I think it's dangerous to be optimistic.

I have often tried to tell the story of a place through people there.

We tie ourselves in knots when we act as if democracy is good for the United States and Israel but not for the Arab world. For far too long, we've treated the Arab world as just an oil field.

There could be a powerful international women's rights movement if only philanthropists would donate as much to real women as to paintings and sculptures of women.

Rising seas create a higher baseline for future storm surges. The New York City Panel on Climate Change has projected that coastal waters may rise by two feet by 2050 and four feet by the end of the century.

Guilt-tripping people does not work; they tend to be turned off.

I think it's dangerous to be optimistic. Things could go terribly wrong virtually overnight