Pope Benedict XVI's gave these remarks at his final General Audience on February 27, 2013, at St. Peter's Square.

Julia E. Sweig addresses the transition of Catholic demographics and the cultural power of the papacy.

The surprise resignation of Pope Benedict XVI has given rise to speculations that the next pontiff to lead the Catholic Church will hail from the developing world, says expert James P. McCartin.

France says it will withdraw from Mali once an African peacekeeping force is in place. To keep Islamists at bay, the United States is considering increasing its military presence in the region. A better approach is to focus on fixing the governance issues that fuel radicalism to begin with, says John Campbell.

Ellen Bork, director of Democracy and Human Rights at the Foreign Policy Initiative, leads a conversation on the relationship between China and Tibet and the ongoing religious persecution in Tibet.

Elliott Abrams examines recent news of Jews in Denmark being warned against openly wearing religious symbols amid rising anti-Israeli sentiment in Copenhagen.

Reza Aslan, CFR's adjunct senior fellow, leads a conversation on Iran and its role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Joshua Kurlantzick suggests that the interethnic conflict in Rakhine State in western Myanmar is symptomatic of the larger challenges the country faces as it transitions from absolute military rule to democracy.

The Muslim Brotherhood has seen a rapid and fractious ascension to power in Egypt, but questions remain about whether it can maintain a post-revolutionary commitment to democracy.

Reza Aslan says, "It has always been extremely easy to inject God into political conflicts... But if we are to find an equitable end to such intractable conflicts as the one between Israel and Palestine, we must learn to actively strip them of their religious connotations. Otherwise, we will never stop fighting them."

Joshua Kurlantzick, CFR's fellow for Southeast Asia, leads a conversation on the conflict between Thailand's growing Muslim insurgency and majority Buddhist security forces.

With its commandments and parables, its kings and its prophets, the Hebrew Bible has served as a reference point for Western politics for centuries. Almost every kind of political movement, it seems, has drawn its own message from the text.

Joshua Kurlantzick explores the roots of the insurgency in Thailand's deep south, prospects for a settlement, and why this deadly conflict remains largely ignored by the international media.

While Christian communities in the Arab Middle East are decimated or endangered, the Christian community in Israel grows. Yet the mainline Protestant denominations in the United States continue to assault Israel and demand cuts in American aid to that country while ignoring the plight of their Christian brethren, says Elliott Abrams.

Ed Husain considers how Muslim populations in the Middle East are grappling with progressive and literalist interpretations of Islam's role in government.

Reza Aslan says the question isn't whether Islam promotes democracy, but rather do Muslims promote democracy, remarking that there are some who do and some who don't, as is the case with followers of every religious tradition on earth."

Meghan L. O'Sullivan says doing more to help the budding democracies in the Arab world isn't just in the interest of Arabs, who are deserving of a better future, but also of the United States, which needs better partners in this part of the world.

Libya is experiencing a transition away from its earlier state into a region that has changed in its political and religious landscape.

Ed Husain argues that while Muslims are rightly offended by the anti-Islam film, no government or population should respond by trying to stifle freedom of speech.

Ed Husain argues that despite fervent protests in the Middle East, the U.S. should not forget that it still wields significant influence among Arab populations.