Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States will hold the Syrian government accountable for the use of chemical weapons on civilians. CFR's Matthew C. Waxman highlights three sets of considerations for U.S. intervention in the country's ongoing civil war.

In the run-up to Pakistan's elections, Daniel Markey debates Ambassador Neelam Deo on the relationship between civilian and military power in Pakistan.

A number of countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Turkey, and Qatar, have been providing support to the opposition in various forms, ranging from humanitarian aid to military supplies, such as weapons, armor, and communication devices. However, these efforts have not been enough to turn the tide, and after three years of fighting, a diplomatic solution still seems unlikely.

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Micah Zenko weighs the options on a United States intervention in Syria.

"Behind the scenes diplomacy could encourage positive responses from concerned regional parties, Arab and Israeli, that would give them all something to talk about," writes Robert Danin.

Joshua Kurlantzick says more is needed from Myanmar president U Thein Sein and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to foster tolerance and and reconciliation in the ethnically divided country.

Secretary of State John Kerry and Vice President Joe Biden met with a delegation of the Arab League on April 29, 2013. The group discussed the conflict between Israel and Palestine and the Arab Peace Initiative.

Afghan forces are performing well so far amid the pullback of U.S. troops, but this summer's fighting season will offer proof of their capabilities, says CFR's Stephen Biddle.

Isobel Coleman hosts John Campbell, former U.S. ambassador to Nigeria, for a discussion about the political and economic transitions of South Africa and Nigeria as part of a Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative series on Realizing Democracy: Lessons from Transitioning Countries.

According to Ed Husain, "the answers to countering the appeal of radicalism among some Muslims in the West rests in more, not less, debating of religion, pluralist politics and integrating immigrants."

Ed Husain writes, "Boston will not be the last homegrown terror attack. Bombastic statements and burying our heads in the sand do not prepare us for future attacks."

These reports, mandated by Congress in the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 and the Trade Act of 1974, describe the performance of other governments in practicing their international commitments on civil, political, individual, and worker rights, as defined by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The UN and the Chinese government produce similar reports.

Calls for more popular participation are not essential to populism; rather, they are a symptom of perceived exclusion (which might well be a reality, especially in Latin America). But cries for political inclusion are different from demands for direct democracy. Where direct democracy is very much a part of normal politics – in Switzerland, for example – populist parties have been doing better, not worse, than elsewhere.

Isobel Coleman, CFR's senior fellow and director of the Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy initiative, discusses transitions to democracy and market economies, as part of CFR's Academic Conference Call series.

Secretary of State John Kerry held this press conference after his trip to Israel on April 9, 2013. He discussed his meetings with Minister Netanyahu, President Abbas, Prime Minister Fayyad, and President Peres and speculation on the Arab Peace Initiative.

Myanmar's emergence from military rule has also spawned some of the worst ethnic and religious violence in decades and fear of prolonged civil conflict, writes CFR's Joshua Kurlantzick.

Reza Aslan discusses the connection between women's empowerment and economics, as part of the Council on Foreign Relations' roundtable series on religion and the Middle East.

This meeting was cosponsored by the Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initative.

Jagdish Bhagwati and Amrita Narlikar write that the only way to ensure safe working environments is to make them "legislated and pursued with zeal."

Joshua Kurlantzick discusses democracy's decline and his new book, Democracy in Retreat: The Revolt of the Middle Class and the Worldwide Decline of Representative Government in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.

Joshua Kurlantzick adapts part of his new book, Democracy in Retreat:The Revolt of the Middle Class and the Worldwide Decline of Representative Government for the Wall Street Journal.