Civil violence is a complex and often horrific phenomenon whose characteristics have varied by era, setting, and circumstance. Its objective analysis has rarely been feasible at spatial and temporal scales great enough and resolutions fine enough to reveal patterns useful in prevention, intervention, or adjudication.

Yvette Roubideaux decided she wanted to become a physician when she was 16. A member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe in South Dakota, she had seen the delays and staff shortages at health facilities on the reservation as she was growing up. She felt there was a need for more American Indian doctors to help improve the situation.

While the United States has made promising steps in science diplomacy, including the recent appointment of the first-ever science envoys, the White House, the State Department, and Congress must do far more to expand links between U.S. and foreign scientific communities, according to AAAS President Peter Agre and Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering.