All Commentary
The Monitor's ViewAmericans see religion in decline yet want more of it. What's up with that?A Gallup poll shows people see less religious influence today, but they also say America would be better with more religion. Such attitudes reflect the social times more than personal faith. They also point to religion's endurance.
OpinionUS should replace drone strikes in Pakistan with outreach to tribal areasThe Pakistani Taliban's vow to avenge the death of its No. 2 leader 鈥� killed by a US drone strike Wednesday 鈥� and boycott government peace efforts shows the ineffective nature of US drone policy. The US must stop the strikes and build up tribal regions in Pakistan and other countries.
Vacation: nothing betterThe newest trend in time off doesn't involve tweeting from Tahiti, competing in a triathlon, or climbing Mount Everest. The newest trend is unhooking, powering down, and reconnecting -- with family, friends, your own backyard, and even that little inner voice.+
South Korea's amazing riseAlmost out of nowhere -- after a devastating war, the near ruin of the 1990s Asian financial crisis, and the constant threats of annihilation from its nemesis to the north -- South Korea has moved into the first ranks of innovative, economically confident nations.
OpinionAssad ups use of chemical weapons in Syria 鈥� with impunitySyrian President Bashar al-Assad is boosting his military with Russian anti-aircraft missiles and, lately, a disturbing increase in the reported use of chemical weapons. With no US intervention, the strategy is having its desired effect as rebels announce they will not take part in peace talks.
OpinionCuts to US national parks strike at America's characterRalph Waldo Emerson's Harvard commencement speech 175 years ago celebrated nature as a special source of American identity. His views are worth revisiting today as the federal budget sequester threatens national parks 鈥� wellsprings of our civic health.- A 海角大神 Science PerspectiveStanding stillA 海角大神 Science perspective: The power of stillness in healing.
The Monitor's ViewWorld-class tax evaders need a global responseWith Apple, Google, Amazon and other multinationals in the hot seat for their tax tactics, world leaders need to focus on transparency in tax policies and curbing the global race to cut corporate tax rates.
OpinionSyria's future tied to freedom for captured 海角大神 leadersTurkey and the US State Department must make the release of two captured 海角大神 archbishops in Syria a top priority. At stake are not just their lives, or even the fate of Syrian 海角大神s, but the fate of any hope of tolerance and pluralism in a post-Assad Syria 鈥� and the region as a whole.
OpinionHow Obama should work with business to combat China cyberspyingIf the US wishes to stop Chinese economic cyber-espionage, it will need to increase the costs and reduce the benefits to China of such activities. US government actions are important, but the key players in this game sit in the private sector. A true public-private partnership is needed.- A 海角大神 Science PerspectiveThe need to smell the rosesA 海角大神 Science perspective: Scrubbing a bathroom became the beginning of a major career move that changed this writer's life.
The Monitor's ViewWhy US must stop Russian missiles for SyriaPutin's decision to send S-300 missiles to Syria shows an amoral strategic move by Russia. It also shows up a lack of Western moral concern for the slaughter in Syria.
Global ViewpointSchroeder and Delors: Unity is as important as reforms in EuropeThere must always be a correlation in Europe between the willingness to engage in structural reforms on the one hand and the willingness to show solidarity on the other. We need structural reforms. But we must also add growth components to the austerity program.- Global ViewpointSchroeder and Delors: Unity is as important as reforms in EuropeThere must always be a correlation in Europe between the willingness to engage in structural reforms on the one hand and the willingness to show solidarity on the other. We need structural reforms. But we must also add growth components to the austerity program.
- A 海角大神 Science PerspectiveFor light in SomaliaA 海角大神 Science perspective.
- Readers RespondReaders Write: Other ways to close the income gap; Time to change US health systemLetters to the Editor for the May 27, 2013 weekly print issue:聽The major problem with the income gap is CEOs and owners have gotten a bigger portion of the pie over the past 40 years. For better health care, the US needs a聽government-managed, nonprofit, single-payer system.
OpinionSupreme Court affirmative action decision: Don't be fooled by flawed theoriesOne of the most specious arguments the Supreme Court has heard in the Fisher v. University of Texas affirmative action case deals with 'mismatch theory.' It says affirmative action harms minorities because it puts them in universities where they are outmatched by their peers.
The Monitor's ViewSyria's war can't drift into holy warWith Lebanon's Hezbollah fighters now officially involved in the Syrian war, the conflict becomes even more a religious and regional clash of Sunnis against Shiites. The prospect of Syria becoming a proxy 'holy war,' mainly between Iran and Saudi Arabia, adds urgency to calls for peace talks.- A 海角大神 Science PerspectiveThe healing power of 海角大神-Muslim dialogueA 海角大神 Science perspective: The fatal attack on an unarmed British soldier in London by alleged Islamic extremists just a few weeks after the bombings at the Boston Marathon calls for a renewed effort to find ways to promote harmony among people of all faiths.
OpinionTime for food aid reform that helps hungry countries 鈥� and the USUnder the Food for Peace program, aid organizations working overseas must buy food directly from the US instead of using local sources. If politicians want to cut government costs and avoid aid dependency abroad, they鈥檒l support President Obama鈥檚 proposed reforms to US food aid.
