The resumption of dialogue between Iranian and US officials regarding Iran’s nuclear policy has been encouraging. It’s true that we may never know the true intentions of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani; but, as Campbell Clark correctly observed his Globe & Mail editorial, “the West doesn’t need to trust him, they just need to see if he’ll strike a deal.”

I’m reminded of the expression “Make Peace, Not Love”, coined by Israeli writer Amos Oz. As the expression suggests, the opposite of war is peace, not love (hence the obvious play on words of the 1960s slogan “Make Love, Not War”). In other words, focus should be placed not on virtues like brotherhood, compassion, and forgiveness, but rather on more important virtues such as justice, common sense, and imagination. It’s a start.