Different regions may require different strategies, as President Bush has noted, but not different basic principles. It's either collective security or selective security.

Why use a modifier to set straight a not-quite-right noun when the right noun is available?

Don't expect others to do your work for you.

Have a definite opinion.

... it's Bush's baby, even if he shares its popularization with Gorbachev. Forget the Hitler 'new order' root; F.D.R. used the phrase earlier.

The wonderful thing about being a New York Times columnist is that it's like a Supreme Court appointment - they're stuck with you for a long time.

Do not be taken in by 'insiderisms.' Fledgling columnists, eager to impress readers with their grasp of journalistic jargon, are drawn to such arcane spellings as 'lede.' Where they lede, do not follow.