Congress

Op-Ed

The No-Plan Zone

Author: Micah Zenko
Foreign Policy

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."

See more in United States, Syria, Wars and Warfare, U.S. Strategy and Politics, Congress and Foreign Policy, Foreign Aid, Foreign Policy History

Op-Ed

Why Ending Child Marriage Abroad Is Good for the United States

Author: Rachel B. Vogelstein
Atlantic Monthly

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.

See more in United States, Society and Culture, Culture and Foreign Policy, Women, Gender Issues, U.S. Strategy and Politics, Congress and Foreign Policy, Foreign Aid

Op-Ed

What the President Could Say in His Speech

Authors: Matthew C. Waxman and Robert Chesney
Lawfare

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.

See more in United States, U.S. Strategy and Politics, Congress, Congress and Foreign Policy, Presidency

Ask CFR Experts

What is the effect of U.S. domestic political gridlock on international relations?

Asked by Joe Boutte, from United States

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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See more in U.S. Strategy and Politics, Congress, Congress and Foreign Policy, Foreign Policy History

Ask CFR Experts

Will "sequestration" lead to a more isolationist U.S. foreign policy?

Asked by Andreas Maldener, from Trier University

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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See more in United States, Economics, U.S. Strategy and Politics, Congress, Congress and Foreign Policy

Video

The Sequester: Three Things to Know

Speaker: Robert Kahn

Short Description: The automatic cuts in U.S. federal government spending, known as the "sequester," will negatively impact the U.S. economy in the short run and will not solve the long-term challenge of putting the United States on a sustainable budget path, says CFR's Robert Kahn.

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Foreign Affairs Article

Getting the GOP's Groove Back

Author: Bret Stephens

After their loss last year, Republicans are grappling over what to do next -- and when it comes to foreign policy, small-government conservatives worried about debt are squaring off against big-military conservatives fearful of defense cuts. Fortunately, the GOP does not need a total makeover; what it needs is a renegotiated modus vivendi between the two competing camps, each of which has valuable things to teach the other.

See more in Congress and Foreign Policy, U.S. Election 2012