Isobel Coleman shows how Muslim women and men are fighting back with progressive interpretations of Islam to support women's rights in a growing movement of Islamic feminism.

It is time for multinational corporations to come to the same realization -- funding education and training female business leaders is good for business.

Investment in maternal health in Afghanistan provides a cost-effective way to promote strategic U.S. foreign policy objectives. As part of a responsible drawdown, the United States should continue its commitments to improving maternal health programs.

Investment in voluntary international family planning is one of the most cost-effective ways to strengthen critical U.S. foreign policy objectives, including improving global health, promoting economic development, stabilizing fragile states, and encouraging environmental sustainability.

In February, Tamara Cofman Wittes and Isobel Coleman met with business leaders, academics, journalists, and civic activists in Riyadh and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Among Wittes and Coleman's key findings are that many Saudis welcomed the emergence of a more open atmosphere, pointing to King Abdullah's ascension to the throne, dynamism in neighboring Gulf states, and a new "post-post-9/11" environment as key catalysts for the change. Yet, there was frustration at the unpredictability and arbitrariness of the newly expanded social and political space. The next U.S. administration may have a new, but narrow, window of opportunity to reintroduce itself to Saudi Arabia. Many Saudis argued for the creation of a deeper, multi-dimensional relationship between both countries that engages civil society, not just the government and business sectors.

A preview of world events in the coming week from CFR.org: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visits South Korea, Japan and China; President Obama submits a budget to Congress; and the re-trial of ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak begins in Cairo.

A preview of world events in the coming week from CFR.org: Iran and the P5+1 resume nuclear talks; the Summit of the Americas convenes in Colombia; the trial of foreign NGO activists resumes in Cairo; and World Health Day is marked.

CFR's Senior Fellow Isobel Coleman discusses her new book about the rising empowerment of Muslim women in the Mideast and its potential to transform human rights in the region

A senior USAID official and CFR's Isobel Coleman discuss aid priorities in Pakistan and how development programs can be made more effective.

CFR senior fellow Isobel Coleman talks to CFR.org's Esther Pan about the impact of women voting in Kuwait for the first time.

A brutal New Delhi gang rape has triggered outrage across India. CFR's Isobel Coleman highlights three things to know about the case, and discusses the larger issue of violence against women in the country.

The attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi and the killing of the U.S. ambassador may be "the first salvo" of a civil war in the country, says CFR's Isobel Coleman.

Egyptians' first free presidential election is a test of the power of Islamist parties, and the new president will shape the country's future by helping craft a new constitution as well as a new relationship with parliament and the military, says CFR's Isobel Coleman.

The winner of the 2012 U.S. presidential election will have to address shifting priorities and maintain the relevancy and impact of U.S. foreign aid as government assistance is dwarfed by other forms of capital flows and new donor countries emerge, says CFR's Isobel Coleman.

USAID Deputy Administrator Donald Steinberg discusses the challenges facing the organization in an environment of constrained budgets.

Pakistani human rights lawyer Asma Jahangir discusses U.S.-Pakistan relations and the fragility of the Pakistani democracy.