Nemat Shafik, 10/16/12

Deputy Managing Director, the International Monetary Fund

As the world economy continues to struggle, people are taking to the streets by the thousands to protest painful cuts in public spending designed to reduce government debt and deficits. This fiscal fury is understandable.

Johann Hari, 10/16/12

British journalist

When you gaze at the square-jawed glisten of Mitt Romney, you do not immediately picture the kidnapping of a democratically elected president, nor the installation of a tyrant who slaughtered at least half a million people. Yet that is what this man has presented as a model for the future of US foreign policy.

Matt Zeller, 10/16/12

Adjunct Fellow at the American Security Project; Author, 'Watches Without Time'

The Afghan government -- and by extension the Afghan state -- has been doomed to failure. Power is too centralized and concentrated with the Afghan president, and corruption has it rotten to the core.

David Weiss, 10/16/12

President and CEO of CHF International

Climate change creates a stimulus for action; we must ride that momentum to help city governments revisit the vulnerability of these communities and reimagine solutions that improve livelihoods and living conditions.

Kevin P. Chavous, 10/16/12

Attorney, author and national school reform leader

I have been thinking about Malala and the fate of millions of Muslim schoolgirls all week. And that knot in my stomach has returned. Why is it that all too often we allow children to do our freedom fighting for us?

Noam Chomsky, 10/15/12

Institute Professor emeritus, MIT Department of Linguistics and Philosophy

In 1962, war was avoided by Khrushchev's willingness to accept Kennedy's hegemonic demands. But we can hardly count on such sanity forever. It's a near miracle that nuclear war has so far been avoided.

Raymond C. Offenheiser, 10/16/12

President, Oxfam America

Instead of putting grain on barges and shipping them across the world, what if we could work with local farmers and buy fresh food in local markets and rush it into famine areas? It's about fixing broken policies, and also about things you and I can do.

Daphne Eviatar, 10/16/12

Senior Counsel, Human Rights First's Law and Security Program

Could the victim of a classified CIA execution program be prevented by the government from telling anyone about his experience being targeted by it?

Patrick Kane, 10/16/12

Senior Programmes Officer for Resources and Conflict at War on Want

What really worries the corporations and the global financial markets is the prospect of the growing militancy of South African miners not only spreading to other sectors of the economy but also spreading to other countries.

C. Dixon Osburn, 10/16/12

Director, Human Rights First’s Law and Security Program

Does the United States need to be trapped in a perpetual global war on terror? With the Iraq war over and U.S. military deployment in Afghanistan winding down, the United States needs to recalibrate its counterterrorism strategy.

Gregory Kulacki, 10/16/12

Senior Analyst & China Project Manager for the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists

Henry Kissinger's call for cooperation between China and the United States are "wise words" that deserve attention. But his ability to judge the character and capabilities of the Chinese Communist elite are questionable.

Kristi York Wooten, 10/16/12

Founder of SustenanceGroup.org, Music and Culture Critic, Women's Activist

You don't have to be a scientist, farmer, or charity CEO to make a difference in food security, sustainability and hunger reduction. Below are three examples of ways you can make a difference on October 16, World Food Day.

Eva M. Clayton, 10/16/12

Fmr. Congresswoman and fmr. Assistant Director General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization

Between now and 2050, the world faces two critical challenges. First we must feed a hungry planet, amid growing demand from a rising population. And secondly, we must do this while protecting our environment.

Jamie Bechtel, 10/16/12

Co-Founder and CEO of New Course

The unexpected impact of Dr. Wangari Maathai's work was to show that the solutions to our many societal and planetary ills often rests with those who bear the greatest burden.

Carol Peasley, 10/16/12

President, CEDPA

Everything USAID did in Russia was done in partnership with Russian organizations and people. This spirit of partnership also helped to enhance the voices and contributions of Russians as they sought to solve problems, community by community.

Bernard-Henri Lévy, 10/16/12

French philosopher and writer

To give things their correct name, Albert Camus said, is to put the world right a bit. That is why the first task is that of nomination, of pronouncing the word: Whether one likes it or not, Europe is the stage of a wave of a new kind of antisemitism. What kind? And what's new about it?

John Wagner Givens, 10/16/12

Researcher at the Center for Asian Democracy, University of Louisville

The Hurun list, as it happens, provides little fodder for those interested in, say, playing the stock market based on the Chinese zodiac of CEOs.