The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) on April 2, 2013. The press release says the treaty makes it "harder for human rights abusers, criminals and arms traffickers to obtain weapons" and gives a brief history of the treaty from the 1990s.
Eurozone finance ministers gave this statement on March 25, 2013, upon reaching a deal to provide ten billion euros to prevent bankruptcy in the Cyprus's banking system.
The East China Sea is a source of vital resources, especially fisheries and natural resources like gas and oil. Regional cooperation on fisheries conservation as well as joint energy development projects could go a long way to offsetting tensions over territorial disputes.
George Papandreou interviewed by Christopher Alessi
The EU and IMF should loosen the austerity requirements of Greece's bailout package to allow the indebted country to implement needed growth-enhancing policies, says former prime minister George Papandreou.
Asked by Jack Glore, from William Paterson University
Civil institutions are critical pillars of democratic accountability—without them, democracy remains elusive, regardless of the laws written in constitutions. This is particularly true in countries dependent on oil and other natural resource wealth, and those struggling to realize democratic transitions.
Once fear reaches a critical mass, people will act, and then a bank run becomes a self-perpetuating process. There has been a lot of complacency about the eurozone crisis in the past eight months.
Stewart Patrick writes about the theoretical and practical implications of significant changes to the international political system over the past two decades in Geir Lundestad's International Relations Since the End of the Cold War: New and Old Dimensions.
UN Special Rapporteur on Human rights and Counterterrorism Ben Emmerson released this statement on March 14, 2013, following his meetings in Pakistan with victims of drone strikes.
A U.S.-EU Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) could provide a significant boost to U.S. jobs, growth and trade. Conversely, the primary pitfall to the agreement would be if it caused a retreat from multilateralism, divert trade trom emerging markets and weaken institutions such as the World Trade Organization.
Edward Alden writes that the U.S.-European Union Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations are "the biggest consolation prize in the history of international trade liberalization."
Asked by Charlotte Stafford, from Columbia University
The United States restored official relations with Somalia in January 2013 after years of civil unrest there, reflecting an increasingly stable Somali political environment. Better relations with Somalia, however, have little to do with the decrease in piracy, and the drop in offshore piracy cannot be attributed to Somali government efforts.
North Korean Supreme Command of the Korean Army released this statement on March 5, 2013, saying that North Korea will no longer recognize the Korean Armistice Agreement if the UN Security Council passed a resolution and sanctions against North Korea after its February nuclear test.
Thanks to a once-obscure law passed in 1789, foreign victims of foreign human rights abusers can use U.S. courts to sue their abusers. But the Supreme Court may soon ban such suits. That would be a shame, since they offer victims some measure of solace and give substance to underenforced human rights laws. The law should be upheld, and other countries should follow the U.S. lead.
Despite media hoopla, cross-border crime -- illegal drugs sales, evasion of taxes, intellectual property theft, and money laundering -- is hardly a new phenomenon. For much of history, moreover, the United States was as much perpetrator as victim. Recognizing this awkward truth should help cool down overheated debates about today's transnational problems and how to respond to them.
Should a functioning government fail to emerge in Italy, the eurozone could soon find itself engulfed in another round of expensive and controversial bailouts, says CFR's Charles Kupchan.
Since their inception in 2000, The Millennium Development Goals have revolutionized the global aid business, using specific targets to help mobilize and guide development efforts. They have encouraged world leaders to tackle multiple dimensions of poverty simultaneously and provided a standard for judging performance. As their 2015 expiration looms, the time has come to bank those successes and focus on what comes next.
U.S. and EU policymakers see multiple signs for a free-trade deal that could stimulate halting economies on both sides of the Atlantic and spur global talks, says expert Jeffrey Schott.
South Korea's vice minister of foreign affairs and trade explains the need for an increasing role of middle powers in global governance and South Korea's role in the G20.
The interactive Global Governance Monitor tracks, maps, and evaluates multilateral efforts to address today's global challenges.
CFR Experts Guide
The Council on Foreign Relations' David Rockefeller Studies Program—CFR's "think tank"—is home to more than seventy full-time, adjunct, and visiting scholars and practitioners (called "fellows"). Their expertise covers the world's major regions as well as the critical issues shaping today's global agenda. Download the printable CFR Experts Guide.
Special operations play a critical role in how the United States confronts irregular threats, but to have long-term strategic impact, the author argues, numerous shortfalls must be addressed.
The author analyzes the potentially serious consequences, both at home and abroad, of a lightly overseen drone program and makes recommendations for improving its governance.
Two experts argue that despite myriad development strategies, only one can succeed in alleviating poverty in India: the overall growth of the country's economy. More