The year 2010 begins with tantalizing promises of change in Cleveland and its region: Change in how we educate and inspire our poorest children. Change in how the people of Cuyahoga County govern themselves. Change in making vacant city dwellings an opportunity for new urban planning. Change in how we use our waterfront assets and port. Change in the... Full story »

Young was the first black U.S. Army officer to reach colonel's rank. His brilliant military and diplomatic career spanned the eras of slavery to empire. Full story »

A new decade arrives with new challenges, but Cuyahoga County and Cleveland, the region's core city, face many chronic woes. The Plain Dealer Editorial staff has written extensively on these problems and suggests four areas that must get immediate and sustained attention in the coming year. Full story »

The endgame is far from begun in Afghanistan despite eight years of often-botched opportunities and aimless policy. President Barack Obama's stated intent to bulk up troops a bit now, then start withdrawing in 18 months, underscores the odd dichotomies of a "war" back-burnered and out of public view far too long. All that public hand-wringing about endless war wasn't... Full story »

The 2009 elections in Cuyahoga County were not merely about whether to install casinos, inveigh against political corruption or embrace new forms of county governance. Voters in Ohio's largest county turned out mainly to express their disdain for business as usual and for the comfortable certainties by which the political class in this county too long has ruled. In... Full story »

Elizabeth Sullivan: After holding democratic elections, remaking their economy on a Western model and doing almost almost everything else the West has asked of them, Serbia's "democratic reformers get no respect from the West.  Full story »

The former warring statelets of the old Yugoslavia are looking forward to hosting Vice President Joe Biden this week in Bosnia, Serbia and Kosovo. The vice president's staff says he's carrying a message to the trio of now independent nations of "forward together." That conflicts only slightly with then-Sen. Biden's prior instruction to Yugoslav Serbs, Croats and Muslims in the... Full story »