The mood in Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, and Dohuk -- the three largest cities in Iraqi Kurdistan -- is newly buoyant these days, and with good reason.

Today, 214,098 women serve in the U.S. military, representing 14.6 percent of total service members.

For all the differences between Democrats and Republicans that were laid bare during the 2012 U.S. presidential campaign, the parties' standard-bearers, Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, do seem to have agreed on one thing: the importance of equal opportunity.

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.

CFR fellow Isobel Coleman speaks with two women leaders, Marianne Ibrahim from Egypt and Souad Slaoui from Morocco, as they discuss initiatives in their home countries to empower women and girls, improve inter-faith dialogues, and encourage positive policy changes that support human rights and international development.

Education must become a central focus to ensure a stable and prosperous U.S. in the future, write Margaret Spellings and Joel Klein. Klein lead the CFR-sponsored Independent Task Force on U.S. Education Reform and National Security.

Julia E. Sweig discusses race and class in America in the run-up to the presidential election.

Isobel Coleman writes that despite persistent challenges to security and unity, Libya has weathered the year since Qaddafi's death better than many expected.

Max Boot says Obama repeated Bush's mistake, and the power vacuum in Libya has now been filled by jihadists.

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.

President Obama published this op-ed on education in Time magazine on October 18, 2012.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney published this op-ed on education in Time magazine on October 18, 2012.

The economic climate and border security concerns have thrust the question of immigration reform into the spotlight in the 2012 presidential campaign.

Experts discuss CFR's Renewing America initiative issues: the U.S. fiscal cliff, government regulations, the state of U.S. infrastructure, and the economic consequences of political polarization.

Experts discuss CFR's Renewing America initiative issues: the U.S. fiscal cliff, government regulations, the state of U.S. infrastructure, and the economic consequences of political polarization.

Pir Zubair Shah says the attack on Malala, the Pakistani girl gunned down by the Taliban, proves the Taliban's resilience and shows the uphill task of fighting them without a firm plan in place.

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon says that just as Malala Yousafzai, the fourteen-year-old Pakistani girl who was gunned down by Taliban shooters, refused to silently abandon her right to education even at the risk of losing her life, courageous women and men fight daily against a worldview that considers girls' schools a call to action in their battle against modernity.

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.

Ray Takeyh argues that if Ayatollah Ali Khamenei wants to ensure the Islamic republic's revolutionary precepts survive him, China is a model to avoid.

The victory of President Hugo Chávez raises questions about the country's future trajectory. Expert Jennifer McCoy details the post-election political landscape.