It took seven years of talks to convince Gaddafi's Libya to dismantle its nuclear program. There were numerous setbacks, even breakdowns, along the way before a final agreement was reached. That is not the situation between the West and Iran for a very simple reason -- the U.S. and the EU are going to significantly escalate the pressure on Iran in the coming weeks. The EU's oil embargo and U.S. sanctions on Iran's oil sales will formally come into effect at the end of the month. And as unprecedented as these measures are, the U.S. will move shortly thereafter to impose even more sanctions to strangle Iran's oil exports. The pattern of the past 10 years clearly shows that when one side escalates, the other side counter-escalates. Neither side has had a particularly elaborate or sophisticated strategy. It's been nothing more than a kindergarten-level tit-for-tat game. This is the takeaway from the Moscow talks.
World leaders are arriving here in Rio to address some of the most daunting issues facing our planet. To be sure, the myriad problems we now face because we haven't taken more action to address global warming and sustainable development can seem daunting. Here's where to start.
Midwives from developing Asia want their moms-to-be to see a healthcare provider long before labor starts. And one midwife in India suggested women use birth control to plan their families and space their children. "Your husband doesn't have to know," she counseled.
WikiLeaks has made a tremendous contribution to exposing U.S. foreign policy to public scrutiny. The importance of transparency and public information to reforming U.S. foreign policy cannot be overstated.
The Israeli State has not only failed at any sort of "loving the stranger," but it has, especially recently, constructed policies that are hateful and oppressive to "strangers" living in our midst.
One thing is clear from the incredible events that have taken place in Cairo in recent days: Egypt's popular revolution has been abducted by unelected military officers.
If you are trying to figure out whether or not the iconic "snows of Kilimanjaro" are disappearing due to climate change, don't expect to find an easy answer from the media. When scientists attempt to explain the nuances, the media too often gets it wrong and misreports.
The decision to make Call Me Kuchu, our documentary film about the last year in the life of Ugandan gay-rights activist David Kato, came about as a result of two rather antithetical events.
I am thrilled to learn that the U.S. announced that we will join a number of other countries to fund an international partnership that supports ocean acidification monitoring. Ocean acidification is an urgent threat to our planet's ocean life.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter alongside FIFpro, the global organization of professional soccer players, footballer Eric Cantona and Noam Chomsky have denounced Israel's detention of Palestinian athletes including Mahmoud Sarsak, who has been on hunger strike in Israeli prison for 86 days.
I don't feel safer at all, and both fronts in Iraq and Afghanistan have proven themselves to be quicksand for the world's mightiest military. They were drains of money, manpower and lives.
Over the next two decades, there is little doubt, given our history and given global demographic trends, that the U.S. will be called upon or see the need to respond to demographic-induced instability in developing countries.
America's "war on terror" now has brought us deep into tropical Africa. Washington is engaged in an expansive project to hunt down local "terrorists," could-be "terrorists" and mayhem makers in general. Nearly all are no more than loose bands incapable of threatening the United States.
Though the military promised a transition to democracy through a three-stage election process, it has now delegitimized its own proposed process, proving the elections were nothing more than a charade.
Next year Putin and Cameron take the reins of the G20 and G8 respectively. They must show that bringing the most powerful people in the world together can still deliver results for the most powerless.
Women in Segag must be educated in order to prevent tragedies like the one that ripped my family apart and left me to spend my childhood without the physical caring and emotional connection of a loving mother.
The pressure is mounting on companies to create conflict-free products with minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo. This week, Duke University joined 10 other colleges calling for responsible monitoring of corporate supply chains that may be funding violence in the Congo.
Media coverage has -- to a certain point understandably -- included stories about negotiators quibbling over punctuation, subliminally painting images of Roman emperors, lyres, and blazing urban backdrops. But success comes in many forms.
The man who was characterized by his habit of speaking for hours from the podium in the Plaza of the Revolution and in front of television cameras in the studio, now appears to be opting for minimalism.
As a teenager, I chose to become a mom. In November, I chose, with the same commitment, to march with other women to support the motion to decriminalize abortion. I want women to be able to seek help openly and without shame. The hypocrisy is killing us.