After graduating from the Gov Department in 1981, I was in some danger of becoming a lawyer. Fortunately, studying law at Oxford persuaded me to pursue journalism instead, and I joined The New York Times in 1984. I spent much of my career as a foreign correspondent in Asia, along with stints covering politics and working as an editor, and finally emerged as an op-ed columnist. Now I’m paid to inflict my views on others, and to tilt at windmills.