Gayle Tzemach Lemmon says Mitt Romney's major foreign policy speech on Monday reflects a vision for America's role in the world that is both far more forward-leaning than the current administration has exercised and far less energetic than Bush's.

This campaign season, President Obama and Mitt Romney have remained focused on domestic issues in the "face of a gasping economy and long-term joblessness," argues Gayle Tzemach Lemmon. However, given pressing concerns raised by Afghanistan and the Middle East, among other foreign policy issues, the candidates will soon have to address international affairs issues.

Jeffrey H. Smith and John B. Bellinger III say that because a nuclear-armed Iran is a real threat to the United States, the president does have reason to argue for his constitutional authority to use force against Iran, but legislative approval would give him stronger legal and political ground to do so.

Michael Scott Doran and Max Boot lay out five reasons for why the United States should intervene in Syria, arguing that President Obama is forgoing his "lead from behind" approach where it would benefit the United States the most.

Obama acquitted himself well under terrible circumstances, but he must get to the bottom of the last week's five unresolved puzzles, from Libyan warnings to complicit guards, writes Leslie H. Gelb.

In the latest installment of his epic biography of U.S. President Lyndon Johnson, Robert Caro reveals a man who obsessively sought power to assuage a misplaced sense of his own suffering.

Micah Zenko says John Brennan, chief adviser to President Obama on counterterrorism issues, has a unique and unprecedented role in shaping and implementing the president's vision for protecting the United States, its allies, and its interests from politically motivated violence.

Foreign policy has not played a major role in the presidential campaign so far, but a close race could make it a factor in courting "the moveable middle," says CFR's James Lindsay.

Charles A. Kupchan says, unlike Mitt Romney, Barack Obama not only has a plan to strengthen American statecraft, he's got four years of achievements to show for his efforts.

The Wall Street Journal explains how speeches by Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan and former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice invigorated and energized an otherwise lackluster Republican National Convention.

Leslie H. Gelb says Obama captured the political center at home on foreign policy – a feat for a Democrat – because he avoided costly mistakes abroad. He understood the limits of U.S. power, but not its strengths when encased in a good strategy, and thus failed to achieve solutions to big problems abroad.

Leslie H. Gelb reviews The Obamians: The Struggle Inside the White House to Redefine American Power by James Mann.

Peter Orszag writes that the steep federal subsidies offered under the Affordable Care Act will make it hard for states to resist expanding their Medicaid programs.

Fifty years ago, the Cuban missile crisis brought the world to the brink of nuclear disaster. Every president since John F. Kennedy has tried to learn from what happened back then. Today, it can help U.S. policymakers understand what to do -- and what not to do -- about Iran, North Korea, China, and presidential decision-making in general.

Peter Orszag makes the case that increasing electoral participation would improve American democracy.

Robert Rubin explains how the pressures of the "fiscal cliff" will present U.S. political leaders with a rare second chance to make critical fiscal reforms after the 2012 elections.

Former president Jimmy Carter discusses the foreign policy accomplishments of his administration, as well as his work with the Carter Center.

The Home Box Office History Makers Series focuses particular attention on the contributions made by a prominent individual at a critical juncture in international relations.

Former president Jimmy Carter discusses the foreign policy accomplishments of his administration, as well as his work with the Carter Center.

The Home Box Office History Makers Series focuses particular attention on the contributions made by a prominent individual at a critical juncture in international relations.

Elliott Abrams says that a clearer statement from President Obama about his determination to prevent Iranian acquisition of a nuclear weapon is still needed.

The next president should keep after al-Qaeda but mend relations with Congress on terrorism, reports this Brookings Institution campaign briefing.