There's not much good news coming out of the broader Middle East these days and so the successful election this past weekend in Pakistan is cause for at least muted elation. It is, after all, the first time in Pakistan's beleaguered 65-year history that a democratically elected government has been replaced by a democratically elected government. So that's the good news. Toss in the fact that the voter turnout, the highest for parliamentary elections in nearly two generations, was spurred upward by women and younger voters, and was not deterred by Taliban attacks, then add that Pakistan does have a remarkably free press and a quite independent judiciary and, obviously, a military that now is willing to let democracy play out -- and things don't look so bad.

Historic Copley Square is one of my favorite places in my adopted city of Boston. This is where, last month, we held a vigil against Shia killings in Pakistan. This is where runners at the Annual Patriots’ Day Marathon cross the finish line at Boylston Street past the majestic public library. And this is where, on April 15, two bombs exploded, disrupting the idyllic scene of the marathon on a crisp, sunny Monday afternoon.