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Russian interference has less to do with picking a candidate than it does with undermining trust in American democracy and sowing divisions, say U.S. intelligence officials.

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Caught in the middle of the geopolitical clash in northern Syria are as many as a million civilians fleeing the fighting. Who will protect them? At stake are long-standing humanitarian principles.

Do Confederate symbols have a place in today鈥檚 U.S. military? That question echoes a debate about heritage and hostility in broader society. But for America鈥檚 top Marine, the answer is simple.

This is more than feel-good news 鈥� it's where the world is making concrete progress. A roundup of positive stories to inspire you.

Since last Friday, journalists have camped out on the border between Turkey and Greece watching for fresh flows of migrants. They anticipated something rarely seen in history: one nation exploiting refugees聽as pawns in a geopolitical struggle.

Last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo臒an threatened to allow up to 1 million refugees now in his country to cross into Europe. To the credit of global norms against the use of innocent migrants as weapons, the flow has been much slower than expected.

Instead of a million Syrians and others crossing into Greece, only about 24,000 made the attempt by Monday, according to Greek officials. Mr. Erdo臒an may have decided that generating a migration crisis in Europe was not worth the reputational cost. The world鈥檚 moral standards against exploiting vulnerable refugees appear to be holding.

Mr. Erdo臒an鈥檚 motives for the threat were not entirely clear, but his current circumstances are. He is in a dangerous standoff with Russia over military influence in Syria and wants Western powers to back him up. To get that help, he may have decided to use what is known as 鈥渃oercive engineered migration,鈥� or driving people toward countries that want regulated flows of migration. This nonmilitary tool is sometimes used by weak countries against stronger ones. Libya under Muammar Qaddafi tried it with Europe while Cuba under Fidel Castro employed it several times against the United States. Recall the Mariel boatlift of 1980 off Florida.

Mr. Erdo臒an鈥檚 threat was short-lived in part because of a tongue-lashing from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who often acts as the world鈥檚 conscience. She said Turkey was putting the lives of civilians at risk. In his policy dispute with the European Union, Mr. Erdo臒an was 鈥渢aking it out on the backs of refugees,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the wrong way.鈥�

To its credit, Turkey has hosted 3.7 million refugees from Syria鈥檚 civil war since 2011. It deserves Western aid for this generous hospitality. And the EU as well as the U.S. needs to absorb more of the refugees. But Mr. Erdo臒an cannot expect the West to let him exploit refugees for his national goals in Syria. Even in war, the combatants must make peace with the norms of protecting innocent people.