Crisis management

International: No one has to play a dirge to know there’s too much conflict in the air | Priya Abraham

When Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice attended the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations dinner in late July, she opted not to do the traditional lighthearted skit. Colin Powell once danced to the Village People's "YMCA" in a hardhat; a Russian diplomat last year did a Darth Vader (complete with light saber) impression. This year Rice—just off a round-the-clock diplomacy mission to Beirut, Tel Aviv, and Rome—played a somber Brahms piano sonata instead.

This month times are somber still: Terror alerts are up, ceasefire proposals to halt the Israel-Hezbollah war are stuttering, while Israeli air strikes and Hezbollah rocket attacks on mostly civilian areas appear unrelenting. The death toll of mostly civilians and some soldiers neared 1,000. Meanwhile, Iraq deteriorated further with daily strings of Baghdad bombings killing dozens a day. Add to the Mideast violence other brewing crises, and July was the "grimmest month for conflict prevention" in three years, according to the International Crisis Group. With Mideast news dominating, Somalia, Sri Lanka, and North Korea are scenes of conflict and crisis pushed to the foreground.