Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who died this week at the age of 84, was a complicated figure in the global geopolitics of the late 20th century. History judges these efforts in different lights. Her support for NATO intervention in Kosovo saved many lives, and she championed an international response to climate change when this was still a quixotic quest. Albright was also instrumental in enacting Iraqi sanctions that the UN found led to the death of many children, later saying that “the price is worth it.” And she would correctly come to regret failing to intervene in the Rwandan genocide.

There was a time in our not so distant past when Americans planted gardens during wartime to both replenish crops and to show solidarity for troops fighting overseas. Americans can show our solidarity for our brothers and sisters in Ukraine by planting sunflowers this spring in a sunflower victory garden.

No matter what one may think about the events of Jan. 6, 2021, efforts now underway to block certain members of Congress from running for reelection are without merit.

Give Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee credit for playing a clever double game. First, Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham, John Cornyn, Josh Hawley, Marsha Blackburn and others looked Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson in the eyes and said that, unlike the way nasty Democrats (including former Sen. Joe Biden) savagely vilified nominees of Republican presidents, they would treat her with decency and respect — dressing a partisan attack in the clothing of civility. Then, often in the next breath, GOP senators twisted facts with vicious dishonesty to portray Jackson as an ally of terrorists and child pornographers, and a critical race theory brainwasher of kids who denies the existence of biological differences between the sexes.

Earlier this month, Mikhail Gorbachev celebrated his 91st birthday in obscurity at his home near Moscow, the forgotten leader of Russia’s brief, unsuccessful move toward democracy at home and on its borders.

Americans paying more at the grocery store and gas pump are told that supply-chain issues related to the coronavirus pandemic and the Russian war against Ukraine are fully to blame. But, in truth, corporate executives are also exploiting these crises to make record profits and line their pockets.

When Russian President Vladimir Putin says he’s denazifying Ukraine, he no doubt expects some people, in Russia and abroad, to believe him. Many in the West and on the international stage have expressed bewilderment at these claims. But this does not mean his propaganda strategy is failing. He is engaging in “hard propaganda,” which is meant to convey the speaker’s power — not persuade.

A deeper dive into the ways Russia is prosecuting its propaganda war against Ukraine reveals startling similarities with how former President Donald Trump waged his propaganda campaign regarding U.S. election integrity. Trump made no secret of his admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin, so it should come as no surprise that the two share the same level of contempt for facts when it comes to advancing their political goals.

The military options for the U.S. and NATO in Ukraine are complicated. But the economic options aren’t: All global companies should pull out of Russia until it ends its unprovoked and inhumane invasion — and American consumers should actively boycott those that refuse. Luckily, the refuseniks are easily identified on a real-time, running online list offered by a Yale professor. For those who are frustrated and feeling helpless at the heartrending images from Ukraine, this is a concrete way to help bring pressure to bear on Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin.

With light apparently at the end of the coronavirus tunnel, this is a good time to soberly assess how America handled the pandemic and can better handle whatever new wave might come. A new study shows that what the nation should not do again is listen to anti-science extremists — including elected ones. The study charts a clear pattern of higher coronavirus death rates in Republican-controlled states where political leaders refused aggressive pandemic policies.

In arguing forcefully before Congress for NATO to institute a no-fly zone over Ukrainian airspace, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy did what any besieged head of state would do: He advocated for what he believes will safeguard his people. His dedication to his country’s unyielding resistance to Russian aggression is admirable.

When the COVID-19 pandemic finally ends, our most glaring failure, and our greatest source of shame, will unquestionably be our unwillingness to protect society’s most vulnerable group: the elderly.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed directly to Congress Wednesday to establish a no-fly zone over his country — a request that the Biden administration has already rejected. He wants Poland’s MiG-29 jets so Ukraine can fight for control of Ukrainian skies instead of opening them so Russian planes can attack civilian areas at will. Again, the Biden administration says no.

President Joe Biden has canceled more than $15 billion in student loans for 675,000 borrowers, more than any other U.S. president. Still, this amounts to only about 1% of the $1.75 trillion of currently outstanding student debt.

Every so often President Biden makes himself available to the press to ask a question—when he’s not walking to or from a helicopter—and we have a suggestion for the next opportunity:

Back in 1990, when Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was blasting his way through Kuwait and threatening to continue his rampage southward down the Arabian Peninsula, Gulf Arab oil leaders were apoplectic with fear and outrage over the violation of a sovereign state’s territory by a tyrant. They jetted to the United States to offer desperate promises on bent knee: anything the Americans want, just turn back this invasion and restore Kuwait’s sovereignty.

There’s no great way to mark the exact moment when the pandemic began in the U.S. Was it when the first domestic case of COVID-19 was confirmed? Was it the day when the U.S. Health and Human Services secretary declared SARS-CoV-2 a public health emergency? Or was it when the first death from COVID was reported on U.S. soil?

In the course of any presidency, few nominations are as consequential as the selection of a Supreme Court justice. Members of the Supreme Court are appointed for life, and with such tenure comes enormous generational influence over how laws are interpreted.

When Russia invaded Ukraine last month, a spate of wishful thinking ran through the West that China, a great power with friends on both sides, might step in to mediate a cease-fire.

Like most Americans, I’ve spent the last few weeks contemplating the implications of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, including those that extend beyond ever-increasing gasoline prices and grocery bills.