President Barack Obama held a press conference on August 9, 2013, to discuss oversight and transparency of the National Security Agency's surveillance programs.

Looking to Egypt, Steven Cook writes, "democracy is built on democratic principles, not coups."

Steven Cook looks back to Egypt in 1954 for insight into the present political climate.

The NSC staff has emerged as a major factor in the formulation (and at times in the implementation) of national security policy. Similarly, the head of the NSC staff, the National Security Adviser, has played important, and occasionally highly public, roles in policymaking. This report traces the evolution of the NSC from its creation to the present

The crisis of democracy identified in the 1970s never really went away; it was just papered over with temporary solutions and obscured by a series of lucky breaks.

Chronic mismanagement by local governments has left a number of California cities teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.

In the aftermath of the 2012 U.S. elections, Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei comments on and compares the political systems in the U.S. and China.

The Chinese Communist Party faces a host of pressing domestic and international policy issues as it transitions to a new generation of leaders, explains this Backgrounder.

Peter Orszag explains that privatization would allow the U.S. Postal Service to free itself from congressional shackles and manage its operations more efficiently.

This was a meeting of the roundtable series, Opportunity and Exclusion in the Global Economy.

President Obama's plans for a consolidated trade and commerce department underscores his goal of doubling U.S. exports by the end of 2014, but some question how creating a larger organization will increase efficiency.

Peter Orszag discusses how increasing residential isolation of affluent voters contributes to the gridlock plaguing Washington.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff published this document on April 18, 2011, which outlines the functions, organization, employment, and synchronization of Special Operations Forces (SOF).

In the Wall Street Journal, George P. Shultz writes that unaccountable White House aides are a product of a broken cabinet-nomination process, and this is not the form of government the Founders intended.

Experts discuss the potential that public private collaboration can have toward achieving the goals of U.S. foreign policy, private business, and civil society.

Experts discuss the potential that public private collaboration can have toward achieving the goals of U.S. foreign policy, private business, and civil society.

Four CFR fellows weigh in on the effectiveness of the State Department's Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review recommendations.

The Atlantic's James Fallows reacts to fears of American decline, pointing to unwarranted cries of imminent doom throughout American history, but also worries that the system of government needs fixing in order for the U.S. to maintain its strength.

The United States may be the largest donor of foreign assistance in the world, but it ranks among the lowest in terms of quality and effectiveness of its aid, according to a report by the Center for Global Development (CGD), in cooperation with the Brookings Institution, that assesses more than 150 countries' foreign aid money.