Josh Gerstein delineates the views and agenda of presidential hopeful Barack Obama, beyond his stance on the Iraq war.

USA Engage and the National Foreign Trade Council issued a report on the role that trade played in the 2006 midterm elections.

Robert Kagan writes in the Washington Post about how a Democratic win in the 2006 midterm elections may not change U.S. foreign policy very much.

A comprehensive list of Sen. John McCain's advisers.

This memorandum examines certain existing statutory procedures that govern how the executive branch is to keep Congress informed of U.S. intelligence activities, reviews pertinent legislative history underpinning the development of those procedures, and looks at the notification process that reportedly was followed in informing certain Members of Congress of the President's decision to authorize the National Security Agency (NSA) to collect signals intelligence within the United States.

Stopping the ability of terrorists to finance their operations is a key component of the U.S. counterterrorism strategy. To accomplish this, the Administration has implemented a three-tiered approach based on (1) intelligence and domestic legal and regulatory efforts; (2) technical assistance to provide capacity-building programs for U.S. allies; and (3) global efforts to create international norms and guidelines. Effective implementation of this strategy requires the participation of, and coordination among, several elements of the U.S. Government. This report provides an agency-by-agency survey of U.S. efforts.

In cases of significant differences with the President over foreign policy, especially
deployments of U.S. military forces abroad, Congress has generally found that use of its Constitutionally-based "power of the purse" to be the most effective way to compel a President to take actions regarding use of U.S. military force overseas that he otherwise might not agree to. Thus, on various occasions since the Vietnam War era, Congress has used funding cutoffs or significant restrictions on the use of funds as a means of ending or circumscribing the use of U.S. military personnel for foreign operations. As the examples in this report indicate, the use of funding cutoffs and restrictions to curtail or terminate the President's use of U.S. military force abroad has proven to be much more efficacious in giving effect to Congress's policy views in this area than has the War Powers Resolution.

Responding to recently proposed Congressional legislation in the wake of the Dubai Ports World controversy, a new Special Report argues that the “Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has proved to be—and continues to be—an effective tool for vetting the national security concerns associated with foreign investment. If Congress fails to achieve the right balance, U.S. companies and workers could feel the repercussions for years to come.”

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.

Michael Spence outlines the conflicting objectives that President Obama and the U.S. Congress must reconcile as they negotiate a new federal budget.

Peter Orszag argues that switching to the chained consumer price index for calculating Social Security cost-of-living adjustments will not make as much of a difference as many seem to think.

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