A diplomatic dance will be no waltz for either Iran or America, writes CFR President Richard N. Haass.

Marking the 500th anniversary of the The Prince (1513), Stewart Patrick explains why Machiavelli's primer on statecraft still has the capacity to shock half a millennium after it was written.

There is little prospect Tibet will achieve full statehood in the foreseeable future. Apart from preservation of its own power, China's Communist Party's highest imperative is the territorial integrity of the country. It is determined to keep Tibet a part of China and thus far the world community has acquiesced in China's claim.

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Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov developed a joint strategy to remove Syria's chemical weapons arsenal by "the first half of 2014." The agreement was reached on September 14, 2013, during the third day of their meeting in Geneva.

New Iranian leadership and the UN effort to remove Syrian chemical weapons offer a rare chance for collaboration between Washington and Tehran—and advance nuclear talks, says expert Gary Sick.

The story of the tragic and often tormented relationship between the United States and Pakistan, and a call to prepare for the worst, aim for the best, and avoid past mistakes.

Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met in Geneva on September 12, 2013, to discuss the possibility of Syria handing over its chemical weapons to the international community. This approach was proposed as an alternative to a military strike as a response to the August 21 chemical weapons attack in Damascus.

On August 14, 2013, officals from North Korea and from South Korea met to discuss the reopening of Gaeseong (or Kaesŏng) Industrial Complex, which employed workers from both countries.

"The Obama administration had a grand strategy in the Middle East. It was well intentioned, carefully crafted and consistently pursued. Unfortunately, it failed."

Charles Kupchan explores the recent developments in U.S.-Russian relations, arguing that Russian President Vladimir Putin is motivated more by spite towards Washington than strategic interests.

Sheila A. Smith argues that despite some regional concerns about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's geopolitical ambitions, his diplomatic vision to date looks more like a return to Japan's much vaunted economic diplomacy.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu met in Washington, D.C. on August 9, 2013, to discuss trade, nuclear threat reduction, and strategies to address crises in Syria and Egypt.

Elliott Abrams discusses a recent meeting between Secretary of State Kerry and Jewish leaders to seek support for the secretary's "peace process" efforts.

President Obama's cancelled state visit to Moscow next month is another indication that the so-called U.S.-Russia reset has derailed, says CFR's Stephen Sestanovich.

While in Islamabad, Secretary of State John Kerry announced that the U.S.-Pakistan strategic dialogue would be resumed in order to foster "deeper, broader and more comprehensive partnership." These fine words will need a lot of hard work to back them up. It would help if President Obama's administration also came to the table with a big new idea to re-energize its difficult relationship with Islamabad. An ambitious and forward-looking way to frame Washington's agenda with Islamabad would be to consider it within the context of Pakistan's role in the broader U.S. "rebalancing" to Asia.

Can Washington and Islamabad build a new strategic relationship? CFR's Daniel Markey says John Kerry and Nawaz Sharif are off to a friendly start, but big obstacles remain on counterterror cooperation.

Looking to Egypt, Steven Cook writes, "democracy is built on democratic principles, not coups."

Despite recent calls for exceptions to diplomatic immunity, John B. Bellinger argues in the New York Times Room for Debate (not sure if that last part should be italicized) for the U.S. commitment to and importance of the Vienne Convention on Diplomatic Relations to protect U.S. diplomats serving abroad.

Ed Husain hopes that Egypt will not trade "its extremists and failed institutions for international aid and attention."