Another hideous humanitarian crisis is playing out, this one in beleaguered Haiti. The question isn’t whether money or supplies will be available — the world has a huge heart at times like this. The question is how the operation will and won’t work. The best NGOs learn from experience and, unfortunately, from their mistakes, and [...]

This news report from Agence France-Presse sounds a hell of a lot like the violence in 2006 that led up to the Islamic Courts winning power in Somalia from the transitional government. That government was created by Western powers from among Somalis outside the country, and had zero public support within Somalia. And it was toppled when the [...]

Congratulations on your impressive victory. I won’t take much of your time as I make my plea for strengthening America’s soft power. You, far better than I, know that yours not only was a historic achievement when you won the presidency this month, but you will enter the Oval Office in January at one [...]

I’m reprinting this note, which I got today from Ben Skinner, who wrote the new book, “A Crime So Monstrous,” about human trafficking around the world. It’s a vital issues that gets far too little attention - and this is one of those issues that could truly be helped by public pressure. If Kenya can outlaw smoking in [...]

Please excuse me for not having posted an entry in so long. My mother, who has been ill since I was in Uganda last June (I cut that trip short to race to the hospital in Cleveland where she was in intensive care) passed away last week. It all seems so unreal to me, that [...]