WASHINGTON — Some people eagerly respond to impassioned statements about climate change, such as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s warning we cannot compromise with Earth. Others appreciate stunts, for example, a recent Maldive Islands cabinet meeting that convened under water to signal worries about climate change. To me, though, nothing resonates more than the evidence, [...]

Too many of the world’s small countries, those with populations of less than 1.5 million, are sinking fast — in more ways than one. The latest warnings come from the Pacific region. At a recent conference in Australia, it was reported that some members of the Pacific Islands Forum — a 16-state group dedicated to [...]

President Barack Obama’s ominous warning about climate change stayed in my mind long after his historic address to Ghana’s Parliament was over. He was correct in noting that a warming planet will spread disease, shrink water resources and deplete crops, creating conditions that contribute to the spread of famine and conflict. Still, as he optimistically [...]

WASHINGTON — Instead of looking for what the Obama administration accomplished in the first 100 days or what it might achieve in the next 100, we should focus on the longer term. The 1,000-day mark interests me far more than the sprouts of the administration’s early seeds.

Peter W. Galbraith, the author of The End of Iraq and Unintended Consequences: How War in Iraq Strengthened America’s Enemies, formerly served as a U.S. ambassador to Croatia. He discussed global challenges for the United States with foreign-affairs columnist John C. Bersia.

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 [...]

TAOYUAN COUNTY, Taiwan — As one inhales the fresh air in this island’s many nature reserves and parks, it is hard to imagine that the environment looms as a major concern. But, then, before the widespread global realization that the era of climate change was upon us, most people around the world – except those [...]

WASHINGTON — Huddled around tables in a private Georgetown garden, we waited for the main event, the reason that we had given up our evening: the promise of a bipartisan discussion on the major foreign-policy issues facing the United States.
Mere weeks before, I had written a column expressing the need for such an approach in [...]

Now that both the Democratic and Republican presidential-campaign teams have a strong component of foreign-policy expertise, how will they use it?
They had better act quickly, because time is short. During the few months before Election Day, voters should demand that the presidential contenders address the international challenges facing the United States with clarity and [...]

Whether Barack Obama’s multi-nation, overseas tour amounts to a political stunt – as critics claim – or not, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president and U.S. senator from Illinois is moving in the right direction. So far, foreign-policy issues have played a pitifully small role in the campaign. To those who believe that discussing Afghanistan, [...]