According to Micah Zenko, "We are deluding ourselves if we believe that we need more time to "think through" U.S. military intervention options for Syria. We have an excellent understanding of what those options are, and a vast majority of officials, policymakers, and the American people do not believe they are worth the effort."

Gayle Lemmon examines the current course of U.S. action in Syria.

If the United States chooses to intervene in Syria, "there is no easy solution or middle ground," according to Ray Takeyh.

Dr. Helene D. Gayle and Deputy Administrator Donald K. Steinberg speak about the challenges of combatting child marriage at the launch event for CFR's new report on child marriage.

Child marriage is a global epidemic and a human rights violation that occurs across regions, cultures, and religions. According to Rachel Vogelstein, the success of U.S. efforts to foster economic growth, improve global health, and promote stability and security will grow if this persistent practice comes to an end.

In President Obama's upcoming counterterrorism speech, Robert Chesney and Matthew Waxman explain that the president should focus on three areas that his administration has not followed through in a serious way: closing Guantanamo, working with Congress to put forceful counterterrorism actions on sound legal footing, and making targeted killing more transparent.

According to Ted Alden, "U.S. tracking of visa overstays is not perfect, but neither is it the massive hole in immigration enforcement that too many in Congress believe exists."

Elliott Abrams discusses the latest House hearing on the Benghazi embassy attack of September 11, 2012.

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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Micah Zenko examines the role of leadership in Washington's foreign policy discourse.

Carl Levin discusses U.S. defense policy and ongoing national security concerns.

Michael A. Levi and Daniel P. Ahn say, "If lawmakers decide to go ahead with further deficit reduction, they would be remiss not to take a hard look at higher oil taxes as part of the deal."

Throughout Chuck Hagel's marathon confirmation hearing, America's decade-long war in Afghanistan was noticeably overlooked. But it is curious to see the next secretary of defense receive so few inquiries from senators about the war whose end he will presumably oversee in the coming years, says Gayle Tzemach Lemmon.

Shannon K. O'Neil says after Republicans' election-year drubbing, the United States has an historic opportunity to fix its broken immigration system. And the arguments against reform simply don't hold up anymore.

Senator John Kerry gave these remarks during his confirmation hearing at the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, on January 24, 2013.

The 113th Congress continues the trend in a gradual increase in religious diversity that is mirroring trends in the country as a whole.

Julia E. Sweig says the recent "fiscal cliff" deal marks the end of the grand bargain, and "the new normal in Washington is one of hyper partisanship, in which the Republicans have learned that if they wait long enough the Democrats will soften at the end of negotiations."

After coming to a slow crawl on the fiscal deal, this Congress will leave a legacy of the fewest enacted laws than any since 1947; Jonathan Allen writes that the best the 112th Congress has been able to do is "avert the worst."

Americans want to see Congress and the president make a deal on the "fiscal cliff," but the incentives are strongest for policymakers to act only after the cliff has come and gone—and wreaked a great deal of havoc in the process, says Gayle Tzemach Lemmon.

Politico provides a guide to the dance of getting to a deal on the fiscal cliff.