fake patriotism.

With most of the global media attention on the crisis in Zimbabwe, here’s a big story that seems to be flying under the international media radar.

Foreign Policy’s blog reports an apparent attempted coup in Turkey. Police have arrested two dozen people in an alleged coup plot, including two retired generals and the head of the capital’s chamber of commerce.

More sensationally, prosecutors are trying to shut down the ruling AKP party on the grounds that the prime minister is trying to establish an Islamic state, a no-no for a country founded by the staunchly secular Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

Although this bears resemblance to a similar, stealthy military intervention in politics in 1997, FP observes a big difference: the AKP has been a smashing success -- it has modernized the economy, enacted dozens of political reforms, and is hugely popular at the ballot box.