As even a democracy like the United States has shown, waging war can benefit a leader in several ways: it can rally citizens around the flag, it can distract them from bleak economic times, and it can enrich a country's elites.

What is most needed in Darfur is an international peacekeeping and protection presence, and this is what the Sudanese government most wants to avoid.

When I wake up in the middle of the night when I hear one of my kids coughing or crying, I think about Syria.

I get to be married to the liveliest mind I've ever encountered.... I hit the jackpot.

My basic feeling about military intervention is that it should be a last resort, undertaken only to stave off large-scale bloodshed.

Over the years, Western governments have been criticized for working with foreign police who have proved abusive or corrupt.

Success is not about who never fails. It is about who can spring - or even stagger - back up.