Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's visit to the United Nations this week is being analyzed in excruciating detail for signs that the long-stalled negotiations over Iran's nuclear program can finally gain traction. What exactly did Rouhani mean when he talked about peace and moderation? The media blitz has been interesting, but what really matters is what Rouhani does with his first 100 days in office.

There is a non-lethal way to help ensure that Bashar al-Assad and other perpetrators of atrocities in Syria are held to account, not someday far in the future but beginning now.

One of President Obama’s key arguments for military intervention in Syria is that its president, Bashar Assad, violated international norms by using sarin gas. While the Obama administration loudly beats the war drums over Mr. Assad’s violation of international norms, it remains virtually silent on another egregious violation of international norms: the slaying of an American diplomat.

We pause today, as we have for each of the past 12 years, to reflect on the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when al-Qaida terrorists murdered nearly 3,000 Americans. Sadly, we also remember the lives of four other American terrorist victims. One year ago today, terrorists – armed with machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars – set fire to, attacked and overran U.S. diplomatic facilities in Benghazi, Libya. By the end of that onslaught, four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, were dead. So what have we learned?

Each of these events brought together a rare thing these days in Congress: Republicans and Democrats joining forces in a strong bipartisan showing of Americans united against an enemy that still means to do us, our neighbors and our staunchest allies, harm.

This past weekend, following renewed security threats against U.S. diplomats abroad, the State Department ordered a number of embassies around the world closed as a precautionary measure. Our government must take whatever steps are necessary to protect U.S. diplomats and other personnel serving abroad.

Before the election of President Hassan Rouhani , Iran’s centrifuges were spinning at an unprecedented pace. After his election, they continue to not only spin, but multiply. In response, the United States must once again deliver a firm message to Tehran: Halt your illicit nuclear program or face isolation and financial ruin. Although international sanctions over its illicit nuclear program have sent its economy into a tailspin, the ruling elite — from President Rouhani to Supreme Leader Khameni — remain undeterred.

There has been much ado about the recent election of Hasan Rouhani as president of Iran and its geopolitical significance.

“I know that food aid often gets there after everyone’s dead.” That stinging indictment of our international food aid programs was made by Andrew Natsios, former head of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), who went on to point out that “people can’t eat shipping costs.”

The uprisings that have swept across the Middle East and North Africa since 2010 have forever altered the region’s political and security landscape. They have also called into question longstanding U.S. policies toward the Arab world. Yet this unrest also presents an historic opportunity to advance reforms that will economically empower millions of people and ultimately help stabilize the region.