Amity Shlaes discusses her book Coolidge.

The League of Nations was championed by President Woodrow Wilson in a fourteen-point speech to a joint session of Congress on January 8, 1918, and formally began its operations in January 1920. However, the League failed to win Senate approval and is forever remembered as a major example of a communications breakdown between the president and the Senate.

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Michael Spence outlines the conflicting objectives that President Obama and the U.S. Congress must reconcile as they negotiate a new federal budget.

Peter Orszag argues that switching to the chained consumer price index for calculating Social Security cost-of-living adjustments will not make as much of a difference as many seem to think.

Michael A. Levi, CFR's David M. Rubenstein senior fellow for energy and the environment, and director of the program on energy security and climate change, leads a conversation on President Obama's climate change policies.

"The U.S., by what it does and how it does it, ought to set and reinforce a norm that the use of armed drones should be exceptional," argues Richard N. Haass.

Isobel Coleman says that while President Obama's State of the Union address focused on domestic policies, unpredictable events in the rest of the world are unlikely to allow his second administration to stay above the fray in its foreign policy.

Micah Zenko says, "Most analysts and journalists have focused on President Obama's expanded scope, intensity, and institutionalization of targeted killings against suspected terrorists and militants. However, perhaps the enduring legacy of the Obama administration will be its sustained, rigorous effort to shape and define-down the idea of war."

In order to gain more congressional support for national security and foreign policy measures, "The Obama administration will need to pick its legislative priorities more deliberately, engage with allies and opponents in Congress more actively, and be willing to negotiate compromises or wage aggressive campaigns on key issues," says Matthew C. Waxman.

"What is clear is that there is no shortage of challenges or opportunities beyond America's borders. What may matter most when it comes to this country's national security, though, is whether it can put its own economic and political house in order," says Richard N. Haass.

This CFR Issue Guide provides resources and analysis on President Obama's inauguration and the foreign policy challenges facing his second administration.

President Obama gave his second inaugural speech on January 21, 2013 after being sworn in as the 44th president of the United States.

Joseph Biden, Barack Obama's "single most influential foreign policy adviser," is poised surpass Dick Cheney as the most powerful vice president in American history in the president's second term, writes David Rothkopf.

In an interview with ABC News, Richard N. Haass answers eight questions about the "fiscal cliff," Israel, President Obama's recent cabinet nominations, among others.

In the context of the holiday season, Julia E. Sweig assesses President Obama's response to the Newtown shootings.

Micah Zenko says, "Similar to everyday choices like which brand of cereal to buy, how senior military officials present and characterize military options strongly influences policymakers' decisions."

John B. Bellinger III says, "Over the last 230 years, the Senate has approved more than 1,500 treaties. In 2013, Mr. Obama must demonstrate leadership by putting greater effort in securing Senate approval of essential treaties that advance American interests, including the Law of the Sea Convention."

Peter Orszag explains why Build America Bonds could become victims of the fiscal cliff and why they should be saved.

Peter Orszag writes that reaching a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff will require Republicans and Democrats to be more flexible about the positions they have staked out over tax and entitlement reforms.

Listen to CFR Senior Fellow Shannon K. O'Neil and former foreign minister of Mexico Jorge G. Castañeda discuss President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto and the future of U.S.-Mexico relations.

In an op-ed that appeared this week in USA Today, O'Neil argued that the main obstacle to better relations between the two countries is Americans' perceptions of Mexico and its people:

"In Americans' psyches, drugs dominate. When advertising firm GSD&M and Vianovo strategic consultants asked Americans to come up with three words that describe Mexico, nearly every other person answered 'drugs,' followed by 'poor' and 'unsafe.' Other questions reveal Americans see Mexico as corrupt, unstable and violent, more problem than partner. Americans had more favorable views of Greece, El Salvador and Russia."

Read O'Neil's USA Today op-ed "Mexico Isn't a Gangland Gunbattle."

In the November/December issue of Foreign Affairs, Castañeda and historian Héctor Aguilar Camín claim that there is a political mandate in Mexico that calls for less corruption, greater rule of law, and improved economic justice:

"Mexicans' clamor for prosperity is no longer negotiable, and today, the country is less than a generation away from becoming the full-fledged middle-class society it aspires to be. But only if it gets to work now."

Read Camín and Castañeda's essay "Mexico's Age of Agreement."