Stewart Patrick contends that assumptions about the threats posed by failing states--or "weak links"--are based on anecdotal arguments and challenges the conventional wisdom through systematic empirical analysis.

Kara C. McDonald and Stewart M. Patrick offer recommendations for U.S. leadership in United Nations Security Council reform and expansion.

Despite its booming economy, Mexico continues to struggle with alarmingly high levels of violence linked to drugs and organized crime. This video primer examines the crisis and explores policy options for Mexico and the United States.

The UN General Assembly will likely address two "lightning rod" issues: ending the bloodshed in Syria and curbing Iran's nuclear development, says CFR's Stewart Patrick.

Stewart M. Patrick and Emma Welch assess the debate over an international conventional arms trade treaty and find that U.S. domestic objections are unfounded.

The upcoming NATO summit will include talks on the endgame in Afghanistan, a new smart defense doctrine, and bolstering global partnerships, all of it colored by fundamental questions about the role and mission of the alliance, says CFR's Stewart Patrick.

After emerging from the 2008 financial crisis relatively unscathed, Brazil's inevitable entrance into the club of major global powers is increasingly accepted. CFR's Stewart M. Patrick and Carlos Simonsen Leal of the Brazilian Getulio Vargas Foundation discuss Brazil's perspective on global finance and international security.

The Russian and Chinese veto of a UN Security Council resolution calling for an end to violence in Syria calls into question the viability of the Responsibility to Protect doctrine and poses a dilemma for the Obama administration, says CFR's Stewart Patrick.

Stewart M. Patrick says President Obama's address to the United Nations General Assembly this year will be his most challenging yet.

CFR's Director of Studies James Lindsay and Director of the International Institutions and Global Governance Program Stewart Patrick preview major world events in the week ahead.

In this week's podcast: The famine in the horn of Africa continues to unfold; Rebel gains in Libya may accelerate talk of an end to the conflict; and the UN Security Council debates its peacekeeping operations.

This video is part of a special Council on Foreign Relations series that explores how 9/11 changed international relations and U.S. foreign policy. In this video, Stewart M. Patrick, senior fellow and director of the International Institutions and Global Governance Program at the Council on Foreign Relations, identifies the successes and lasting challenges in the international community's response to global terrorism since the attacks of September 11, 2001. "The world has made a lot of progress," says Patrick, "but it still has quite a bit of a ways to go to achieve real consensus and real solidarity in this fight."

The U.S. debt ceiling and deficit debate has led to challenges on foreign aid spending, but while aid could be leaner and more effective, CFR's Stewart Patrick argues Congress should look to consolidate programs rather than simply cut them.

Stewart M. Patrick, Director of the Council on Foreign Relations' International Institutions and Global Governance Program, explains why some weak and failing states such as Pakistan are more attractive than others as safe havens for transnational terrorist groups.

President Obama's speech to the UK parliament was a proper reminder of the importance of the transatlantic alliance to global governance amid the ongoing upheaval in the Middle East, writes CFR's Stewart Patrick.

Stewart M. Patrick says U.S. national security officials should focus on strong developing countries--and not failed states--as sources of transnational threats.

President Obama has staked a proper middle course on military intervention in Libya, boosted enormously by burden sharing with coalition allies, says CFR's Stewart Patrick.

Kara C. McDonald and Stewart M. Patrick offer recommendations for U.S. leadership in United Nations Security Council reform and expansion.

President Obama's Asia trip was marked by trade-related letdowns, missed opportunities, and fresh reminders that divergences of interests could be hard to finesse, say four CFR experts.

The Obama administration should follow its endorsement of India's bid for UN Security Council membership by initiating a plan for Council expansion based on clear criteria for permanent membership, writes CFR's Stewart Patrick.

Stewart M. Patrick examines the relevance of the G20 framework in a web of existing multilateral institutions and groupings.

A major strategic challenge for the United States in the coming decades will be integrating emerging powers into international institutions.

Stewart M. Patrick argues that the current crisis in the European Union presents an opportunity to overhaul the EU's institutions.