President Barack Obama was elected to the White House to put an end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as they have endlessly maimed and killed countless Americans overseas. The dirty little secret, however, is that the United States has been engaged in a much longer and much bloodier...

If you have been following what America's right-wing bloggers and radio talk-show hosts have been saying about President Barack Obama's just-concluded trip to the Asia-Pacific, you would be under the impression that Obama was not treated by officials in that region as the leader of the world's only remaining...

Okay, so Obama's bow was low. But if you believe the chattering chihuahuas of the right, I'm one of the few Americans who is not upset, humiliated even, that during his recent visit to Japan, Barack Obama bowed more deeply than was absolutely necessary to Emperor Akihito and his wife.

Beijing, China - The U.S. press has not been kind to President Barack Obama and his recent visit to China. Claiming that the U.S.' tone has become conciliatory toward China, that the trip "yielded precious little" and even oddly comparing the Obama administration's behavior on the visit...

The 20th anniversary of the 1989 Velvet Revolution that overthrew the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia was one of the most impressive civil insurrections in history. It was not the military might of NATO, but the power of nonviolent action by ordinary citizens which brought down the system. The popular uprising...

There's a limit to how many blows democracy can take before it is trampled down and beaten into something else. Democracy and human rights are absolutely essential for protecting who we are, preserving our rights, and enabling us to realize the equality we all deserve.

Was the Vietnam War an act of prescience, or simply a prelude to today? You decide after hearing the principals in the White House at that time discuss the agony of that moment. The first 1000 people who respond to this blog by emailing here will receive a...

The Philippines Electoral Commission has refused a group of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender citizens the right to register as a political party to run in the 2010 elections.

In denying the rights of the group Ang Ladlad (Out of the Closet) the Commission quoted verses from...

However, we work hard, with a lot of enthusiasm and hope, because we know that the political leaders of tomorrow stand among the thousands of Cubans who read us, and among the millions who will one day be free. Perhaps they may be cleaner and more self-assured, perhaps more laborious,...

Nobody's manning the calculator at NATO.

This year is on track to be the deadliest for Afghan civilians since the war began in 2001. Yet Oxfam just reported that of the 700 Afghans they interviewed just 1% received any compensation or apology for the harm done to them....

The images of what happened yesterday, in G Street, with my husband, Reinaldo Escobar, and other friends are, to me, too reminiscent of repudiation rallies of 1980. Look for yourself and tell me if it doesn't seem the same.

Note: The first video is of the 'spontaneous demonstration' against the...

If Matthew Hoh could tell you one thing to help you understand the U.S.'s predicament in Afghanistan, he'd tell you:

The presence of our ground combat troops is not doing anything to defeat al-Qaida.

Think about that for a moment. We are paying roughly $1 million per troop, per...

It was 1988, with the first Intifada in full bloom and the Palestine Liberation Organization in the lead up to their November 29th declaration of independence, when I met with a few members of the PLO Executive Committee to discuss their plans. "Is this serious?" I asked. "Absolutely," they assured...

The most widely and rapidly ratified human rights treaty in history is 20 years old. The Convention on the Rights of the Child was shaped by the United States, which drafted more of its provisions than any other government. Only two countries in the world have failed to ratify the...

Last week I met with a young Palestinian from Gaza, Mohammed Omer. He is an award-winning journalist with an incredible story.

After meeting him, I went to his presentation at a bistro in town called "Busboys and Poets" (the coolest place in DC these days).

His presentation blew me away....

THE DEPROLIFERATOR -- As you no doubt know, deterrence is the product of a balance of power -- nuclear arsenals, in other words, that are roughly equal. Constrained by the eye-for-an-eye principle, but to the umpteenth power, states armed with nuclear weapons, such as the United States and the Soviet...

Yes, I am running for President of Palestine in the next election, if there is one. No, I don't expect to win. But then, many long shot candidates who don't expect to win, actually find themselves winning.

Still, my goal isn't to win office but to help re-ignite the peace...