All The Monitor's View
- A Mexican plan to cut homicides by doing good
The incoming president, who says ‘Evil needs to be faced with good,’ lays out a softer approach to crime, one the US should support.
- A grace-full Thanksgiving
A holiday that inspires not only an ‘attitude of gratitude’ but deeds of kindness and charity is truly worth celebrating.
- A legal takedown of genocide
A verdict against two high-level Khmer Rouge leaders helps spread the application of human-rights law and could prevent such atrocities.
- The FDA shields youths from vaping
The agency’s proposed rules aim to reverse an alarming spike in use of electronic cigarettes among teens. They also declare the need to guard the innocence of youth.
- A key ingredient in Amazon’s selection process
Whether it be a tech giant or the federal government, the best approach in targeting big investment in one place is to ensure the local community has social cohesion and common vision.
- California’s fires as both tragedy and lesson
As strategies toward wildfires have evolved, so has the understanding of how humans can fit into the natural order.
- Why did so many young people vote?
The unusually high turnout for a midterm election may be driven by better civic education, especially the hands-on kind that instills lifelong activism instead of cynicism and indifference.
- Germany's learning curve on immigration
Perhaps the US can learn as Germany’s leading party holds a sober debate over the topic in picking a replacement for Angela Merkel.
- The new Congress can shed old habits
The midterm election left Capitol Hill more divided than before. Rather than gridlock, lawmakers must try to discern together the ideals that unite Americans.
- Ukraine needs the long arm of the law
Despite the West’s efforts to curb corruption in this pivotal country, the killing of an anti-corruption activist shows the need for better tools to help Ukrainians achieve clean governance.
- Is progress on race still possible?
The US midterm election was filled with racial issues, another example to the world of how to confront a difficult topic. At least one country, Tunisia, has decided progress on race is possible.
- A record in ‘diversity’ of candidates
The field in the 2018 elections shows progress in backgrounds of candidates but at least one contest for Congress shows that diversity can mean more than race or gender.
- Peace waves in East Africa
The ‘love can win’ diplomacy of Ethiopia’s new leader has brought startling results in the region, notably in the reunion of South Sudan’s top two rivals.
- Oman’s guiding hand in a churning Mideast
A region so in flux needs an honest broker like tiny Oman that can listen and mediate with selfless interest.
- Disarming terrorists like the Pittsburgh shooter before they act
A decade of efforts to guide terrorists or would-be terrorists away from violence is showing some success, if the approach is based on offering a good alternative.
- A different Mexico as a US partner on migration
The caravan of migrants from Central America poses less of a threat than an opportunity for US-Mexican cooperation.
- A better way to view the migrant caravan
Missing in the dire depictions of Central American migrants is the steady progress in their countries to deal with a root cause for the exodus.
- Political violence and its antidote
Pipe bombs in the US, politicians killed in South Africa, a candidate stabbed in Brazil. Democracies must find answers to political violence. One country, Kenya, is well down that path.
- A soft way to reform global trade
With China and the US jeopardizing the rulebook for international commerce, a group of 13 ‘middle power’ nations tries to mediate reforms for the global trading agency.
- Keeping Italy in Europe’s nest
For the first time, EU leaders rebuked a member state, Italy, for spending profligacy. To solve the crisis and keep the eurozone from failing, both sides need to look at recoveries in nearby economies.