In the wake of a tense ASEAN meeting, CFR fellow Joshua Kurlantzick and CSIS senior fellow Bonnie Glaser discuss the rising tensions between China and other Asian countries over the South China Sea and implications for U.S. foreign policy in the region.

In his latest exclusive dispatch from Deir el-Zour province, Ghaith Abdul-Ahad meets fighters who have left the Free Syrian Army for the discipline and ideology of global jihad.

Adam Segal discusses the Cybersecurity Act, China, and technology innovation in an interview with Evan Osnos.

Micah Zenko argues that U.S. targeted killings campaign is a short-term tactic, not a long-term solution to enduring political or security challenge.

Today, al-Qa'ida in the Arabian Peninsula's (AQAP) is at a crossroads. Does it revert to what it was prior to 2011, a terrorist organization operating in the shadows? Or does it try to reclaim the territory it lost and once again position itself as a governing authority?

President Obama gave these remarks at the National Convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Reno, Nevada on July 23, 2012.

President Barack Obama published this article on cybersecurity in the Wall Street Journal on July 19, 2012.

Russian President Putin, mistrustful of Western motives, is likely to resist pressure to commit to stronger sanctions against Syria's government, says expert Dimitri Simes.

The Congressional Budget Office prepared this report in July 2012, to analyze the long term impact of the 2013 Future Years Defense Program, the Department of Defense's budget projection of fiscal years 2013 to 2017, through 2030. This report considers the budget in light of the Budget Control Act, or sequestration.

In her testimony before the House Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities, Linda Robinson details how U.S. Special Operations Forces can be restructured to better confront global challenges.

Captain Melissa Bert, USCG, and Captain Bradley Russell, USN, argue that while the United States is a nation reliant on sea power, it is not being the leader it can be on the Law of the Sea Convention.

Max Boot says the Middle East remains in turmoil. The U.S. should boost its air and naval assets in Asia but leave the other military branches free to focus on other regions.

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon discusses concerns by Afghan entrepreneurs over the future of their economy as the United States draws down its troops and military presence from Afghanistan.

Steven Kull, Matthew Leatherman, and R. Jeffrey Smith discuss U.S. public views on national defense-spending, as part of CFR's Renewing America roundtable series.

A Fortune investigation finds that the ATF never intentionally allowed guns to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels.

Fifty years ago, the Cuban missile crisis brought the world to the brink of nuclear disaster. Every president since John F. Kennedy has tried to learn from what happened back then. Today, it can help U.S. policymakers understand what to do -- and what not to do -- about Iran, North Korea, China, and presidential decision-making in general.

Tough economic times are often met in Washington with calls for retrenchment. But for decades, write two former top Pentagon officials, long-term forward deployments of U.S. forces and robust alliances have guaranteed stability and uninterrupted trade, the very conditions the United States needs for economic prosperity. The Obama administration gets it.

Inside the petro-fueled naval military buildup you've never heard of: It's Russia versus Iran, with three post-Soviet states -- and trillions of dollars in oil -- in the middle.

Micah Zenko says that the debate over domestic surveillance is heating up, but it's not time to panic.

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