Gorbachev was different from all his predecessors. He knew how cruel the Soviet system was.

As the generation that grew up in and saw the collapse of the USSR, Generation X is uniquely positioned to lead the US as it drifts into the second Cold War.

These facts—the moral seriousness and quiet valor of everyday Syrians—have been ignored during a presidential election year blackened by nativism and anti-Islamic tirades. In the morally debased culture of American politics, it is now necessary to point out that the vast majority of White Helmet volunteers are believing Muslims.

The increasingly frail 41st President of the United States surely deserves a Nobel Prize for Peace for his enlightened and, yes, prudent diplomacy in a dangerous era. Not only did he guide the world toward German reunification, he carefully avoided “dancing on the Berlin Wall.”