9 things you need to know

This Christmas Eve, two billion Christians around the world are reveling in the promise of peace on earth and goodwill toward men. What the United States of America just did at the United Nations does nothing for either cause.

As the battle for Mosul gets underway, a new consensus is emerging about what should come next: The creation of a safe haven for Iraq’s three largest minority groups in the northern part of the country.

Twenty-three years ago today, Israeli Prime Minister Rabin and PLO negotiator Abbas agreed to the Oslo Accords.

As a broad set of ethical principles, the just war outlook is vital to civilized society. However, errors come—and they can be dangerous ones—when proponents of just war take their categories too narrowly and apply their axioms without historical context.

We know that Mosul must fall for IS to collapse; we also know that the battle for Mosul will be a bloody one. Yet the greatest danger will come after Mosul falls.

Everything about Israel was, and is, draped in layers of irony and paradox. Israel is a Jewish state. It is also a secular democracy. Israel is the resurrected form of an ancient polity that disappeared two millennia ago; it is also a modern, economically-vibrant society that embraces progress in astonishing ways.

Robert Nicholson spoke about his organization’s work in the Middle East and about his article in the inaugural edition of Providence, which argued for autonomous safe zones where ethnic communities can provide their own security.

Why is the Muslim sector of Bethlehem growing while the Christian sector is falling? Both face the same exact set of circumstances. Could it be that this disparity tells the true story?

From the Print Edition: a bold vision for moving toward peace