Just as his release of embarrassing secrets about U.S. cyber intelligence tarnished Washington’s relations with many European nations last month, so have Edward Snowden’s leaks now led to a serious diplomatic stand-off between Australia and Indonesia.

Judge Richard Posner has publicly thought better of one of his earlier controversial rulings on the constitutionality of an Indiana voter ID law. This reset should encourage other courts not to rely on Judge Posner’s opinion, but rather to look at each voting restriction and evaluate its constitutionality on the basis of prior constitutional decisions and the facts presented in each case that challenges restrictions in a voting law.

The details of the proposal made by the US and other leading powers negotiating with Iran (the P5+1) at the recent Geneva talks are still unclear, but were designed to freeze the nuclear program so that Iran would not be able to continue development during the negotiations for a final agreement, expected to take six […]

Some events rise to the level of civilizational challenges, given just the right historical circumstances. Ukraine’s trajectory in the coming months and years will prove to be one such event, for the path it chooses will determine more than just its own fate. Its choice will serve as a test of Russia’s role, showing us […]

Sometimes, the Nobel Peace Prize has a frontrunner, or perceived frontrunner, as it did ten years ago. That year, Pope John Paul II was the favorite. Václav Havel, the Czech leader, was also in the mix. But the 2003 prize went to an Iranian human-rights lawyer, Shirin Ebadi. She had not even known she was […]

“I am a Peace Corps Volunteer.” Like 98 percent of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers, I was proud to declare this and believe my two-year service was worthwhile. I grew professionally and personally, and I did some good. But the program is broken in many ways.More than 210,000 Americans have served as volunteers in 139 countries […]

Much has been written on whether the European Union and Ukraine will sign agreements on association, free trade and, just as important if not more so for average Ukrainians, visa liberalization. Lots of analysis also has zeroed in on how Russian President Vladimir Putin and his minions have approached the Ukraine-EU relationship, using threats and […]

Nir Barkat made headlines around the world as he won this week’s mayoral elections in Jerusalem—perhaps a surprising level of attention for a city with a population of 800,000. Yet this election campaign, waged between incumbent Mayor Nir Barkat and challenger Moshe Leon, was a microcosm of the demographic, cultural, and religious conflicts that are […]

Fedor Lukyanov, the editor of Russia in Global Affairs, remarked in a presentation to London’s Centre for European Reform on October 8 that Ukraine is a state, not a nation. This is a fairly typical Russian observation, often intended to suggest that Ukraine is not quite legitimate as a separate entity. It is also a […]

We are all caught up in the quickening whirl of technological change. As consumers we recognize that accelerating technology has had many benefits, such as quicker access to information, goods, and family and friends. Yet this change can also create many new social problems—from an aging population to employees displaced by machines to new kinds […]