A Democratic Congress may decide not to renew President Bush’s fast track authority, which could dampen global free trade efforts and lead to greater U.S. protectionism.

Americans voting in midterm elections appear to be more focused than ever on foreign policy issues, creating a scramble during this waning session of Congress for the correct posture on issues ranging from national security to immigration.

Talks of reconciliation with insurgents and a planned pullout of U.S. forces have experts and officials abuzz with end-game solutions to the war in Iraq.

Dubai Ports World has agreed to divest itself of its U.S. ports holdings that were the focal point of a firestorm in Congress over the last two weeks. Though the move should calm immediate fears, the larger questions of port security and foreign control of U.S. infrastructure are likely to linger.

President Bush's defense of a domestic wiretapping program has elicited an impassioned debate in Congress and among the American public. A February 6 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing sought to shed some light on this highly secretive program.

Whatever else it is, 2006 is an election year in the United States, and that fact will bear directly on the war in Iraq. Sustaining a difficult military mission gets even more difficult as U.S. lawmakers near their scheduled date with the electorate in November 2006.

Max Boot argues that cuts to defense spending have the potential to devastate the U.S. armed forces, and if left unchecked, will do more damage to their fighting capacity than the Taliban, al-Qaeda, or any other external foe could inflict.

Matthew C. Waxman discusses the lawsuit challenging U.S. participation in the Libyan military mission.

Leslie H. Gelb says Republican opposition to the New START Treaty endangers national security.

The odds are high that humans will warm Earth’s climate to worrisome levels during the coming century. Policy makers in the United States, which historically has produced more CO₂ emissions than any other nation while doing relatively little to tame the flow, can in particular learn much about creating viable carbon-cutting markets by studying Europe’s recent experience. In this Scientific American article, David Victor and Danny Cullenward offer several concrete suggestions on how the U.S. should go about constructing an effective national climate policy.

There is a well-known adage that politics stops at the water's edge, but this tends to be more hope than reality. American history is filled with examples in which political disagreement at home has made it difficult for the United States to act, much less lead, abroad.

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After more than a decade of war and several years of a deep financial crisis, many Americans are asking whether the country should focus more of its attention—and more of its resources—at home. That said, the impulse to lead is still strong in both political parties and most polls show that Americans still feel both a moral and strategic imperative to remain fully engaged in the world.

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