"'Freedom in the World 2011' was accompanied by a press release, overview essay and regional maps, all of which highlighted the lack of democracy and human rights in the Middle East and North Africa, currently a hot topic in the British media in light of events in Tunisia.

Among the first things the Obama administration did to break from the "unilateral" policies of the Bush administration was to join the United Nations Human Rights Council, which the U.S. shunned when it was formed in 2006.

To NGOs, the gems represent the repression they campaign against. But these riches could transform my country...