Kennji KizukaNovember 20, 2012 11:53

How schools are often the casualties of war

Education disrupted, security threatened when students are forced to share space.

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An Indian child on his way to school, walks past a wall showing graffiti painting in New Delhi on July 21, 2010. (PRAKASH SINGH/AFP/Getty Images)

PRINCETON, NJ – Over the past few weeks, thousands of Americans displaced by Hurricane Sandy sheltered temporarily in school gymnasiums and cafeterias. They slept in dry beds, ate hot meals, drank clean water, and charged their mobile phones and computers. These school buildings offered comfort and safety during the storm and after.

Abraham RabinovichNovember 16, 2012 14:09

Hamas stunned by assassination of head of its military wing

Commentary: Destruction of its rocket arsenals reveals penetration by Israeli intelligence.

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Family members grieve at a funeral in Kiryat Malachi, Israel on November 16, 2012. Three people were killed in Israel November 15, after a building was hit by a rocket fired from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Palestinian rocket attacks followed a series aerial strikes on targets in Gaza launched by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) which killed a top military commander of Hamas. (Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

Commentary: Destruction of its rocket arsenals reveals penetration by Israeli intelligence.

Mark FennNovember 11, 2012 09:47

East Timor has many challenges after 10 years of independence

Commentary: It lacks basic needs but the government is prudently saving for the future

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East Timorese soldiers of the Timor Leste Defense Force (F-FDTL) take up position on the shore as US Marines rappel from a US military helicopter during a one week joint US-East Timor military exercise in Dili on October 16, 2012. (VALENTINO DE SOUSA/AFP/Getty Images)

SINGAPORE – This has been a big year for Timor Leste, with one of the world’s smallest and most impoverished countries passing a series of important milestones.

Lieutenant General Daniel Christman, USA (Ret.), Brigadier General Steve Anderson, USA (Ret.) and Brigadier General Stephen Cheney, USMC (Ret.) November 10, 2012 09:51

The reality of climate change can no longer be ignored

Commentary: US Generals explain why it is a global problem requiring global solutions.

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The surface of an iceberg lit by the sun as it sets over the Jacobshavn Bay on August 29, 2007 near the town of Ilulissat, Greenland. (Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

US Generals explain why it is a global problem requiring global solutions.

Mac DefordNovember 6, 2012 13:17

An election puzzle: why are moderate Republicans switching back to support the failed Bush policies?

Commentary: Many who had supported Obama are buying the argument that he hasn’t gotten us out of the economic slump fast enough.

George w bush arab spring america freedom may 2012

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Former US President George W. Bush speaks during an event celebrating the successes of dissidents and activists from around the world, hosted by the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Washington, DC, May 15, 2012. (SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

OWL’S HEAD, Maine – After eight years of Bush and his failed wars and collapsed economy, it seemed a rational choice for many independent and moderate Republican voters who had supported Bush to vote for Obama. So what is the rationale for many of those same voters switching this year back to the Republicans.

Daniel S. MariaschinNovember 6, 2012 12:36

The great EU distraction: A moment for Iran to change the subject from nuclear to human rights

Commentary: By canceling a visit, Tehran reinforced its disregard of human rights.

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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, addresses the UN General Assembly on September 26, 2012 in New York City. The 67th annual event gathers more than 100 heads of state and government for high level meetings on nuclear safety, regional conflicts, health and nutrition and environment issues. (John Moore/AFP/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON – Iran handed the world an unintentionally belated gift by disinviting a delegation from the European Parliament, the legislative body of the European Union, to a planned visit to Tehran, ostensibly to talk about human rights. It seems the EU group had the audacity to ask to meet with two Iranian human rights activists the EU had awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

Martin MurphyOctober 26, 2012 06:19

Tough US election talk on China a time-honored tradition

Commentary: The reality is that stronger anti-China measures are not likely

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A woman passes by the national flag made up of 100,000 carnations at Wuling Square September 25, 2007 in Hangzhou, China. (Feng Li/Getty Images)

Commentary: If the two US presidential candidates are to be believed, the next four years will bring heightened US-China trade tensions.

Abraham RabinovichOctober 26, 2012 06:24

The little-known US-Soviet confrontation during Yom Kippur War

Commentary: Tense times on the high seas as US and Soviet fleets faced off but the backed off.

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Israeli army Southern Command General Ariel Sharon with Defense Minister Moshe Dayan during the Yom Kippur War in October 1973 on the western bank of the Suez Canal in Egypt. (Ministry of Defense/AFP/Getty Images)

JERUSALEM – The largest naval confrontation of the Cold War occurred 39 years ago this month and it was not the Cuban missile crisis.

Mac DefordOctober 25, 2012 06:26

Final Debate Reveals Differences on Foreign Policy

Commentary: Obama was confident, at ease; Romney seemed uncertain

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US President Barack Obama shakes hands with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney at the end of the third and final presidential debate October 22, 2012 at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

OWL’S HEAD, Maine – It was clear that Mitt Romney's strategy during the final presidential debate on foreign policy was to be moderate, temperate – "presidential" his supporters said afterwards. But what came across was a candidate who was cautious, particularly compared to his previous debates, more interested in not putting his foot in his mouth than in challenging President Obama.

Hassen Hussein October 13, 2012 08:59

Somalia’s fragile hope is linked to Ethiopia

Commentary: Ethiopian democratization is key to stabilizing Somalia

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A soldier of the Kenyan Contingent serving with the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) stands guard on a street in the centre of the southern Somali port city of Kismayo while a combat engineering team inspects the surrounding area following reports of a suspected improvised explosive device (IED) left behind by the Al-Qaeda-affiliated extremist group Al Shabaab. (STUART PRICE/AFP/Getty Images)

MINNEAPOLIS -- No sooner had Somalia's clan-appointed legislators elected a president, the first in more than 42 years in this Horn of Africa nation, than Kenyan troops dislodged the Islamist military group Al-Shabab from its last stronghold, the port town of Kismayo. As important a turnaround as this is, it hardly signals that two decades of anarchy have been overcome.