The G8 leaders met in the U.K. during June 17–18, 2013, for their thirty-nineth summit. They released a joint communique, which focuses on foreign policy challenges, particularly in Syria. They also produced an Open Data Charter and the Lough Erne Declaration on private enterprise responsibilities.

Jerome A. Cohen says the Communist Party's sustained efforts since June 4 to influence China's courts for its own ends may be easing, but judicial independence is still a long way off.

Joshua Kulantzick surveys the state of global trade in the midst of this week's G8 talks.

Trade liberalization, tax reform, and transparency in corporate ownership and international development are at the top of the G8 agenda, but they may be overshadowed by the civil war in Syria. This issue guide compiles news and analysis on policies on the table and member state's compliance with past years' commitments.

To capitalize on the twin desires of Asian countries for closer ties with each other and for greater American presence, the United States must double down on its commitment to rebalance attention and resources to Asia

With Ayatollah Khamenei set to replace Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with a "fawning admirer" of his choosing, Ahmadinejad may be missed for his ability to challenge the Islamic Republic's ruling religious hierarchy.

After over three decades of existence, the Group of Eight (G8) is struggling to defend its relevance amid criticism of its limited membership and lack of a compliance mechanism.

Global support for the "responsibility to protect" doctrine weakened after the UN-endorsed no-fly zone that helped topple Libya's regime, and debate continues over the threshold for mounting armed humanitarian interventions, explains this Backgrounder.

With widespread protests in Istanbul and a dozen other cities throughout Turkey, Steven A. Cook argues on the Washington Post that the European Union should reengage Turkey's stalled membership bid as a way to encourage Prime Minister Erdogan to implement democratic reforms at home.

Syria has been mired in deadly strife since March 2011 and the outlook for resolving what is now a full blown civil war looks increasingly dire. The worst case outcome for Syria is one whereby the country fragments and becomes a failed state in which the Damascus government no longer controls its own territory. Under such a scenario, the glue holding the country together comes unstuck.

Read full answer

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom's (USCIRF) Katrina Lantos Swett and Elizabeth K. Cassidy discuss USCIRF's 2013 Annual Report, as part of CFR's Religion and Foreign Policy Conference Call series.

Despite its strategic "rebalancing" toward Asia, the United States is unlikely to sponsor a collective defense organization for the Asia-Pacific, for at least three reasons: insufficient solidarity among diverse regional partners, fear of alienating China, and the perceived advantages of bilateral and ad-hoc security arrangements.

Read full answer

U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel delivered these remarks at the First Plenary Session (Saturday, June 1, 2013) of the International Institute for Strategic Studies' Asia Security Summit (Shangri-la Dialogue) in Singapore.

Laurie Garrett warns that the MERS virus outbreak must be taken seriously.

Laurie Garrett and Maxine Builder offer three recommendations for how the World Health Organization can adapt to an uncertain economic and political environment, without putting the world at risk of a disease outbreak.

Holly J. Burkhalter and E. Benjamin Skinner speak about the challenge of documenting modern slavery, designing effective interventions, and bringing those interventions to scale.

The League of Nations was championed by President Woodrow Wilson in a fourteen-point speech to a joint session of Congress on January 8, 1918, and formally began its operations in January 1920. However, the League failed to win Senate approval and is forever remembered as a major example of a communications breakdown between the president and the Senate.

Read full answer

The political successor to the Dalai Lama discusses Tibet.

The political successor to the Dalai Lama discusses Tibet.

President Barack Obama and South Korean President Park Geun-hye issued this joint declaration on May 7, 2013. The statement confirms both nations' commitment to the U.S.-Republic of Korea (ROK) Mutual Defense Treaty, U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, Joint Vision for the U.S.-ROK Alliance, and Six Party Talks with North Korea.