A half dozen extraordinary women occupy the White House list of candidates to replace Justice Stevens on the Supreme Court, according to reports. The author argues that President Obama should seize this chance to make a historic step toward true diversity at the top of the judiciary system.

The Pakhtuns of Afghanistan and across the border in Pakistan haven’t always rejected influences from the West. The author suggests that Alexander the Great’s success in the 4th Century B.C. may hold a key to integrating Afghanistan into the international community—in a way that would help protect and empower women in the region.

In 2006, WMC began a media campaign to ensure that the girl who fell victim to a heinous U.S. war crime in Iraq would not be forgotten. Here, the writer of previous WMC Exclusives about the case describes new information from a recent book by Time magazine’s Jim Frederick.

In his controversial sermon at St. Peter’s last week, Reverend Raniero Cantalamessa expressed no concern for Catholic Church policies that endanger women, writes Angela Bonavoglia, author of “Good Catholic Girls: How Women Are Leading the Fight to Change the Church.”

In her book, Revolution from Within (1992), Gloria Steinem tells a story about her close friend and collaborator Wilma Mankiller, who died yesterday. In the excerpt below (pages 94 to 98), Steinem describes how Mankiller, even before she became the first woman chief of the Cherokee Nation, led by empowering her people.