David Ignatius
12/17/2010

While substantial progress has been made in Afghanistan, the Afghan people themselves remain cautious and noncommittal to the American presence and Afghan government. They are not yet willing to trust that the Taliban will not win out and re-establish their authority. Afghan corruption and incompetence would appear to validate that concern, but measured improvement continues apace.

Ignatius is a twice-weekly columnist for The Post, writing on global politics, economics and international affairs.

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Nicholas D. Kristof
12/16/2010

Kristof looks at the heroic life of Dr. Hawa Abdi of Somalia, who has confronted armed militias there and forced them to back down. Today she runs a camp and hospital that serves 90,000 displaced people. She provides them with food and water and trains the people whose roots are in herding to farm and fish. She also runs a school, literacy and health classes for women, and a small jail for men who beat their wives. Kristof says she is an example of the tolerant and peace-loving side of Islam and what people can do when they tap into courage, compassion, and tolerance.

Kristof is a New York Times columnist.

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Matthew Kaminski
12/16/2010

Pakistan is becoming more like Afghanistan, only with a more advanced economy and nuclear weapons, writes Kaminski. The idea that Islamabad’s leaders can control the Taliban is probably a necessary fiction, but the reality is that many extremists have slipped their leash. Pakistan’s military has yet to show that it wants to–or that it can–control the Islamist wave. Gen. David Petraeus, the American commander in Afghanistan, certainly has contingency plans for Pakistan that go beyond extra doses of drones or diplomacy. Putting American boots in Waziristan is an obvious idea. But, Kaminski concludes, this is unappealing, as the fallout in Pakistan would be hard to predict. So for the moment America gets to pretend that Pakistan can do this on its own.

Kaminski is a member of the Journal’s editorial board.

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E.J. Dionne Jr.
12/16/2010

A nascent “No Labels” movement to reclaim the political center is admirable in its intent but questionable in its pragmatic value. Active Republicans are almost entirely absent from its ranks, and it equates the far left and far right as equivalent dangers even though the socialist position of the 20th century far left has been entirely abandoned. If it cannot garner a broader coalition or take a more accurate view of the current state of American politics, the “No Labels” movement will be consigned to a benign obscurity.

Dionne is a twice-weekly columnist for The Post, writing on national policy and politics.

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Douglas Murray
12/15/2010

It’s a story that is becoming as familiar as the traditional nativity: ordinary young man goes to Britain, most likely to study, and comes out an Islamic extremist. While Sweden may change after its first suicide bombing, it is more urgent that things change in Britain. One-third of British Muslim students polled believe that killing in the name of their religion could be justified. Yet the government’s minister for higher education dismissed the findings. Murray concludes that if you had told Britons 20 years ago that this occurrence would become routine they would have laughed at you. But Britain is no longer the country it was.

Murray is the director of London’s Center for Social Cohesion.

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Katrina vanden Heuvel
12/15/2010

The recent tax cut deal is yet another example of how President Obama’s centrist focus has resulted in failure to define his principles and values (and, by extension, America’s). While the author concedes that compromising on policy is part of the political game, she disagrees with compromising one’s principles. Strong leadership, says vanden Heuvel, should not be defined by compromise but by a clear, defensible vision and the mobilization of popular support. If Obama’s pattern of compromise continues, he may leave behind few achievements and a disillusioned Democrat party.

Katrina vanden Heuvel is editor and publisher of The Nation magazine.

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Thomas L. Friedman
12/15/2010

We have only one America so we have to make this work. If it fails, our children will grow up in a different world and we will not like who picks up the pieces. Friedman looks at the role of China in the future–a country that tried to intimidate its trading partners from sending representatives to attend the Nobel award ceremony at Oslo’s City Hall after it rejected the Nobel Peace Prize given to one of its citizens, a democracy advocate who has been imprisoned. On the other end of the spectrum, Friedman wonders what the world would be like if individuals feel empowered to change the world by dumping state secrets at any time. He says a stable world requires that we get the best from both extremes while limiting the worst; it will require smart legal and technological responses. That job requires a strong America.

Friedman is a New York Times columnist.

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Robert Wright
12/14/2010

If there is no two-state solution to the situation between Israel and Palestine, Israel has two poor choices: give Palestinians the vote in occupied territories while the Arab birth rate makes Israeli Jews a minority or continue to deny the vote to Arabs, moving Israel toward global pariah status and giving terrorists propaganda to feed their calls for war. Wright says there is a third solution: have the United Nations create a Palestinian state now as it did a Jewish state. Although it would be tricky, it is better than the current state of affairs between Israel and Palestine.

Wright blogs for The New York Times on culture, politics, and world affairs.

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