Peter Orszag makes the case that increasing electoral participation would improve American democracy.

Robert Rubin explains how the pressures of the "fiscal cliff" will present U.S. political leaders with a rare second chance to make critical fiscal reforms after the 2012 elections.

Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein discuss their new book, It's Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided with the New Politics of Extremism.

"North Korea's impending nuclear test is just the latest illustration of Barack Obama's weakness and naiveté abroad," writes special advisor to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, Richard Williamson, who served in the Reagan White House as an assistant to the president in the 1980s and as the president's special envoy to Sudan in the 2000s.

Peter Orszag works through various approaches U.S. policymakers could take to head off fiscal catastrophe as a storm of tax increases, spending cuts, and a debt ceiling standoff looms at the end of the year.

Benn Steil's Financial Times op-ed shows that whereas the impact of the "Buffett Rule" on Warren Buffett's tax liability is trivial, the political capital he has accrued appears to be leveraging his investments.

Robert E. Rubin and Vin Weber argue that the Export-Import Bank is a government agency that increases U.S. jobs and earns money for the Treasury--and deserves bipartisan support.

Frank G. Klotz says the possibility of a total stalemate on the U.S. defense budget looms very large, but with American forces still fighting in Afghanistan, and Iran and North Korea remaining potential flashpoints, the consequences could be grave.

Analysis of the impact of the President's proposals on the budget outlook with tables and differences between administration proposals and the congressional budget office budget.

Peter Orszag argues that U.S. business leaders who want better economic policy should work to get more moderates elected to Congress.

After Lyndon Johnson's victory over Barry Goldwater in the 1964 U.S. presidential election, the once-mighty Republican Party was reduced to a regional rump.

Peter Orszag outlines five basic principles for U.S. fiscal policy to follow: continue short-term economic support, enact automatic stabilizers, couple stimulus with delayed deficit reduction, raise additional revenue, and move forward on small-scale policy issues.

This Congressional Research Service report discusses policy issues regarding military-to-military contacts with the People's Republic of China (PRC) and provides a record of major contacts and crises since 1993.

Peter Orszag discusses how increasing residential isolation of affluent voters contributes to the gridlock plaguing Washington.

Legislative battles in Washington over once pro-forma actions on debt and transport infrastructure have raised deep concerns over the government's ability to enact sustained job-building and economic-recovery programs--and undergird U.S. competitiveness.

Max Boot says Senate opposition to a U.S. ambassador to Syria is understandable but misguided.

CFR's Director of Studies James Lindsay and Director of the International Institutions and Global Governance Program Stewart Patrick preview major world events in the week ahead.

In this week's podcast: The United States is expected to run out of money to pay its bills unless an agreement is reached on raising the debt ceiling; Ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak stands trial in Cairo; and senior U.S. and North Korean diplomats hold 'explanatory' talks

Elliott Abrams poses ten questions that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee should be asking Robert Ford before confirming him as ambassador to Syria.

A tentative agreement on raising the debt ceiling falls far short of the deep reforms needed to improve U.S. spending patterns and the country's global standing, writes CFR's Sebastian Mallaby.

In his piece for The New Yorker, James Surowiecki argues that instead of figuring out ways to raise the debt ceiling, Congress should simply go ahead and abolish it.