Those who reference 1979 when trying to make sense of Egypt must go beyond the Islamic Revolution. It was a year when the political tectonic plates of the region shifted violently and profoundly.

Terrible things done during war do not necessarily diminish the rightness of the cause for which we fight.

Tension between Iran and the United States flared on December 28, 2011, when Habibollah Sayyari, commander of Iran’s navy, threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, the 34-mile-wide passage through which more than one-third of the world’s oil tanker traffic travels.

We are wrongly focused on the Iranian nuclear threat, which is obviously worth worrying about, but this excessively narrow focus has distracted us from the main threat, which is terrorism.

Insurgencies end when they are defeated, not when their participants win immunity.

Withdrawal from Iraq's cities is good politics in Washington, but when premature and done under fire it may very well condemn Iraqis to repeat their past.

The Iraqi political process's best chance for success lies in respecting the Iraqi prime minister's decision to deny populist temptations and focus on the tough reforms ahead.

Iraq's upcoming elections are an opportunity to put local government on the right footing.