One of the fundamental challenges of a democracy is how to ensure the voice of the majority does not trample the essential rights of the minority. In the founding of the United States this was addressed by the Bill of Rights, some form of which is integrated into most democracies...

As the the UN Brahimi mediation mission seems to be ending the same way as the Annan mission did, a solution that stops short of landing troops or conducting risky targeted air strikes is urgent. The formation of a new opposition coalition to replace the Syrian National Council is an...

I share the civilized world's revulsion at the destruction being wreaked by anti-US demonstrators in the Middle East over the past two days, and in particular the savagery of the Libyan extremist militants murdering the US Ambassador. I also feel deeply for the Libyans, Egyptians and others in the Middle...

We gathered in Rio from 190 countries, to review what we have done since the historic Earth Summit in Rio in 1992 and what our world should look like in the coming decades. There was no cause for celebration and much to regret and fear as we continue to lack...

The forward progress of humankind in the last centuries has been fueled, more than any other factor, by increasing access to information, more rapid exchange of ideas, and in most parts of the world, universal education.

Freedom of education and freedom of information are integral to freedom of thought. Few...

Soon, judging from news reports, the UN Security Council and General Assembly, will be debating the Palestinian application for full UN membership. Israel most emphatically opposes the Palestinian application and the U.S. obliges and threatens to veto it in the Security Council. The contentious issue is not the manner and...

While I have welcomed the United Nations Security Council Res. 1973 on the imposition of a no-fly zone in Libya as a means to protect civilians, I have advised our friends to avoid being pulled into a complex political crisis and entangled with one side of a conflict about which...

Twenty-one months ago almost to the day, three idealistic young Americans were enjoying a summer vacation hike in the safe and hospitable region of Iraqi Kurdistan when they wandered close to or across an unmarked mountain border and into the hands of Iranian forces. It is hard for any of...

I recently completed my first State Visit to Israel and Palestine. I did not include Gaza in the trip. Unexpectedly, I left the region with much hope for a fully sovereign Palestinian State and long-lasting peace for the peoples who inhabit that crowded land.

During my 5-day visit I met...

TheCommunity.com and The Nobel Laureates' Peace Fund are collecting donations for a gift basket for Eliza, which Nobel Peace Prize winner and President Ramos-Horta will deliver to her in East Timor. Minimum donation is $10. Amounts are not as important as the gesture. To show your support, donate below...

Cross-posted from TheCommunity.com

Update: Reports have emerged that Sakineh Mohammadie Ashtiani has been granted a reprieve from death by stoning, but still faces the death penalty for adultery.

I am aware, as I am writing this, that I come from a country far from...

The decision to award the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize to President Barack Obama caught all by surprise, me included. However, I am pleased and understand why the wise men and women of the Nobel Peace Committee decided that he should be honored with the Nobel Peace Prize this year.

In...

The horrors of World War II should have shocked humanity into rejecting violence and wars forever, and ushered in an era of peace. Yet we continue to see countless abuses and crimes, in some instances, amounting to genocide because those who can prevent these crimes did little or nothing.

The...