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Mortimer Zuckerman is the editor-in-chief of U.S.News & World Report. A graduate of Harvard Law School, Zuckerman is a former associate professor at Harvard Business School, where he taught for nine years. He is also chairman and copublisher of the New York Daily News and has substantial real-estate holdings, including properties in Boston, New York, Washington, and San Francisco.

2006 Columns

Words to Live By: Here are my fantasies about what was said over the New Year’s holiday, with inadequate acknowledgments to various contributors, some of whose words I’ve adapted a bit: (12/31/06)

The Effect of Universal Health Insurance: It's one step closer toward calming the high anxiety of America's middle class. (12/17/06)

The Threat From Within: It is chilling that the Baker-Hamilton report came on the eve of Pearl Harbor’s anniversary. (12/10/06)

The Mullah Menace: Question: What's the most dangerous geopolitical development in the 21st century? Answer: Iran's emergence as the Middle East regional superpower. (12/3/06)

A Big Apple Strategy: New York City has long considered itself the capital of the world. Some may think that a prideful conceit, even though some 45 million visitors descend on it each year. (11/26/06)

The Gift of Giving: Thanksgiving is a holiday that reminds Americans about the true joys of living in this wonderful country. A Chinese immigrant friend of mine captured it with charming awkwardness when he referred to the holiday as "Thank-you-giving." (11/19/06)

What Voters Really Want: It was, as President Bush put it, a "thumpin'" defeat. The verdict of the American people may be neatly summarized in Oliver Cromwell's lordly dismissal. (11/12/06)

Waiting for War in Gaza: All eyes are on Iraq, but another war looms in the caldron of the Middle East. The battlefield will be Gaza. The cause is the same as the war in Lebanon. (11/5/06)

Our Cheating Hearts: The possibility that the Detroit Tigers' Kenny Rogers slapped pine tar on his pitching hand to put a little more mustard on his breaking balls in the World Series shows once again how cheating scandals have become an epidemic in America. (10/29/06)

The Tyranny of Image: "A lie gets halfway round the world before truth has time to put its trousers on." (10/22/06)

A Sad Litany of Failures: How could the American public not be confused about Iraq? (10/15/06)

The Devil and Mr. Chávez: President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela got a big Bronx cheer in New York–the New York Daily News neatly captured the response in its front-page headline, "Big Apple to Big Mouth: Zip It!" (10/01/06)

For a Fairer America: What would mark twain make of America today? When he wrote his utopian satire, The Gilded Age (1873), there were certainly a lot of targets for his barbed shafts. (9/24/06)

How to Play Hardball: You would think that the sheer epic malevolence of 9/11 bringing sudden and horrible death out of a blue sky to thousands would be seen now for what it is. (9/17/06)

End the Mexican Standoff: Americans typically don't take much note of what happens in Mexico. Yet Mexico remains our closest and most important neighbor, a big customer, and a major supplier of oil and gas–and people. (9/10/06)

Some Hope on Stem Cells: Science may be on the cusp of changing the terms of the tormented debate over stem cell research, which holds such enormous promise for so many people. (9/3/06)

Don't Fear the Dragon: Americans view China with both fascination and fear. We don't know whether to be scared (because of its military potential and onetime alliance with Soviet communism) or applaud (because of the way it is entering the modern world while cherishing its ancient culture). (8/27/06)

A Question of Balance: War, it is said, is a series of catastrophes that, sooner or later, result in victory. (8/20/06)

A Matter of Timing: The american public understands what the war between Israel and Hezbollah is about and what it is not about. (8/14/06)

Getting Serious About Oil: Here's a nasty thought. Every day you and I subsidize the propagators of terrorism. (8/7/06)

Finishing the Job: Trying to frame the violence in Lebanon, we have to think of it as a battleground between radical Islamist aggressors and pro-Western leaderships. (7/31/06)

From Bad to Worse: When Israel withdrew from Gaza, Palestinians' supporters saw hope for a bright future. The Palestinians today have utterly dashed those hopes. (7/24/06)

Focusing on the Future: America has long been blessed with leaders willing to trade cheap partisanship for real progress. We could use a good dose of such leadership today. (7/9/06)

What Sets Us Apart: The only things that "every community in the world from Zanzibar to Hamburg recognizes in common" are American cultural artifacts (7/3/06)

Doing What's Necessary: Why the war on terrorism is like no conflict America has ever faced before (6/19/06)

Rich Man, Poor Man: The yawning gap between the wealthiest Americans and those at the bottom of the economic letter is getting wider, and the trend shows no sign of slowing. (6/12/06)

A Wise Change in Plans: Ehud Olmert, the new Israeli prime minister, is correct in refusing to deal with a terrorist-led Palestinian Authority, and we are right in supporting him. (6/5/06)

Let's Use All the Tools: The criticism of the supposed snooping on Americans' phone calls is misguided. This is a key weapon in the war on terrorism and should not be surrendered. (5/29/06)

Hypocrisy on Stilts: For Republicans to even try to present themselves to voters as fiscal conservatives, after five years of reckless budgetbusting, is not just absurd. It is insulting. (5/22/06)

What It Will Take to Win: It's not just staying the course against terrorism but scripting a narrative that defines our values and strengthens our sinews for the long war ahead. (5/15/06)

Did Someone Say Bubble?: The extraordinary rise in housing prices has been a great boon for millions of Americans, but an underlying fragility in the market could spell trouble. (5/8/06)

Playing Fair on Taxes: Not only have President Bush's tax cuts favored the rich at the expense of the middle class; they have created a budget deficit that is mortgaging our future. (5/1/06)

Fairness and the Future: We must not let the cost of a college education prevent every academically qualified student who wants one from getting one. That's not the American way. (4/24/06)

A Little Sanity, Please: We cannot expel millions of hard-working, law-abiding people while turning away others from abroad who could help make America stronger. (4/17/06)

The Cambridge Question: How can Harvard expect to recruit a genuine reformer now that the Faculty of Arts and Sciences has tasted blood? (4/10/06)

In No Uncertain Terms: We must permit the terrorists of Hamas no illusions--renounce violence, recognize Israel's right to exist, or be prepared to deal with the consequences. (3/20/06)

The Russia Conundrum: People are puzzled by Russia. It truly is like one of its famous matryoshka dolls – inside the big doll there are more little dolls, each smaller than the last. (3/13/06)

Faith, in Its Place: At a time when religion is becoming a more potent force in America, the Muslim cartoon riots remind us that God and politics are often a volatile mix. (3/6/06)

Using All the Tools: We must create a system that allows for agile monitoring of terrorists by the government and appropriate oversight to make sure its powers are not abused. (2/27/06)

A House Divided: Conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans both are endangered species today. (2/20/06)

No Treating With Terror: No matter what pieties its leaders may utter, there can be no basis for dealing with Hamas, which advocates the elimination of the Jewish State. (2/13/06)

Moscow's Mad Gamble: In assisting Iran in its dangerous and irresponsible nuclear ambitions, Russia is creating a situation with the potential for enormous havoc. (1/30/06)

A Giant's Growing Pains: Because its export-driven expansion relies so heavily on multinational companies, China must maintain a climate conducive to foreign investment. (1/23/06)

The Indispensable Man: His clarity of vision and indomitable will in Israel's cause made Ariel Sharon the leader his countrymen trusted and relied on above all others. (1/16/06)

Words to Live By: Prescient thoughts and cogent–and perhaps not so cogent–musings by some of our best and brightest, or at least best known, on the occasion of the New Year (1/9/06)