NATO talks a big game when it comes to global security, but its ability to affect war and peace outside of Europe is limited, writes Joshua Foust for Need to Know on PBS.

The latest spate of violence in Afghanistan is unlikely to change the course of planned troop withdrawals, but should refocus efforts on bringing under control Pakistan-based militants, says CFR's Daniel Markey.

Charles A. Kupchan says the absence of consensus over which country will oversee the coming world is just as it should be.

Pyongyang's unsuccessful missile launch delays a new nuclear threat but raises disturbing prospects for violence on the Korean Peninsula, says CFR President Richard N. Haass.

This January 2012 UN report from a special Secretary-General appointed mission to the Sahel region assesses the "scope of the threat of the Libyan crisis in the region and the national, regional and wider international capacities to respond to those challenges".

Julia Sweig explains the significance of Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff's first visit to the United States.

Bonnie Glaser of the Center for Strategic and International Studies discusses the significant risk of conflict in the South China Sea and how the United States can prevent becoming involved in an armed clash.

In outlining the changed landscape in the Middle East, Benoit Challand points out that potential crises, such as in Syria or Iran, could give regional governments an excuse to halt an already slow process of democratization.

During the Brazilian president's visit to the Unied Sates, Brazil and America should find a common ground to confront China over financial and economic policies that harm Brazilian and American companies, says Ted Piccone, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

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.

Jorge G. Castañeda, former foreign minister of Mexico and a professor of politics and Latin American studies, says Cuba and drugs will be the main topics of discussion at the upcoming Summit of the Americas.

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.

Robert M. Danin and Eugene Rogan with Gideon Rose assess the American interventions in countries like Libya, Tunisia, and Egypt. They say the American response was a 'reactive' one while Europe remained 'confused.'

There are no good solutions to the mess in Syria, says James Traub, a fellow of the Center on International Cooperation.

The emerging BRICS economies agree that the West should hold less sway in the global economy. But their leaders, despite regular summits, have failed to articulate a coherent vision because of divergent interests, says journalist Martin Wolf.

Catherine Bertini discusses the current state of global food security and offers recommendations.

Ned Parker discusses his Foreign Affairs article from the March/April 2012 issue, "The Iraq We Left Behind--Welcome to the World's Next Failed State," and provides insights from on-the-ground experience in Iraq.

UN Security Council Resolution 2041 regarding extension of the mandate of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) until March 23, 2013 was adopted by the UN Security Council on March 22, 2012.

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.

Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of the Global Times, a Chinese newspaper, says that Mitt Romney's aggressive harangues about China don't trouble Chinese people. Hu asks: Does he really want to pick a fight with a nation of 1.3 billion people?