Until the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the American view of radical Islam and its many discontents was shaped more by the Middle East than South Asia. The U.S. has long been at odds with the raging Ayatollah in Iran, the murderous truck bomber in Lebanon and the masked Palestinian "freedom...

For Pakistan, founded as a homeland for all Indian Muslims, the Sunni-Shiite divide is an awkward subject that many would rather ignore. But the rest of the world needs to pay more attention to this conflict.

As has been generally understood and underscored by Standard & Poor's downgrade of the U.S.'s AAA credit rating, elected officials were willing to push the federal government to the brink of default. This was startling proof of deep dysfunction in the political process.

The fight against terrorism is no closer to success today than it was a decade ago when, in the wake of the September 11 terror attacks, President George W. Bush declared a Global War on Terrorism.

In the name of Muslim unity, many Muslim-American leaders and organizations have been less than coherent when it comes to violent extremism.

There is no guarantee that all who yearn for freedom, once free, will use it well.

Today, pluralism needs a new set of protections.

The financial crisis was not caused by the disorderly bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, but by a common shock to all firms: the decline in mortgage values after the housing bubble collapsed, exacerbated by mark-to-market accounting.