As a referendum on Scotland's independence looms, the question of the region's place in the United Kingdom has become the most pressing issue in British politics.

A culture of fear has supplanted the traditional U.S. culture of hope. By returning to hope, the United States can regain the standing it has lost.

The growing appetite of Iraq’s Kurdish government, Washington’s most trusted ally, for control of their own national destiny has sparked worries that Kurdish nationalism could undermine fragile political progress in Baghdad.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi plans another visit to a notorious shrine, even after revelations about why imperial visits stopped almost thirty years ago. Experts say the issue is heating up tensions with China and South Korea.

Protests this week highlight Syria's continuing influence in Beirut, more than a year after the "Cedar Revolution." But experts say Lebanon's outdated political system is just as much to blame for lingering instability.

Joshua Kurlantzick discusses rising nationalist sentiment among Asian nations.

Ed Husain hosts Bernard Haykel in a discussion of the convergences and divergences in Gulf governments' policies toward the Arab Spring, both domestically and regionally.

Ed Husain leads a wide-ranging discussion with AbdulMawgoud Dardery of the political challenges facing Egypt and the Freedom and Justice Party's vision for the country's future.

Nationalism in China, surging amid protests over Beijing's rule in Tibet, increasingly fills the role Maoism played before China embraced capitalism.

Advocating for greater Kurdish autonomy through violent resistance, the Kurdistan Workers Party remains a vibrant militant presence on the border of northern Iraq and southern Turkey.

An interactive map of the Horn of Africa.

Daniel P. Serwer, who served as executive director of the Baker-Hamilton Commission on Iraq, says the "serious" crisis between Kurdistan and the central Iraqi government "needs to be resolved" to some degree before the U.S. troops leave."

Turkey's highest court decided not to ban the country's ruling party. CFR's Steven A. Cook says the decision saves the Turkish government but does little to heal mosque-state tensions.

Edward Friedman, an expert on Chinese nationalism, says China’s ethnic Han majority views minorities like Tibetans and Uighurs as "people who should be incorporated into the larger Chinese state."

Taiwan expert Alan D. Romberg says the election of Ma Ying-jeou as the island’s next president should usher in a new era of less contentious cross-Strait relations.

Henry Siegman, an expert on Middle East negotiations, says no peace will be possible between Israel and the Palestinians unless Hamas is brought into the talks.

Washington’s representative to talks on Kosovo, Frank G. Wisner, says Serbia will never recognize an independent Kosovo and that Russia’s role has been “unbelievably regrettable.”

Morton I. Abramowitz, U.S. Ambassador to Turkey during the first Persian Gulf War in 1990-1991, says many Turkish “Secularists” fear that the government headed by the “Islamist” party of Prime Minister Erdogan may turn back the clock and introduce religion into public life.