I'm optimistic. New Orleans has a unique chance to make a fresh start and, in fact, become more like cities that do workwhile retaining its spirit of mystery,beauty, and decadence.

My first recoverable memory is of sitting on the back porch under candlelight in the spring of 1936, the evening after the flood of that year, in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

Beauty, history, and a shelf of murder mysteries.

A recounting of two pivotal battles in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that repelled Islamist invaders of Europe illuminates today's cultural and religious confrontations.

If there is to be a renewal of Trans-Atlantic ties dialogue and discussion are at least as important as speeches.

With the war on terror, U.S.-Arab relations, U.S.-Russian relations,and U.S.-European relations can be revived or solidified.

The devastating terroristattacks of September 11 on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon have, in a single stroke, transformed the national security debate in the United States. The post-Cold War world is finally over; terrorism has emerged overnight as the new great threat.