The U.S. and Iran are engaging diplomatic relations after a 27 year silence. I know those who expect everything to be resolved in a single stroke will wax cynical about this news. But I think this is commendable. Nothing can be solved unless two conflicting parties engage with each other. It sometimes helps to first work on issues for which there is a lot of common ground (like stability in Iraq) before trying to tackle trickier issues (use of nuclear technology).

I hope many in the propeace community praise and encourage this first step. We expand our scope and appeal when we focus positive things that happen.