Dubai must crack down on rampant smuggling, and the U.A.E. federal government has significantly stepped up pressure.

Persecution of Christians is growing around the world, and Congress needs to pay more attention to it.

Elections matter, but how much they matter depends entirely on how free, open and fair they are.

I grew up in Queens, in New York City, in a middle class Jewish family. My mother was a public school teacher, my father was a lawyer. They were Democrats - kind of middle-of-the-road democrats.

During most of the Bush administration, human rights and democracy in Egypt were on the front burner.

The Obama administration has vastly expanded the use of armed drones and concentrated a great deal of diplomatic effort on building and maintaining alliances that share information about terrorists, provide access to get near them, and then strike against them.

When you work in the White House you talk to the White House staff all day, so you're talking to the guy who handles the congressional liaison and the guy who's handling domestic politics and the guy who's handling the American economy and so forth.