What could be better than being a foreign correspondent? Over some decades of it I was befriended by Jamaican Maroons, grilled by Moldovan peasants and labelled “zen” by Bono. I huddled with Yasser Arafat, offended Prince Phillip and was abandoned in mid-interview by John McCain. …

Many in the West are surprised by the ferocity of Ukraine’s resistance to the war unleashed by Vladimir Putin. They shouldn’t be. Ukrainians, including the Russian speakers among them, are fighting like hell not just for independence from Russia — but for freedom from tyranny. …

The Russia-Ukraine tragedy offers a useful reminder of the vital importance of the news media in any country and for the world. We seem to love to criticize it viciously, but we do so at our peril. Russia’s murderous assault on Ukraine aims to slightly enlarge the world’s largest country…

The acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk is a riveting moment in one of the grand stories of our times: technology’s disruption of the culture and economy. …

Eventually Israel will figure it out: a new arrangement is needed in Jerusalem. As things stand, let’s just say the city does not bring out the best in people. The current round of unrest in the city reminds us of it yet again. Let’s look at the rogue’s gallery of…

The human experience whips up passionate opinions on so many issues that it can be frustrating to face a binary choice, as democracies often do. But binary does not have to mean ossified. The complexity can spark shifts as once-secondary issues gain importance, yielding new choices, usually also binary. …

The news industry is reeling after a parade of errors over two decades — and this is a disaster, because the rough draft of history cannot be produced by algorithms or the wisdom of the crowd. Open societies and free markets need dedicated and knowledgeable journalists holding power to account…

In this age of sensitivity to feelings, few are the group identities that may be reduced to cartoon evil without drawing derision in return. The great exception is the Russians. …

Could it have been different with Russia? Was there a way to prevent the communist collapse from yielding the nightmare we are witnessing today? Many mistakes were made, but this is a case where the human factor seems dominant. …