The Iraq War has shattered the possibility of international consensus about how to meet today’s unprecedented threats to global security. Controversies surrounding terrorism, preemptive war, protectionism, and the role of cultural and religious values are bringing increasing stridency and decreasing coherence to diplomatic relations.

What is needed is less global bickering and a more genuinely enlightening international exchange of ideas. Project Syndicate's solution is a series of monthly commentaries by three leading statesmen from three distinctly different parts of the globe. Each will tackle today’s most divisive issues in ways that offer insights and remedies, not merely gripes.

Jorge Castañeda, a former Foreign Minister of Mexico, has been a maverick all his life. A man of the Left, he joined with right-leaning President Vicente Fox to create Mexico’s first democratic government. In addition to being one of Latin America’s outstanding diplomats, he is also a highly acclaimed writer and activist.

Richard N. Haass, former Director of Policy Planning in the US State Department and President of The Council on Foreign Relations, was the only member of the Bush administration to resign over the Iraq War. He served the first President Bush in the Middle East; he was a special envoy of President George W. Bush in Northern Ireland and Pakistan. He has seen, and helped create, US foreign policy from within its inner circle.

Michel Rocard, a former French Prime Minister, is one of the leading European statesmen of his generation. An architect of the modern Left in France, a member of the European Parliament, and a prominent intellectual, Michel Rocard brings a responsible engagé sensibility to today’s politics and diplomacy.

The Iraq War has shattered the possibility of international consensus about how to meet today’s unprecedented threats to global security. Controversies surrounding terrorism, preemptive war, protectionism, and the role of cultural and religious values are bringing increasing stridency and decreasing coherence to diplomatic relations.

What is needed is less global bickering and a more genuinely enlightening international exchange of ideas. Project Syndicate's solution is a series of monthly commentaries by three leading statesmen from three distinctly different parts of the globe. Each will tackle today’s most divisive issues in ways that offer insights and remedies, not merely gripes.

Jorge Castañeda, a former Foreign Minister of Mexico, has been a maverick all his life. A man of the Left, he joined with right-leaning President Vicente Fox to create Mexico’s first democratic government. In addition to being one of Latin America’s outstanding diplomats, he is also a highly acclaimed writer and activist.

Richard N. Haass, former Director of Policy Planning in the US State Department and President of The Council on Foreign Relations, was the only member of the Bush administration to resign over the Iraq War. He served the first President Bush in the Middle East; he was a special envoy of President George W. Bush in Northern Ireland and Pakistan. He has seen, and helped create, US foreign policy from within its inner circle.

Michel Rocard, a former French Prime Minister, is one of the leading European statesmen of his generation. An architect of the modern Left in France, a member of the European Parliament, and a prominent intellectual, Michel Rocard brings a responsible engagé sensibility to today’s politics and diplomacy.