As some of you may have noticed, I’ve taken acouple of months off from writing Perilous Times. This wasn’t a planned break; it just happened. Every time I turned to the blank page on my laptop, it felt both easier and more fulfilling to focus on my job, whether critiquing astudent’s policy memo, planning an event for my first-year cohort on security studies, or serving on the committee selecting my school’s next dean.