John Feffer

Open Society Fellow

It's time for us to grow up in our assessments of North Korea. Belittling North Korea, literally and figuratively, ultimately prevents us from developing our own mature alternatives.

James Zogby

President, Arab American Institute; author, 'Arab Voices'

I might suggest that we first take a deep breath and make an effort to put the events of the past week in some perspective, but I know it wouldn't do any good. There is blood in the water and in deeply partisan Washington, the struggle for advantage and power always trumps reality.

Joel Rubin

Director of Policy and Government Affairs, Ploughshares Fund

President Obama should stick to his red line policy toward Syria and avoid advancing a red line policy toward Iran that will tie his hands. That may frustrate his domestic critics, but it makes America's adversaries nervous. And this is exactly where we should want our country's foreign policy to be.

Hammad Moses Khan

Muslim Medical Student and Activist

Throughout this election cycle, one thing has become quite clear--Pakistan still believes in itself. It may be softer, it may be weaker, but Pakistan still holds onto the intrinsic sense of optimism that it was founded upon over half a century ago.

Michael Hoevel

Deputy Director, Agriculture for Impact

The challenges are great, but the window of opportunity is greater. Science-based solutions for African agriculture have the potential to achieve synergistic outcomes for a more prosperous and resilient Africa.

Joel Earl Simpson

Founder and co-chair, Society Against Sexual Orientation Discrimination (SASOD) in Guyana

As we commemorate IDAHO this year, we should reflect on how homophobic and transphobic discrimination affects Guyanese children, robbing them of their innocence and dignity and damaging the next generation. But we can, and we must, change that.

Michael Zakaras

Writer and strategist who specializes in social entrepreneurship and public policy

In our efforts to solve difficult social problems in particular, we rely too heavily on reason and numbers and econometrics, and not often enough on empathy. And by empathy I don't just mean our emotions, and I certainly don't mean feeling sorry -- that's sympathy.

Yoani Sanchez

Award-winning Cuban blogger

They are the children of the satellite dish, fed with the illicit and used to the other side of information or misinformation. They have grown up with the remote control in their hands and, with a simple click, they access the prohibited every day.

Tiina Intelmann

Ambassador; President of the Assembly of States Parties, International Criminal Court (ICC)

It is a court of last resort ready to step in if everything else fails, and over the past ten years it has gained wide recognition for its work. At the same time the Rome Statute system is lacking enforcement mechanisms in cases of a refusal to cooperate.

Karin Kamp

Director of Digital Media, The Story Exchange

When Roya Mahboob found out she was on Time Magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world she thought it was a mistake.

Sam Dorison

Fellow, Center on National Security at Fordham Law School

The average detainee at Guantánamo has been held there for over nine years. Nine years ago Barack Obama was serving his first term as Chair of the Health and Human Services Committee in the Illinois Senate.

Sarah Hindman

Communications Associate, Israel Experience

"It's that place where all the rockets are falling," I would tell my friends about the embattled southern Israeli town near Gaza.

Hossein Alizadeh

Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator, International Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC)

Dr. Toprak and her colleagues in parliament are great allies of the LGBT movement in Turkey. Their political fight for equal treatment of all citizens is a source of inspiration for human rights activists in Turkey who have been advocating for equal rights and protection of LGBT individuals.

Joe Levenson

Director of Communications, Dying Matters Coalition and the National Council for Palliative Care

If we were all able to discuss our end of life wishes and make plans in a more confident and better-informed way it's likely we would see huge improvements in people's experiences at such an important time for them and those close to them and that we would be less scared of dying.

Francis Ghesquiere

Head of GFDRR Secretariat

Every day, rapid growth and urbanization increase the exposure of people and assets to earthquakes, floods, storms and other natural hazards... While disasters affect everyone, it is the poor and vulnerable - women, children, the elderly, and those recovering from conflict - who are most exposed. When hazards strike, their homes in fragile and often low-lying environments take the brunt of the impact.

Charles Heck and Dominik Tolksdorf

Think of the eventual incorporation of ten former Communist countries in the years after the end of the Cold War. Think of the incorporation of Portugal, Spain, and Greece growing out of an earlier "Europe"-inspired round of regime change.

Rev. Dr. Nancy Wilson

Global Leader, Metropolitan Community Churches

IDAHO is a day to remember that there are countries throughout the world where well-meaning people are being told that LGBT people should be rejected by their families, given shock treatment, converted to fundamentalism, imprisoned or even executed. There is work to do!