Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney released this white paper on education, "A Chance For Every Child: Mitt Romney's Plan for Restoring the Promise of American Education", on May 23, 2012.

Leonid Kishkovsky, director of external affairs and interchurch relations for the Orthodox Church in America, leads a conversation on the relationship between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Kremlin, and the standing of religious minorities in Russia, as part of CFR's Religion and Foreign Policy Conference Call series.

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

Julia E. Sweig analyzes President Obama's historic announcement in support of marriage equality for same-sex couples.

Joshua Kurlantzick says, "... Thailand, once a poster child for democratization in the developing world, has undergone perhaps the most rapid and severest democratic regression in the entire world."

Ann Mei Chang, Alex Counts, and Scott C. Ratzan discuss innovative ways mobile technology can be leveraged to foster economic growth, empower women, improve public health, and alleviate poverty.

The Women and Technology Roundtable Series is made possible thanks to the generous support of ExxonMobil.

In his testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives, Edward Alden argues that the United States needs a broader package of legislation that includes expanding the Visa Waiver Program and encourages more efficient visa security screening.

This was a meeting of the roundtable series, Opportunity and Exclusion in the Global Economy.

This Congressional Reseach Service report aims to give an overview of the Chinese political system, as well as to introduce a number of distinct features of China's formal political culture and discuss their implications for U.S.-China relations in time for the upcoming NATO summit in Chicago.

Benjamin Netanyahu's agreement with the Kadima Party reflects a public more concerned about economic and social issues than whether to strike Iran, says CFR's Robert M. Danin.

Laurie Garrett and Steven A. Cook discuss the threats of Avian flu and foot and mouth disease in Egypt.

Task Force Chair Condoleezza Rice and Project Director Julia Levy discuss the findings and recommendations of the CFR-sponsored Independent Task Force report on U.S. Education Reform and National Security.

Condoleeza Rice and Julia Levy introduce and describe the CFR-sponsored Independent Task Force on U.S. Education Reform and National Security, which is part of CFR's Renewing America initiative and asserts that fixing the nation's underperforming education system is critical for strengthening the country's security and increasing its economic competitiveness.

Though investment in entrepreneurs is not a silver bullet for development, economic growth and job creation stimulated by small and medium-sized enterprises can foster stability and help curb conflict in fragile states. Comprehensive programs that help SMEs increase their access to finance, markets, networks, and skills should be offered as part of a package of services to best leverage the efforts now under way to promote entrepreneurship.

Michael W. Hodin argues, "If aging populations can break out of traditional roles of dependency to contribute to social and economic life, societies can find the magical balance of growth and what is now called austerity."

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon says that while U.S. politicians have accused them of destroying "the fabric of this country," single mothers are a powerful example that is holding society together.

Populations throughout the developed world are aging and shrinking, with dire consequences. Yet decline is not inevitable. Even in the industrialized world, governments can encourage childbearing through policies that let women reconcile work and family.

Mexico is winning its death match against the drug cartels and rebuilding once-corrupt institutions in the process. But an election is approaching, and the candidates are calling for a truce. Mexico can take its place in the sun, but only if it wipes out the cartels for good.

The U.S. Psychotropic Substances Act of 1978 was signed into law on November 10, 1978 as Public Law 95-633.

Mafia states enjoy the unhealthy advantages of their hybrid status: they're as nimble as gangs and as well protected as governments, and thus more dangerous than either.

A pair of books by Charles Mann describe life in the Americas before and after Columbus linked the hemispheres and kicked off the first era of globalization. It turns out that the New World was far more technologically advanced than subsequent generations have realized, with plenty to teach the Old -- especially about how to simultaneously exploit and preserve key natural resources.