The tide of history is turning women from beasts of burden and sexual playthings into full-fledged human beings.

I think when hundreds of thousands of lives are on the line, you might have to set aside some principles.

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

The north of the Central African Republic is now a war zone, with rival armed bands burning villages, kidnapping children, robbing travelers and killing people with impunity.

For most of history, genocide was just something governments did and nobody blinked.

Let me be clear: I'm a believer in a robust military, which is essential for backing up diplomacy. But the implication is that we need a balanced tool chest of diplomatic and military tools alike. Instead, we have a billionaire military and a pauper diplomacy. The U.S. military now has more people in its marching bands than the State Department has in its foreign service - and that's preposterous.

You don't need to invade a place or install a new government to help bring about a positive change.