Beyond its borders, Qatar has championed revolution, public protest and demands for democracy around the region.

Sheila A. Smith argues that despite some regional concerns about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's geopolitical ambitions, his diplomatic vision to date looks more like a return to Japan's much vaunted economic diplomacy.

"Whether out of reticence, ambivalence, tactical calculation or the difficulty of making policy in Washington, the [Obama] administration's response to the human rights violators it has faced in five years in office has been mealy-mouthed and confusing," writes Jonathan Tepperman.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu met in Washington, D.C. on August 9, 2013, to discuss trade, nuclear threat reduction, and strategies to address crises in Syria and Egypt.

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

Elliott Abrams discusses a recent meeting between Secretary of State Kerry and Jewish leaders to seek support for the secretary's "peace process" efforts.

A preview of world events in the coming week from CFR.org: U.S. diplomatic missions are set to reopen throughout the Middle East and Africa; U.S. and African officials discuss extending trade ties; and Mali holds a runoff presidential election.

President Obama's cancelled state visit to Moscow next month is another indication that the so-called U.S.-Russia reset has derailed, says CFR's Stephen Sestanovich.

While in Islamabad, Secretary of State John Kerry announced that the U.S.-Pakistan strategic dialogue would be resumed in order to foster "deeper, broader and more comprehensive partnership." These fine words will need a lot of hard work to back them up. It would help if President Obama's administration also came to the table with a big new idea to re-energize its difficult relationship with Islamabad. An ambitious and forward-looking way to frame Washington's agenda with Islamabad would be to consider it within the context of Pakistan's role in the broader U.S. "rebalancing" to Asia.

Can Washington and Islamabad build a new strategic relationship? CFR's Daniel Markey says John Kerry and Nawaz Sharif are off to a friendly start, but big obstacles remain on counterterror cooperation.

Mark Lagon and Mark D. Wallace warn against new Iranian president Rouhani's "charm offensive."

A preview of world events in the coming week from CFR.org: Iranian president-elect Hassan Rowhani is sworn into office; President Obama marks six months into his second term; and Japan sends the first robotic astronaut into space.

"Islamist parties associated with the Muslim Brotherhood in the region reacted with condemnation and consternation to the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi in Egypt. But, they were mostly careful to disassociate themselves from the Egyptian Brotherhood's uncompromising style of leadership (rushing in a new Islamist constitution and monopolizing power around Mohamed Morsi)."

Matthew Waxman argues that closing the facility would cause the Obama administration to spend a great deal of political capital, but would actually leave some of the most difficult issues unresolved.

On July 30, 2013, Judge Denise Lind, an army colonel, ruled in the United States v. Private First Class Bradley Manning trial that Manning is not guilty of aiding the enemy, but guilty on other counts of violating the espionage act. Manning released secret diplomatic cables and classified military reports from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to Wikileaks.

Ray Takeyh examines the newly instated President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani.

"A return to protracted political crisis, and possibly extensive violence, is likely, as Zimbabwe holds inadequately prepared presidential, parliamentary and local elections on 31 July. Conditions for a free and fair vote do not exist. Confidence in the process and institutions is low. The voters roll is a shambles, security forces unreformed and the media grossly imbalanced. The electoral commission is under-funded and lacked time to prepare. Concerns about rigging are pervasive, strongly disputed results highly likely."

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

Peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians have relaunched, ensuring major new challenges for both parties and the United States, says CFR's Robert Danin.