Nonprofits are important because they fill a role that neither governments nor corporations can. "Corporations almost invariably underinvest in public goods, because they can capture only a small fraction of the rewards," the New Yorker's James Surowiecki wrote recently. "Governments do better at providing public goods (defense, say, or education), but private agendas often derail the public, and governments are far less effective at tackling global problems."

When considering issues in the Middle East, Americans need to review culture, history and religion. Those are the perspectives Eytan Gilboa, the chair and academic director of the Israel Public Diplomacy Forum, will challenge Tucsonans to adopt at three local presentations this week.