All Opinion
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5 reasons why Africa is not ready to meet its own security needs – yet
Africa’s experiment in a regional approach to security is serious and laudable, but it will take time to build credible capacity. Here are five reasons why Africa is not ready to meet its own security needs – yet.
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Conflict in Mali shows US needs greater engagement in Africa
While I am pleased at reports of US cooperation with France to stop Islamist extremists Mali and run them out of Timbuktu, I remain concerned about the interrelated, widespread threat of terror in the region. America cannot afford to treat it as compartmentalized country-by-country issue.
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The fall and rise of Chuck Hagel: a good sign for US-Israel relations
Chuck Hagel, President Obama's controversial nominee for secretary of Defense, faces his Senate confirmation hearing today. His rise after a wave of objections is a welcome sign that 'daylight' between US and Israeli policies may be becoming more politically acceptable in Washington.
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To fight wealth gap, save the family
The biggest predictor of family economic status is not race or geography, but whether households are headed by one parent or two. Until we address the reality of family breakup, we can’t effectively fight that key cause of family poverty. Here are five ways to keep families together.
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Gabrielle Giffords and NRA are both right about one thing: US culture of violence
Gabrielle Giffords made a compelling plea at the Senate hearings on gun control today, but the National Rifle Association's Wayne LaPierre is also partly right: Banning guns won’t address a pervasive culture of violence that doesn't distinguish between real and virtual violence.
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6 reasons why President Obama will defeat the NRA and win universal background checks
Something is going to happen this session in the US Congress that hasn’t happened in more than a decade: The National Rifle Association (NRA) is going to lose on a top priority issue. Here are six reasons why President Obama will win a victory on universal background checks.
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Iran and the US need a middleman – or two
As Iran and the US prepare for negotiations on Tehran's nuclear program, both sides should consider turning to middlemen. Turkey and Japan are perfectly positioned as trusted intermediaries to build a proposal that has a better chance at success than anything by the 'P5+1.'
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Attacks in Mali, Libya, Algeria show why Africa still needs US support
Attacks by Islamist insurgents on US outposts in Benghazi, Libya, at a gas plant in Algeria, and in Mali expose several reasons for persistent security weakness across Africa. For one thing, many countries are too poor to supply the funds and soldiers for regional peace efforts.
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Italian elections: Monti vs. Berlusconi and a test of democracy
The upcoming Italian elections are a contest between the populism of short-term fixes championed by Silvio Berlusconi and the long-term reforms of Mario Monti necessary to make Italy’s economy solvent, competitive, and sustainable over the long run.
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North Korea threatens US – what about its own people?
As North Korea threatens the US, South Korea, and world peace with hints of a third nuclear test, what about its threat to its own people? It has one of the worst human rights records in the world. The UN must open a 'commission of inquiry' into crimes against humanity.
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US should look to Morocco for help with threats in Mali, Algeria, Libya
Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday pointed to violent extremism in places such as Libya and Mali as a 'strategic challenge' to the United States and North Africa. The US can help meet that challenge by partnering with Morocco, an island of calm and progress in a chaotic region.
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Why Middle East Muslims are taught to hate Jews
For far too long the pervasive Middle Eastern qualification of Jews as murderers and bloodsuckers was dismissed in the West as an extreme view of radical fringe groups. But it is not. It is time for the region's secular movements to start a counter-education in tolerance.
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Israel's new government could bring shift in policy on Arab Spring and Palestinians
Following Israel’s parliamentary elections, the gains of Yair Lapid’s moderate party over Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party could provide the opportunity for a needed change in Israel’s stance on the Arab Spring and its conflict with the Palestinians.
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Character education is not enough to help poor kids
Character education – teaching kids to be responsible and to persevere – isn't enough to bring poor students out of poverty or close the achievement gap. Policymakers need to tackle the underlying causes of poverty and the significant obstacles poor children face.
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How a princess can help Saudi women find their voice
It's time for Saudi women to beat conservative clerics at their own game by publishing op-eds, using Twitter, and blogging. I know just the woman to help them get started: Princess Ameerah al-Taweel. She should champion a successful US model, The OpEd Project.
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A security vacuum in Obama inaugural address
Obama's inaugural address included noble aspirations of how to achieve world peace, but they don't match today's reality. In the Middle East and North Africa, in countries such as Syria and Mali, the US has failed to lead. This leaves a vacuum for extremists to fill.
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Inauguration 2013: Will President Obama's second term resemble Reagan's?
Inauguration Day gives President Obama a second chance that resembles President Reagan's in 1985. Reagan hoped to reform the tax code and reduce the deficit in his second term. Like Reagan, Obama will need communication skills to tackle challenges, especially the deficit.
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Lessons from Rwanda: Talking about genocide in church
From my time in Rwanda, I saw that people don't like to talk about the genocide in their recent past. Then I heard a church sermon there whose universal message of 'life after mass death' seemed perfectly fitted for a country full of one-time perpetrators and families of the murdered.
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Americans want a good inauguration show – corporate funding or not
Though this year's celebration will be scaled back from from Barack Obama's record-breaking 2009 presidential inauguration, its corporate funding has helped ensure plenty of glitz and glam. The history of United States presidential inaugurations shows Americans expect nothing less.
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As a gun owner, I agree with Obama's proposed ban on high-capacity magazines
In response to the Sandy Hook tragedy, President Obama wants to restrict high-capacity ammunition magazines to 10 rounds. As a hunter, like my grandfather before me, I agree. Sitting in a duck blind in the quiet gray at dawn, two or three shells in a shotgun are all you need.
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