In Iran, Lebanon and North Korea, a familiar lesson has played out dramatically in recent days: When freedom reigns, human life has greater importance and security; the opposite prevails under repression.
Why not start with the just-concluded sham election in Iran, a country that once experimented with genuine democratic practices? It is easy to join with [...]

As negotiations continue to force North Korea to end its dangerously irresponsible nuclear program, the most important player clearly is China. So far, many Americans have been understandably dismayed by Beijing’s apparent reluctance to do more than criticize Pyongyang for its disruptive behavior. But is the Chinese response to the crisis as glove-soft as it [...]

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.

North Korea has little to celebrate this week, on the 60th anniversary of its founding as a communist entity. Consider the dominant issues of those years: belligerence, conflict, oppression, human-rights abuses, cult-of-personality excesses, insidious nuclear research and repeated bouts of starvation.