To the Point

It was Frenchmen and Belgians that committed attacks in Paris, but intelligence agencies are convinced they were organized by ISIS in Syria. What does ISIS want? How should the West respond? Can it prevent attacks in the future?

CIA Director John Brennan says Friday's attacks in Paris were planned in advance and that others are sure to be "in the pipeline." How should the US and its allies retaliate against ISIS — and strategize for the future?

Congress says the inmates left at Guantánamo Bay are too dangerous to allow on American soil—even in prisons as secure as the Gulag. But President Obama made a campaign promise to shut Guantánamo down. Will that lead to a constitutional battle with political implications for next year's presidential campaign?

At campuses around the country, student activists are protesting what they call systemic racism. But are protestors intolerant of the opinion of others? What of the hard-fought right of free speech, won 50 years ago?

Polls show that Democrats are regaining some confidence in the economy, but Republicans are convinced it's still in big trouble. That was the message in last night's GOP presidential debate as eight candidates appealed to the base of the party.

US relations with Israel have been strained by the nuclear deal with Iran and other disagreements between Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu. Will the Prime Minister's current visit to Washington help bridge the gap, or will that have to wait until the US has a new president?

It's been a year since President Obama promised a safe path to the United States for thousands of children in Central America—as long as they have parents who are legally in this country. But not a single child has found a way passed bureaucratic obstacles, and thousands are still facing mortal danger at home. Is the US breaking a promise to children at risk?

The movement to legalize marijuana appears to be on a roll, despite a defeat this week in Ohio. It's already America's fastest growing commodity, which has the original legalization movement worried that Big Pot could turn out to be just like Big Alcohol or Big Tobacco. In an economy based on the profit motive, will legalization have unintended consequences?

Republicans have promised to kill Obamacare since it went into effect two years ago. The third enrollment period has just begun, and sign-ups are only half what supporters predicted. But millions of people now have health coverage that didn't have it before… and it's a rule of politics that people don't like to give up their benefits. We get a progress report on Obamacare's political future.

Did one of the world's most powerful corporations deliberately deceive the public and policy makers about the role of its own products in global warming?