President Obama's move to strengthen efforts to prevent genocide and mass killings deserves credit, but must be given time to work properly, says CFR's Paul Stares.

Syria is trapped on a crumbling precipice, and however it might fall will entail significant risks for the United States and for the Syrian people, says this memo written by experts on Middle East at Brookings.

Stephen Zunes, Professor of Politics and Chair of Mid-Eastern Studies at the University of San Francisco, says rather than military intervention, nonviolent resistance combined with targeted international sanctions will force the Syrian government to negotiate with the opposition for a transfer of power to a democratic majority.

The government of the brittle, one-party state remains dug in against a determined but fractured opposition. Expert Joshua Landis discusses the fault lines in the Syria uprising.

Max Boot says military action in Syria needs to be carefully thought through, but the Obama administration should not allow itself to be paralyzed by the Pentagon's reluctance to intervene in Syria.

Leslie H. Gelb says foreign policy experts should be made to answer questions about the consequences and risks of their recommendations to engage the United States in wars with Syria and Iran.

Jonathan Tepperman says a decision by the United States to intervene militarily in Syria must be made with hard facts and an honest decision about what standing up for U.S. interests and values will entail.

Elliott Abrams says that mixed messages from Washington ultimately leave the Syrian opposition to fend for themselves.

Ed Husain says military options in Syria would do much more harm than good.

Ed Husain argues that Western military involvement in Syria would worsen violence, not end it, and could spread the conflict beyond Syria's borders.

Robert M. Danin outlines eight steps that the United States and other members of the international community could adopt to help Syria, well short of military action.

Colonel Gregory K. James, USA; Colonel Larry Holcomb, USMC; and Colonel Chad T. Manske, USAF argue that the success of Operation ODYSSEY DAWN, despite its complexity, validates joint planning processes, joint education foundations, joint training opportunities, and joint exercises.

Steven A. Cook says that if the world wants to see the end of Bashar al-Assad, it will likely require international intervention.

Micah Zenko says requests for humanitarian intervention by foreign governments and peoples happen all the time, and he examines why some requests are granted while others are ignored.

Reuters investigates the legitimacy of North Korea's appeals for massive food aid that have gone mostly unanswered by a skeptical international community.

Stewart M. Patrick says failed states are mainly a threat to their own inhabitants, but they still need help from the global community.

Following U.S. envoy Robert King's visit to North Korea to assess the food situation in the country, CFR's Adjunct Senior Fellow for Korea Studies Scott A. Snyder says that any U.S. decision to provide food aid to the country should be accompanied by steps to minimize moral hazard.

Even if a U.S. assessment of North Korea's food situation echoes a UN report earlier this year that warned of shortages, debate rages about whether new food aid should be provided to a recalcitrant Pyongyang.

Micah Zenko argues that while the United States should continue to use its military capabilities to support the no-fly zone in Libya, it should also work toward a negotiated end to the civil war.

As the United States hands over airstrike control to NATO, the Obama administration faces congressional debate over who the rebels are, whether they're capable of governing, and whether or not to arm them.