The surge of resources devoted to antiterrorism has not only been ineffective. It has diverted attention from ongoing failures of the government and political elites to tackle Mali's most challenging issues: corruption and poverty.

[A]n overwhelming majority of Japanese wants to ‘protect' the constitution—using the same word, mamore , that Abe and his supporters use to justify their desire for Japanese troops to fight.

Africa's regional organizations will … need to urgently improve their rapid response capacity to ensure that the continent does not keep relying for its security on self-interested external powers.

For much of Africa’s post—cold war history, the question has not been whether humanitarian intervention is a cover-up for big power interests, but why outsiders have been so reluctant to act.

Dr. Abdullah Abdullah serves as minister of foreign affairs in the interim government of Chairman Hamid Karzai. Abdullah, who was a close aide to Northern Alliance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud, previously served as spokesman, un representative, and deputy foreign minister for the pre-Taliban government of President Burhanuddin Rabbani. Dr. Abdullah was interviewed by Current History consulting editor Sean Patrick Murphy in Washington, D.C. this January.

Today's ‘global’ issues, from HIV/AIDS to global warming, and from trade policies to the failure of international peacekeeping, have their most immediate and devastating consequences in Africa. … These vital challenges must be addressed in Africa, in solidarity with Africans, if they are not to overwhelm the world.

It is time for a summit to renew the transatlantic commitment by defining a new, more equal balance of influence over transatlantic affairs. America need not fear that outcome; indeed, it hearkens to the bold vision America created with its allies at NATO's conception. The United States must lead in defining a new direction by welcoming the added power of the EU.