With oil supplies tight, regions most vulnerable to oil supply disruptions present a significant economic concern, particularly threats to the Strait of Hormuz and unrest in Nigeria, explains this Backgrounder.

With the contest for GOP presidential contenders formally underway, both parties' prescriptions for economic growth and debt reduction are set to come under intensifying scrutiny.

Will an EU plan requiring all airlines to join its carbon market starting in 2012 spark a trade war and prove financially harmful to a struggling airline industry?

While widening violence by Nigeria's Islamist group Boko Haram has caused concerns about its possible links to international terrorist groups, some experts argue it's best to focus on addressing the crippling poverty, political corruption, and police abuses that are at the root of the violence.

Egyptians began voting in parliamentary elections despite ongoing protests. But experts say the continuing strife over military rule and fears over Islamist parties threaten stability.

Greenhouse gas trading is now a multibillion-dollar international business and is expected to continue to grow, despite uncertainty about a post-2012 international climate regime.

Changes in Saudi Arabia's leadership are raising questions about the country's stability in a region beset with uprisings and tensions with Iran. Experts say the Saudi regime should implement more aggressive political and economic reforms.

A growing population will add pressures to the world and the environment, and there must be greater focus on women's education and reproductive health, says demographic expert John Bongaarts.

Sharia, or Islamic law, is increasingly in the spotlight as its political and economic role expands in the Muslim world and even in the West.

Legislative battles in Washington over once pro-forma actions on debt and transport infrastructure have raised deep concerns over the government's ability to enact sustained job-building and economic-recovery programs--and undergird U.S. competitiveness.

Damage to Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has reignited debate over the safety of nuclear power and highlighted questions over aging power plants, safety procedures, and waste disposal.

Why is the UN convening a summit-level meeting on illnesses like cancer and diabetes? This CFR guide looks at how these non-communicable diseases have amplified the burdens on developing states and the global threat they pose.

NCDs such as cancer and heart disease are becoming leading causes of death in the developing world and will be the focus of a September UN meeting. But health experts and others are divided about how much funding should go into a global campaign aimed at preventing NCDs and whether infectious disease programs will suffer as a result.

The World Health Organization has gained prominence for its success in battling diseases such as polio and malaria, but is challenged by an unwieldy mission and strained resources in a landscape of competing organizations.

A decade after 9/11, U.S. Muslims grapple with their place in American society in the face of concerns about homegrown terrorism and questions by non-Muslims over the threat they might pose.