I experienced an upsetting thing recently. My husband and I learned that a very good friend–someone we’ve both known for many, many years–has been accused of sexually harassing several women. The severity of the alleged actions could be worse, but let me be clear: I am a big supporter of the #MeToo movement, I’ve got […]

As many of my readers know, I spent nearly two decades in the domestic field of conflict resolution and consensus building before seriously pursuing my interest in peace processes. One of my big areas of practice was in public policy: helping government officials work with interest groups (or “stakeholders”) and the general public on controversial […]

This year, I’ve resolved to exercise daily, get eight hours of sleep every night, eat less sugar and fat and more fiber and protein, floss nightly… Yeah, right! Most of us have figured out that we can’t change multiple bad habits at once; nor can we expect perfection of ourselves even if we do concentrate […]

Last night my father, Ahmad Ghais, spoke to a group I belong to here in Colorado called the International Business Circle. He spoke (alongside Monir Ludin and moderator Paul Kullman) on the topic of the origins of Islamist extremism. It was a great discussion (and nice for me to be a relaxed audience member instead […]

Last week I was lucky enough to attend the Alliance for Peacebuilding‘s annual conference. It was my first time attending, and I think it’s my new favorite conference, striking what for me is the right balance of practical and practitioner-friendly topics but well informed by scholarship. One thing that struck me was how   no one […]

My 9-year-old daughter has her multiplication facts down cold. She can give a fast answer to any problem from 0 x 0 to 10 x 10. She is very proud of herself. Or actually, she was, until I came home the other evening from “Curriculum Night” at her school and told her the teachers now […]