Council on Foreign Relations

Barack Obama's inauguration as forty-fourth U.S. president occurs at a time of global economic crisis, with multiple conflicts raging in the greater Middle East. Yet he enters office amid high expectations at home and abroad.

Barack Obama says he is serious about sharply reducing carbon emissions. But some experts see the recession, and competing "green" agendas, posing major obstacles to new climate change policy.

Disputes over President-elect Barack Obama's pick to head the CIA may foretell a deeper struggle over how the administration can best reform America's intelligence-gathering bureaucracy.

Health experts agree the U.S. health care system needs an overhaul, as a way of shoring up the economy and U.S. competitiveness. But a battle is brewing over the president-elect's designs for a public-sponsored insurance plan.

With increasing terrorism and worsening relations with rival India, Pakistan poses a grave threat to stability in South Asia. Yet experts say the West has no choice but to forge closer ties with Islamabad.

North Korea has resisted efforts to divulge the full scale of its nuclear program, despite U.S. concessions, but President-elect Barack Obama faces little alternative to the troubled policy of engagement.

From South Africa to Kenya, hopes are high that Barack Obama will focus new attention on Africa. But given the domestic economic challenges he faces, some African analysts say the continent should concentrate on helping itself.

President-elect Barack Obama's pledge to intensify diplomacy with Iran could change the nature of efforts to prevent Tehran from going nuclear, but talks alone will not guarantee a peaceful resolution.

President-elect Barack Obama has vowed to intensify the war effort in Afghanistan, but experts say beyond military might, victory will require a revived regional role and reformed reconstruction moves.

A guide to CFR resources examining U.S. foreign policy priorities and the presidential race.

CFR.org provides a collection of resources on energy and climate change policy.

A compilation of CFR.org's resources on globalization trends and trade policy.

CFR.org provides a collection of resources on financial policy.

Pakistan poses one of the most serious, and complicated, foreign policy challenges for the forty-fourth U.S. president.

CFR.org provides a collection of resources on Iran.

CFR.org provides a collection of resources on Iraq.

A financial crisis in the final stages of the U.S. presidential race, rather than sidelining foreign policy, could demonstrate how it intersects with U.S. domestic concerns.

Russia has emerged as a policy issue in the presidential campaign, adding to a list of top-tier issues including energy policy, Iran, and Iraq.

Both parties will use presidential conventions to boost their candidate's credentials on the economy and national security, at a time when both issues overlap.

The presidential primary season ends with the economy uppermost in voters' minds, but national security issues are never far away.