CFR's Center for Preventive Action has released the fourth annual Preventive Priorities Survey ranking the most plausible conflicts on which the U.S. government should focus in the year ahead.

The eurozone and Saudi Arabia are elevated threats in 2012 under CFR's new Preventive Priorities Survey, while Afghanistan and Sudan are reduced. CFR's Micah Zenko discusses.

Michah Zenko discusses preventive priorities the United States will face in 2012.

The Preventive Priorities Survey (PPS) is intended to help inform the U.S. policy community about the relative urgency and importance of competing conflict prevention demands. The Center for Preventive Action asked a targeted group of government ocials, academics, and experts to comment confidentially on a list of contingencies that could plausibly occur in 2012.

Recent data on organized violence shows that conflicts between a state and one or more nonstate armed groups vastly outnumber interstate conflicts. As a result, argues former international affairs fellow Payton L. Knopf in a new CFR Working Paper, the State Department needs clear guidelines as to why, when, and how its diplomats should conduct outreach to these groups.

In this Center for Preventive Action study, CFR scholars provide policy options for preventing a major crisis and mitigating the consequences in the territories immediately adjacent to China: North Korea, Myanmar, Pakistan, and Central Asia.

With the U.S. military overstretched and Washington facing acute fiscal pressures, the United States must nurture effective international partnerships to help prevent and manage violent conflicts that threaten U.S. interests, concludes a new Council Special Report.

Two trends represent Korea today: South Korea's extraordinary economic boom and North Korea's stagnation and provocation.

In this globalized world, countries will need to cooperate on policies that extend across borders to address issues that affect them all, including conflct prevention and peacemaking. The authors of this report assess the strengths and weaknesses of international institutions and provide a set of practical recommendations for how the United States can strengthen the global architecture for preventive action by partnering with those organizations.

As Libyan rebels press for control of the state and the ouster of Muammar al-Qaddafi, experts warn about the troubles ahead in maintaining security and rebuilding a country emerging from forty-two years of autocratic rule.

Public disorder and instability in Libya could emerge if the Qaddafi regime falls. The United States should support a stabilization effort to prevent the potential consequences of regime failure.

In his new book, Weak Links: Fragile States, Global Threats, and International Security, Stewart Patrick argues that most fragile states are not a threat to the United States.

Micah Zenko argues that while the United States should continue to use its military capabilities to support the no-fly zone in Libya, it should also work toward a negotiated end to the civil war.

Former Ambassador James Jones discusses U.S.-Mexico relations and Mexico's most pressing problems as President Felipe Calderón continues his "War on Drugs" and combats the resulting violence.

Micah Zenko and Rebecca R. Friedman argue, "... a fully funded foreign assistance budget is essential to prevent the political instability and violent conflict that harms American security."

The approval of a Hezbollah-backed candidate as Lebanon's new prime minister feeds concerns in the West about the militant Shiite group's growing strength and the implications for national and regional stability.

Further provocations by North Korea as well as other dangerous military interactions on or around the Korean peninsula remain a serious risk and carry the danger of unintended escalation.

Mohamad Bazzi says that without a strong central state that can defend itself, Hizbollah remains the most powerful force in Lebanon.

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