It's good for people to believe in causes larger than themselves.

...our species is one, and each of the individuals who compose it are entitled to equal moral consideration.

All war aims for impunity.

How do you keep war accountable to the American people when war becomes invisible and virtual?

In academic life, false ideas are merely false and useless ones can be fun to play with. In political life, false ideas can ruin the lives of millions and useless ones can waste precious resources. An intellectual's responsibility for his ideas is to follow their consequences wherever they may lead. A politician's responsibility is to master those consequences and prevent them from doing harm. Michael Ignatieff, a former professor at Harvard and contributing writer for the magazine, is a member of Canada's Parliament and deputy leader of the Liberal Party.

There's a civic nationalism in Britain and dozens of other countries.

The politics of personal destruction, the politics of division, the politics of fear, it's all there. It helps you to define the politics of moderation - the politics of democratic respect, the politics of hope - more clearly.