Michael Gerson writes that there are "two types of Obama enthusiasm--one admirable, the other insufferable."

Peter Beinart looks at how President Obama can make U.S. foreign policy "solvent" again.

Michael Gerson writes that, "like Lincoln or Martin Luther King Jr., Obama positioned himself as a conservative revolutionary" in his inaugural speech.

In this Vancouver Sun op-ed, Edward Alden says that while gridlock has been the norm in Washington, there are precedents for outbursts of creative and energetic government. Still, Americans' expectations for Obama face long odds.

Richard Haass looks at how President Obama might handle the extraordinary constraints he faces and what that means for the rest of the world.

Sundaa A. Bridgett Jones argues, "respect and active engagement must start right away," in the Middle East.

Listen to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff reflect on government actions during crises and lessons learned from his time in the Bush administration.

Peter Beinart writes, "Obama's opening act looks a lot more like Bush's than like Bill Clinton's, even though Clintonites populate his administration."

European affairs analyst William Drozdiak says Barack Obama's administration will lead Washington to demand from Europe more troops for Afghanistan, a coordinated economic stimulus package, and help resettling Guantanamo detainees.

As President George W. Bush enters his final month in office, Leslie H. Gelb, a former high-ranking national security official who served ten years as CFR's president, assesses the Bush administration's legacy. It "drained and lessened American power in the world," he says, and as a result U.S. credibility in the world "was sorely damaged."

Listen to experts discuss the recommendations of the new report Restoring the Balance: A Middle East Strategy for the Next President, advocating a new approach in the region, focusing on the Arab-Israeli peace process and Iran's nuclear program.

Watch experts discuss the recommendations of the new report Restoring the Balance: A Middle East Strategy for the Next President, advocating a new approach in the region, focusing on the Arab-Israeli peace process and Iran's nuclear program.

The launch of the joint Council on Foreign Relations and Saban Center book Restoring the Balance: A Middle East Strategy for the Next President, a series of policy recommendations for the next U.S. president pertaining to U.S. strategy in the Middle East.

TIME examines Obama-Biden transition team's possible selection of Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) as secretary of state.

Listen to E.J. Dionne Jr. and Michael J. Gerson discuss priorities for U.S. foreign policy in the Obama administration, as part of CFR's Religion and Foreign Policy Conference Call Series.

Learn more about CFR's Religion and Foreign Policy Initiative.

Peter Beinart writes that, in the Obama era, liberalism could again become America's ruling creed.