International issues have weighed heavily on my mind recently—and not just because of this issue's special focus.

I'm sending my mother on a Caribbean cruise this month, and while I told her last December to check into getting a passport, she somehow didn't realize until the other day that she didn't have her birth certificate. Ever trying to be the good only child to an aging parent, I tried to intercede between her, back home in Minnesota, and the Department of Health's Office of Vital Records in her native Florida—all from my home in Washington, DC. You can just imagine how that turned out.

Unbeknownst to me, not wanting to sit idly by, my mother obtained the birth certificate on her own. Though I was proud of her for being more resourceful than I expected, my bruised ego secretly rejoiced that she'd managed to pay twice what she should have for service that wasn't even rushed. But, I was embroiled in my own passport harangue.

While preparing for the Council on Foundations 55th Annual Conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada—where this issue will debut—I was admonished to get a passport or risk being refused U.S. reentry. Armed with those prerequisite horrible little photos, I made my way to the Washington Passport Agency, where I was promptly informed I was too far away from my travel date for a walk-in appointment, yet too close to avoid paying the fee for expedited service. I was duly handed a flyer directing me to call the "state-of-the-art automated appointment system" that I got trapped in five times before successfully scheduling a passport appointment.

Having your patience tried by fire will cause you to second-guess most things. I mused, why do I need a passport? Sans such proof of identity, I'd managed travel to Canada before without incident, as well as trips to the Bahamas, Mexico and St. Maarten.

I'd even escaped a jam going from St. Maarten to Anguilla to see one of my very favorite people—Anguilla Community Foundation Director Carrolle Perry Devonish ("Letter from Anguilla: 'Jollification,' Foundation-style," FN&C, November/December 2000, www.foundationnews.org/CME/article.cfm?ID=84). Unapprised by the resort's concierge that I'd need formal documentation of citizenship for the journey simply described as "a short jaunt on the ferry," I just wrote down as many of my driver's license numbers as would fit in the log at St. Maarten's port and let the scolding/sovereignty lecture from the Anguillan customs official roll off my back into the Caribbean Sea.

However, the operative word is before—all before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. A lot has changed since that fateful day, and philanthropy has not been exempt from stark new realities. Within weeks, President Bush issued Executive Order 13224 authorizing blockage of transactions and seizure of assets of individuals and organizations deemed terrorist associates. Shortly thereafter, the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (USA PATRIOT) Act was made law, followed in quick succession by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's issuance of "Anti-Terrorist Financing Guidelines: Voluntary Best Practices for U.S.-Based Charities."

However—as the Council on Foundations has formally responded to the Treasury Department and the IRS, and our cadre of authors point out in this issue—foundations would not knowingly support terrorism. More governmental guidance is needed and more discussion is warranted regarding the realistic possibility for full compliance with the vague language of those provisions and the tolls they are taking on international grantmaking. But in the interim, look inside for compliance suggestions.

As 2004 Scrivner Award winner Chet Tchozewski says, "We're not going to make ourselves safer by being less generous with philanthropic wealth . . . to good people around the world."

Ironically enough, speaking of safety, the night before I began drafting this column I saw an interview of National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice conducted by political columnist/commentator Armstrong Williams. The interview was equal parts suspect, interesting and surprising. Few things stood out to me more, though, than her final comment: "I look forward to returning to a 'normal' life . . . being able to read the newspaper and not having to worry about doing anything about what is printed in it."

With humankind being in the state it is the world over, philanthropy will not be afforded that luxury anytime soon.

And, sadly, this issue marks the last of Managing Editor Heather Peeler. Words can't adequately express what an invaluable contribution she's made in her time here. Happily, I report that she will not be leaving the sector, but joining the staff of Innovation Network—a nonprofit organization that provides program planning and evaluation consulting, training and web-based tools to nonprofits. We wish her all the best.

See you in Toronto, if I ace my passport interview.