As President Obama takes America’s helm, I recall a poignant, recent cover of The Economist that featured him, striding with determination, underneath a simple headline: “It’s time.”
Indeed, it is. And, with this nation confronting one of the most chaotic and dangerous periods in history, it is also time for critics, naysayers, pessimists and other purveyors [...]

In 2009, my America – the one that I grew up with, knew and loved so well – is not as visible around the world. Born from a storied revolution that launched an ongoing pursuit of freedom, democracy and equality, my America offered hope and inspiration everywhere.
Now, though, the United States faces unacceptably diminished credibility [...]

In dealing with Iran, I have favored caution, along with a strategy that does not hesitate to criticize but also to engage in a proactive fashion. To me, such an approach offers far more potential than the preferred method of the Bush administration, which has combined criticism with alienation. I look to the incoming Obama [...]

NEW YORK — Like a monster movie, climate change casts an ominous, larger-than-life shadow. The American Museum of Natural History’s special exhibition (http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/climatechange/) depicts it well. After witnessing such dramatic images of searing heat, melting ice, unusually powerful storms, rising seas and other devastating occurrences, it would be impossible for anyone to ignore or minimize [...]

When President-elect Barack Obama uttered the word “slavery” in a historical reference during his post-election acceptance speech, I could not avoid making a connection to modern victims of forced servitude around the world.
Slavery is not a relic of the past. Indeed, the problem – also known as human trafficking – has reached epidemic proportions, subjugating [...]

Political violence of the kind that recently rocked India will necessarily dominate the agenda of President-elect Barack Obama and his newly announced national security team.
In addition to killing or injuring hundreds of people from various countries, the miscreants in Mumbai assaulted the world’s sense of decency in ways similar to the Sept. 11 perpetrators. Such [...]

Will the incoming Obama administration finally give Latin America and the Caribbean their due? It ought to.
There is no reason to pay sporadic, insufficient attention — as the United States commonly has done — to the nations that form part of the same hemisphere and have such a dramatic impact on this country. Whether the [...]

In the coming months, President-elect Barack Obama will assemble a foreign-policy team and begin the arduous process of listing global priorities, including the need for a new American image. Between now and Inauguration Day, that group should focus on critical issues that demand the incoming president’s sustained attention and creativity, starting with human rights.
This subject [...]

President-elect Barack Obama has already demonstrated a sensible impulse: to make haste slowly as he prepares to tackle the nation’s pressing issues in a pro-active, bipartisan manner. His next steps will be most effective if they captivate, inspire, energize and assist Americans.
Obama has no choice about the No. 1 priority, the economy. He cannot avoid [...]

A tale of two unique U.S. presidential candidates has ended, and one of them – Barack Obama – will inherit, along with the White House, what has been called the most dangerous of times.
Against that general backdrop, it should be noted that we also face the best of times in terms of the positive changes [...]