Thanks to a once-obscure law passed in 1789, foreign victims of foreign human rights abusers can use U.S. courts to sue their abusers. But the Supreme Court may soon ban such suits. That would be a shame, since they offer victims some measure of solace and give substance to underenforced human rights laws. The law should be upheld, and other countries should follow the U.S. lead.
Despite media hoopla, cross-border crime -- illegal drugs sales, evasion of taxes, intellectual property theft, and money laundering -- is hardly a new phenomenon. For much of history, moreover, the United States was as much perpetrator as victim. Recognizing this awkward truth should help cool down overheated debates about today's transnational problems and how to respond to them.
Should a functioning government fail to emerge in Italy, the eurozone could soon find itself engulfed in another round of expensive and controversial bailouts, says CFR's Charles Kupchan.
Since their inception in 2000, The Millennium Development Goals have revolutionized the global aid business, using specific targets to help mobilize and guide development efforts. They have encouraged world leaders to tackle multiple dimensions of poverty simultaneously and provided a standard for judging performance. As their 2015 expiration looms, the time has come to bank those successes and focus on what comes next.
U.S. and EU policymakers see multiple signs for a free-trade deal that could stimulate halting economies on both sides of the Atlantic and spur global talks, says expert Jeffrey Schott.
South Korea's vice minister of foreign affairs and trade explains the need for an increasing role of middle powers in global governance and South Korea's role in the G20.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen held a final press conference on February 22, 2013, after meetings of NATO Defence Ministers regarding the International Security Assistance Force and the transition in Afghanistan.
G20 finance ministers and central bank governors issued this communiqué at the summit in Moscow on February 15 and 16, 2013. Major agreements from the discussions include refraining from devaluing their currencies devaluation and enforcing corporate tax laws.
A broad-sweeping look at international efforts to prevent armed conflict. This is part of the Global Governance Monitor, an interactive feature tracking multilateral approaches to several global challenges.
Secretary John Kerry and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon gave these remarks before their meeting on February 14, 2013. They outlined the main issues they would discuss: North Korea's nuclear test and Six Party Talks, negotiations with Iran, the crisis in Syria, and France's intervention in Mali.
Germany's Bundesbank remains an influential actor in eurozone policymaking, and its recent disagreements with the ECB raise concerns about managing the zone's debt crisis. This Backgrounder explains.
With the recent revelation of a United Nations inquiry into U.S. drone strikes policies and practices, Micah Zenko says the UN has actually been investigating U.S. drones for ten years—but to no effect.
British Prime Minister Cameron gave these remarks at Bloomberg in London on January 23, 2013. He discussed his view of the future of the European Union and his plans to hold a referendum on the United Kingdom's membership.
The interactive Global Governance Monitor tracks, maps, and evaluates multilateral efforts to address today's global challenges.
CFR Experts Guide
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.
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.
