Examines data including GDP, household debt, and industrial production to show the weakness of the current recovery compared to previous postwar rebounds.

"The prospect of American skies swarming with drones raises more than just safety concerns. It alarms privacy advocates as well. Infrared and radio-band sensors used by the military can peer through clouds and foliage and can even detect people inside buildings."

Micah Zenko argues, "routine and unchallenged assertions highlight what is perhaps the most widely agreed-upon conventional wisdom in U.S. foreign and national security policymaking: the inherent power of signaling."

Ambassador Fredrick Barton assesses challenges facing his bureau stemming from conflicts around the world.

"In the U.S., people spend almost 20% of the gross domestic product on health care, compared with about half that in most developed countries. Yet in every measurable way, the results our health care system produces are no better and often worse than the outcomes in those countries."

People love to talk about "red lines" for all sorts of challenges, and the Iranian nuclear program is no exception. The United States can, in principle, threaten stronger sanctions if Iran crosses certain red lines. It can threaten military action if Iran crosses others. But it's not clear that setting red lines—particularly in public, where failing to follow through on threats can be costly—is a productive course.

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The United States has cut defense spending in the past, and it is doing so again today. In 1989, for example, the Defense Department spent $295 billion; seven years later it spent $253 billion, or about 14 percent less in nominal dollars. When inflation is taken into account, defense spending dropped by more than 25 percent during the 1990s. U.S. defense spending will likely follow a similar trajectory over the next decade with the Afghanistan war ending and pressure mounting to cut government spending.

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Madeleine K. Albright discusses world affairs and her career in U.S. government.

Madeleine K. Albright discusses world affairs and her career in U.S. government.

Robert Kahn, CFR's Steven A. Tananbaum senior fellow for international economics, leads a conversation on the current state of the U.S. economy and the challenges that lie ahead.

Former co-chairs of the President's bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson proposed a new deficit reduction plan on February 19, 2013, through their organization Moment of Truth. Their plan projects reductions by $2.4 trillion over the next decade, with cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and discretionary spending, and ending or curbing deductions and tax breaks.

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon argues that with the help of the private and public sector, women entrepreneurs are helping to combat global poverty, but more work is needed to overcome the challenges of access to finance, access to markets, and access to skills-building and networks.

Madeleine K. Albright discusses world affairs and her career in U.S. government.

"The U.S., by what it does and how it does it, ought to set and reinforce a norm that the use of armed drones should be exceptional," argues Richard N. Haass.

"APT1 is a single organization of operators that has conducted a cyber espionage campaign against a broad range of victims since at least 2006. From our observations, it is one of the most prolific cyber espionage groups in terms of the sheer quantity of information stolen."

Michael Spence argues that effective management of the assets side of national balance sheets is critical for promoting market efficiency, innovation, and resiliency.

"One day Europeans may find that the US military is not there to deal with threats lapping at their frontiers."

Contrary to those who see a future of "globalization on steroids," Joshua Kurlantzick says the reality of today's economic slowdown is that it will leave as its legacy the worst degloblization in modern history.

Graham T. Allison and Robert D. Blackwill explore Lee Kuan Yew's thoughts on China's economic future.

G20 finance ministers and central bank governors issued this communiqué at the summit in Moscow on February 15 and 16, 2013. Major agreements from the discussions include refraining from devaluing their currencies devaluation and enforcing corporate tax laws.