The global financial crisis threatens to hamper poverty alleviation efforts in India and China, responsible for lifting the largest numbers of the world's poor out of extreme poverty.  Political or social instability are concerns.

A striking reinterpretation of the Great Depression, tracing the mounting agony of the New Dealers and the moving stories of individual citizens who, through their brave perseverance, helped establish the steadfast character we recognize as American today.

Since 2008, Russia, like many other countries, has experienced a deep economic crisis. The question is how this crisis might affect Russia's domestic politics and foreign policy and, consequently, whether any change is warranted in U.S. policy toward Moscow. Jeffrey Mankoff argues that Russia's need to focus on repairing its economy during this global crisis gives the West an opportunity to deepen its economic engagement with Russia, which could bind Moscow more firmly to the liberal global economic order and encourage reform in both Russia and neighboring states.

In this report, Benn Steil shows that the financial crisis is the inevitable bust of a classic credit boom, and explains how monetary, taxation, and home ownership promotion policy combined with other features of the financial system to fuel an unsustainable buildup in debt. He recommends significant reforms to reverse the debt financing bias and make the system more resilient to falls in asset prices. This report is also available in Arabic.

As the economic crisis has spread from financial markets to real economies in countries around the world, governments have understandably focused on short-term measures to contain the damage. But in order for policymakers to tackle today’s global economic crisis, this report argues, they must go beyond bailouts and stimulus packages and focus on one of the crisis's root causes: imbalances between savings and investment in major countries. This report is also available in Arabic.

The rise in China's trade surplus, the increase in oil prices, and a slowdown in demand for U.S. assets from private investors abroad has increased the United States' reliance on foreign governments for financing. This report examines whether the United States' ability to secure large quantities of external financing from foreign governments is a reflection of its political power, a constraint on its ability to exercise power, or a combination of the two.

The president's annual address set the stage for more political wrangling over U.S. fiscal policy at a time when decisiveness is crucial for the economy, writes CFR's Robert Kahn.

Talk among major economies is intensifying over a "financial firewall" to contain the eurozone crisis. But CFR's Steven Dunaway says the emphasis should be on pressing debt-saddled states to make reforms that will improve their growth prospects.

U.S. lawmakers' brinkmanship over raising the debt ceiling could have prompted a series of moves--the downgrading of U.S. debt by Standard and Poor's being one--that could cause a selloff of U.S. securities and an end to the primacy of the dollar, writes CFR's Francis Warnock.

Gridlock over raising the debt ceiling has already tarnished Washington's image and failure to address the problem in one month could cause enormous global financial upheaval, writes CFR's Sebastian Mallaby.

Congress' call for a new federal agency to oversee insurers still relies too heavily on ill-equipped state regulators to stem risks posed by bond insurers, traders, and reinsurers, writes CFR's Marc Levinson.

CFR International Affairs Fellow Brian P. Klein says that China's stimulus will not have a significant short-term impact on Japan's ailing economy.

While some G-20 leaders want to map out a "New Deal for the Twenty-First Century," CFR's Stewart Patrick says they risk spawning a twenty-first century version of the Great Depression if they don't agree on coordinated short-term steps to stimulate economic activity and to ensure both credit and trade flow freely.

CFR Senior Fellow Laurie Garrett says the recent Davos economic forum failed to provide any blue print for reconciling the financial crisis and development aid needs. She predicts donor nations will "face tough sells, trying to convince their voters that it is vital to spend money feeding starving masses abroad."

CFR's J. Anthony Holmes writes that the global economic decline will slow the pace of both foreign direct and portfolio investment in Africa.

Russia's toughest economic challenge since the collapse of 1998 could lead it to a less confrontational foreign policy and a loss of international standing, writes CFR's Stephen Sestanovich.

CFR Senior Fellow Sheila A. Smith says Japan is well positioned to offer leadership on coping with the global financial crisis. But a domestic political stalemate, she says, threatens its ability to act.

CFR Senior Fellow Steven Cook writes that Turkey's economy is proving more resilient than expected in the face of the global economic downturn.

CFR Senior Fellow Laurie Garrett writes that the United States cannot afford to reduce its foreign assistance spending, even though it faces its toughest budgetary challenge since the Great Depression.

CFR Senior Fellow Daniel Markey writes that the global financial downturn is exacerbating preexisting economic problems in Pakistan.