All Commentary
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Opinion: After Boston bombings: Beware Russia-US cooperation on counter-terrorism
After the Boston bombings, Russian President Putin and US President Obama announced closer cooperation on counter-terrorism. But Americans should have their eyes wide open about any counter-terrorism agreements with Russia.
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Readers Write: How to stop illegal immigration; 'Sequester' is hurting criminal justice
Letters to the Editor for the April 22 & 29, 2013 weekly print issue: It's fair to say that if there were no hiring of illegal immigrants, none would come. Sweeping federal spending cuts are having a devastating effect on the criminal-justice system and its ability to carry out constitutional mandates.
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Opinion: Immigration reform is a women's issue
The overwhelming majority of undocumented women are mothers – high-value, low-risk members of society. As workers, wives, and pillars of their communities, they have particular needs from any immigration reform bill.
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The Monitor's View: Search for motives in Boston bombing: What it means for everyone
What might have motivated suspects Tamerland and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in the Boston bombings? Simplistic answers – say, Islamic militancy or immigrant anger – may not suffice. Yet knowing such motives may help everyone act to prevent such attacks.
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Opinion: Motive in Boston bombings: Look to tribal code of honor
The Tsarnaev brothers, suspects in the Boston bombings, are ethnic Chechens, stemming from a tribal society in which a code of honor and revenge plays a major role. As questions turn to motive, this code may be far more relevant than the brothers' views of Islam.
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Egypt's misguided search for heroes
A change of mind-set about Egypt's history and future is necessary in that country. The history of nations is not defined by heroes in the presidential palace but by heroes on the street. Egypt must focus on building citizen-led institutions to best meet current and future challenges.
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The Monitor's View: The right way to put more women in boardrooms
Japan and Germany each announced goals last week to put more women in top company slots. Yet their approaches differ. And new research indicates gender qualities can't be stereotyped according to sexual differences. This suggests official bias based on sex could be misplaced.
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Opinion: Boston bombing: Media haste makes mistakes
The rush for information about the Chechen suspects in the Boston bombing has led to mistaken reporting and pointing to innocents. The authorities, though, have not misled the public. It is important to let them do their jobs, and not rush to a judgment that may well be false.
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The Monitor's View: Post-bomb faith service for Boston reaches for the light
Three days after the Boston Marathon bombing, President Obama and local clergy join in a healing service that shows how to respond to the hatred of a terrorist act.
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Opinion: Why the 90 percent lost on gun background checks
The Senate defeated background checks for gun sales, despite 90 percent of Americans favoring broader checks. The simplest explanation for this is Senate procedures, but NRA intensity counts for a lot. The way ahead for gun control groups is to match the NRA email for email.
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Opinion: Talks with North Korea? Better to apply financial pressure (+video)
South Korea and the US must be skeptical about future talks, not least because North Korea has no incentive to change. However, the North is vulnerable to financial pressure, as seen when the US once sanctioned an Asian bank that handled North Korean money.
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The Monitor's View: What the immigration reform bill still needs
The eight senators who crafted an immigration reform bill deserve praise for finding a bipartisan compromise. But the bill needs a theme other than economics and security to help place immigration's role in defining the nation's identity.
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Opinion: Mexico should take a more active stance on US immigration reform
The Mexican government cannot afford the luxury of ignoring what is happening on immigration reform in the big and powerful North. And yet, it has taken a passive attitude. There are good historical reasons for this, but not a good one today.
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Opinion: Why I'll run the Boston Marathon again in 2014
Angry people set off the bombs at the Boston Marathon. We runners are angry, too, but we're going to use that as fuel to train harder and become better at the sport we love, so when we show up in 2014, we'll be ready to do our best in memory of those who fell on Monday.
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Boston Marathon bombings won't define my first marathon
At mile 25.7, after already mentally penning my celebratory email, I hit a wall of dazed, shuffling athletes. I regret not finishing the Boston Marathon yesterday, but the bombings didn’t define my first marathon and they won’t mar this tradition.
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The Monitor's View: The challenge in the Boston Marathon bombing
The act of terror in the Boston Marathon bombing was swiftly met by acts of help and comfort for victims and others. Such actions point to the need to affirm all of that which the bomber sought to destroy.
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Opinion: Long live the purity of seeds for broccoli
The majority of the world's seed for broccoli, cauliflower, and similar veggies is produced in Oregon's Willamette Valley. But the seeds can be easily contaminated by pollen from canola, which the state recently allowed in the valley. The legislature must ban the canola.
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The Monitor's View: Alternative currencies like bitcoin are a mirror of their users
The e-currency bitcoin spiked and then fell last week, sowing doubts about alternative currencies, whether on the Internet or in local communities. Such experiments need a firm basis of trust.
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Opinion: Immigration reform needs flexibility on work visas
The US system for work visas hasn't changed much since 1965, despite fluctuations in the economy and in demand for foreign workers. Immigration reform must include more flexibility. One way is to create an independent body that regularly advises Congress on visa limits.
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Readers Write: Video games foster unthinking acts; Marxism endures in China
Letters to the Editor for the April 15, 2013 weekly print issue: Video games train people to respond without thinking – the same motor memory employed in firing a gun. And in spite of China's capitalist boon, cardinal Marxist axioms are still deeply embedded in Chinese political ideology.
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