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

Eboo Patel leads a conversation on his new book Sacred Ground: Pluralism, Prejudice, and the Promise of America, and his work as a Muslim interfaith adviser to the Obama administration.

As the United States pivots to Asia, disputes over territories in the South China Sea have escalated tensions and threatened regional stability.

The Council on Foreign Relations' fifth annual Preventive Priorities Survey ranks conflict prevention priorities based on their potential impact on U.S. interests and their likelihood of occurring in the coming year.

CFR's Paul Stares highlights three of the top conflict prevention priorities for 2013.

Jendayi Frazer, CFR's adjunct senior fellow for Africa Studies, discusses preventing conflict between Sudan and South Sudan.

The UN General Assembly will likely address two "lightning rod" issues: ending the bloodshed in Syria and curbing Iran's nuclear development, says CFR's Stewart Patrick.

President Obama's move to strengthen efforts to prevent genocide and mass killings deserves credit, but must be given time to work properly, says CFR's Paul Stares.

Bonnie Glaser of the Center for Strategic and International Studies discusses the significant risk of conflict in the South China Sea and how the United States can prevent becoming involved in an armed clash.

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.

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.