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For this story our reporter talked to Victor Cha, President Trump's first choice as ambassador to South Korea. His main insight, shared by others: Real diplomacy requires 鈥渟pade work.鈥�

To shut down a sex trafficking ring that involved Asian immigrants across several Florida counties, police implemented a new and promising approach 鈥� one that sees the women as innocents who had been enslaved, not prostitutes.

The Monitor has an enduring interest in the Balkans. One of our reporters was jailed there during the area's ethnic conflicts of the 1990s. Now some Serbians are protesting creeping authoritarianism and corruption for the first time since the fall of Slobodan Milo拧evi膰.

Around the world, island communities are scrambling to cope with the threat of rising seas. Florida's Key West aims to prove that adaptation is possible. But at what cost? This is the first installment of an occasional series on 鈥淐limate Realities.鈥�

Giving children opportunities to learn outside of school is a known key to their future success. One teacher鈥檚 efforts to keep her own students off street corners has now grown to reach 3,000 D.C.-area kids.

Ukraine is entering its sixth year of a low-level conflict with Russia in which more than 10,000 people have been killed. More people live in poverty today than before a pro-democracy revolution in 2014. And the current president, Petro Poroshenko, recently tried but failed to declare martial law nationwide. He is also caught up in the country鈥檚 latest corruption scandal.

Yet since 2015, Ukrainians have been united in one thing. They have laughed over such troubles by watching a popular TV sitcom, 鈥淪ervant of the People.鈥澛燭he series, which was picked up by Netflix, stars a comedian who plays a teacher propelled into the presidency after a student puts a video of his anti-establishment tirade on YouTube. The fictional president鈥檚 honesty and humility become an asset to him as a leader.

The comedian, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, is now a real-life candidate for president. In fact, he is the front-runner in the polls for a March 31 election, leading Mr. Poroshenko and another established politician, Yulia Tymoshenko. If he wins, the victory may show how humor can allow an entire nation to reflect on their woes and enable them to work together.聽

In Ukraine, where distrust of the political elite runs high, Mr. Zelenskiy鈥檚 popularity can be attributed to the fact that the humor in his show has been an emotional release. The leveling effect of the political jokes has helped reduce fear of the powerful oligarchs. The laughter reverses a collective dread of corrupt politics.

Even on the campaign trail, Zelenskiy uses humor as a great equalizer to remind people that they are in charge. 鈥淵ou yourselves know what to do,鈥� he says. He also asks people to propose candidates for his hoped-for presidential cabinet.

Ukrainians may be ready for a 鈥渇resh face,鈥� as Zelenskiy calls himself, even if he has no experience as a policymaker. Besides being trusted for his humor, his other great appeal is a promise to tackle corruption 鈥� a common topic in his show. He pledges to serve only one term and to lift immunity from prosecution for top officials.

In many democracies, anti-establishment candidates have lately gained office or prominence. But perhaps none has risen so fast and so far by using political humor as Zelenskiy. His show starts by appealing to popular cynicism. But it offers a touch of unifying hope. His comedy has forced a new self-awareness in Ukraine, the kind that may work against the self-interests of those in power.

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