Because Barack Obama struck me as a clever fellow, I never understood why, when negotiating with despots, he failed to utilize the leverage available to him.

For instance, he might have said to Russian President Vladimir Putin: "I want to reset our relations, but many Americans haven't forgotten the Cold War. So, I need you to make clear that Russia today isn't just the U.S.S.R. 2.0."

To Raul Castro he could have said: "It's high time for us to open diplomatic relations but you know the Miami crowd! If you'll just ease up on dissidents a little, we can meet and go to a baseball game together in Havana, and maybe I'll even have my picture taken under a portrait of Che Guevara!"

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In this already stormy century, freedom has many powerful enemies, and few powerful defenders. That's not just my impression. "Freedom in the World 2021," a study recently released by Freedom House, documents "heavy new losses" in the "struggle against authoritarian foes, shifting the international balance in favor of tyranny." It reports, too, that 2020 "marked the 15^th consecutive year of decline in global freedom."

If you care about the outcome of this struggle, you should at least know the names and stories of some of those risking – and in too many cases sacrificing – their lives to keep the flickering flame of liberty from being extinguished.

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Top officials of the Biden administration met in Anchorage this month with top officials of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Reporters characterized their exchange as an "ugly verbal spat," "an exchange of insults," and "an unusually undiplomatic sparring match."

But if you listen closely, you'll comprehend that something more significant and alarming is happening: China's Communist rulers are making clear that they intend to wrest the torch of global leadership from America's hands.

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"Ayman" was a skilled Syrian scientist producing chemical weapons at Institute 3000, a facility within the deceptively named Scientific Studies and Research Center near Damascus. For 13 years, he also was a CIA asset supporting two wives, and an impressive stereo and music collection featuring new-age electronica. Late in 2001, he was summoned to the offices of the Mukhabarat, dictator Bashar al Assad's intelligence service.

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What holds a nation together? In some cases, it's blood, soil, and language (think Japan). In some cases, it a police state (think Iran). But countries that are democratic and diverse, what we might call e pluribus unum countries, are apt to balkanize if their citizens don't share values and interests. French President Emmanuel Macron has grasped that and, for the past few months, he's been taking steps intended to reinforce a common identity, to unite the French nation.

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