Leslie H. Gelb argues that liberals and moderates are asking the right questions about where the United States should go on national security policy, and the foreign policy establishment needs to listen to them.
Authors: Elliott Abrams, Eliot A. Cohen, Eric S. Edelman, and John P. Hannah Washington Post
Elliott Abrams, Eliot Cohen, Eric Edelman, and John Hannah, argue that former Vice President Dick Cheney advocation's for a U.S. strike to destroy the al-Kibar nuclear reactor built by Syria and North Korea was based on sound judgment.
Leslie H. Gelb argues that after 9/11, a decade of prolonged wars, economic weakness, and political irresponsibility is not an aberration but a historical pattern for America, and it also reveals a flawed tendency in U.S. foreign affairs.
James M. Lindsay argues that while the United States remains the most significant military, diplomatic, and economic power in a changing geopolitical environment, it faces increasing difficulty in driving the global agenda.
Gideon Rose discusses President Nixon and Henry Kissinger's attempt to extricate the United States from the Vietnam War even as the local combatants continued to struggle -- and says President Obama should try to do the same in Afghanistan.
Experts analyze President John F. Kennedy's foreign policies including those pertaining to the Soviet Union, and review the lasting implications of his first year in office.
Stephen Biddle argues that the use of air power in Libya is "intervention on the cheap" that allows the United States to attempt to protect its values and interests in the region wihtout a serious commitment.
Fifty years after JFK's inaugural, presidential historian Robert Dallek observes that Kennedy remains the most popular American president even though his days in office didn't yield many domestic successes and left only a few foreign policy achievements.
CFR's President Richard N. Haass and Chatham House's Director Robin Niblett discuss the evolution of both organizations since their founding in the 1920's and the current state of international affairs.
Stephen Sestanovich says in the debate over American foreign policy, mistakes and wrong turns cannot simply be blamed on irrationality and moralizing--or the supernatural.
The bold visions of Francis Fukuyama, Samuel Huntington, and John Mearsheimer, however powerful, do not hold up as reliable predictors of particular developments.
The Council on Foreign Relations' David Rockefeller Studies Program—CFR's "think tank"—is home to more than seventy full-time, adjunct, and visiting scholars and practitioners (called "fellows"). Their expertise covers the world's major regions as well as the critical issues shaping today's global agenda. Download the printable CFR Experts Guide.
Special operations play a critical role in how the United States confronts irregular threats, but to have long-term strategic impact, the author argues, numerous shortfalls must be addressed.
The author analyzes the potentially serious consequences, both at home and abroad, of a lightly overseen drone program and makes recommendations for improving its governance.
Two experts argue that despite myriad development strategies, only one can succeed in alleviating poverty in India: the overall growth of the country's economy. More