The quest by Palestinian officials for statehood recognition could have major repercussions for the Mideast peace process. This Backgrounder outlines the potential impact of the UN vote.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas gave these remarks to the UN General Assembly on November 29, 2012 following the UNGA's vote to grant Palestine observer status.

UN Ambassador Susan Rice gave this statement explaining the United States' vote on Palestine's non-member observer state status, on November 29, 2012.

UN General Assembly draft resolution A/67/L.28, according Palestine non-member observer state status in the United Nations, passed by a vote of 138 to 9 on November 29, 2012.

In an interview with Gordon Campbell of Werewolf, Jagdish N. Bhagwati discusses his concerns about the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Charles A. Kupchan argues that David Cameron's changes to Britain's relationship with the European Union run the risk of a British exit from the union and a weakening of Britain's role as a bridge between the United States and Europe.

The Boyuan Foundation, headed by former investment banker He Di, is possibly the most ambitious, radical, and consequential think tank in China, according to Foreign Policy.

ASEAN is the most significant multilateral institution in Asia but is unequipped to handle the region's most pressing economic and security challenges. CFR Fellow Joshua Kurlantzick makes recommendations for how ASEAN can bolster its capacity—and how the United States can help.

Elizabeth C. Economy says corruption and the failure to develop rule of law in China now define much of the country's political and economic life. With Xi Jinping poised to take over, the focus should be on significant political reform.

Jerome A. Cohen says that while Bo Xilai and Chen Kegui "hail from opposite ends of China's political, economic and social hierarchies, they now have much in common, including the determination of the authorities to punish them for political reasons."

Matthew C. Waxman argues that international law still plays a powerful role in justifying or delegitimizing the case for military action. Just like in the Cuban missile crisis, the United States needs to present a plausible case for self-defense in order to strike Iran.

Fatou Bensouda, the new prosecutor for the ICC, discusses her new role and the ICC as a body in general.

According to a secret legal opinion for European Union finance ministers, a plan to create a single eurozone banking supervisor is illegal.

The EU's Nobel Peace Prize selection comes as the bloc struggles to resolve its debt crisis. Nevertheless, the EU represents one of the great peacemaking accomplishments of the modern era.

The IMF and World Bank leaders meet in Tokyo this week for their fall meetings. Four experts discuss the failure of IMF leaders to implement agreed-upon governance reform.

Billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, whose party won last week's parliamentary elections in Georgia, will forge a foreign policy based on pragmatism, not ideology, says RFE/RL's Elizabeth Fuller.

Ignore the commentariat: Susan Rice isn't to blame for the complicated intelligence process following the Benghazi attack, writes Leslie H. Gelb in Newsweek.

Daniel Drezner assesses international financial governance and concludes that, contrary to conventional wisdom, evidence suggests that global governance structures responded to the 2008 financial crisis robustly.

Weak rule of law in the developing world deprives countless people of legal rights and economic opportunity. Bridging the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, a global trust could build developing nations' capacity to implement the rule of law, improving human rights and economic outcomes at little cost.

Palestinian Authority president Abbas gave these remarks to the UN General Assembly on September 27, 2012.