Since their inception in 2000, The Millennium Development Goals have revolutionized the global aid business, using specific targets to help mobilize and guide development efforts. They have encouraged world leaders to tackle multiple dimensions of poverty simultaneously and provided a standard for judging performance. As their 2015 expiration looms, the time has come to bank those successes and focus on what comes next.

The Palestinian plan to ask the UN for statehood in September has provoked intense anxiety in Jerusalem and Washington.

Robert Danin argues that by adopting a publicly confrontational approach, the Palestinians risk undermining the goodwill and security that Fayyad's nation-building program has so painstakingly created.

The UN must streamline its decision making process so it can start backing up its lofty words with action.

Palestinians' UN bid for statehood recognition has both perils and benefits for the languishing Mideast peace process, experts say. It could escalate regional tensions, but it has added urgency to reopening negotiations.

The bid for Palestinian statehood at the UN sets President Mahmoud Abbas on a collision course with Hamas, the United States, and Israel. It is crucial to get back on track to a negotiated settlement, say experts.

Lawlessness in eastern Congo has reached a critical juncture. Analysts fear the crisis in the enormous country, which borders nine others, could spread across the region.

CFR.org provides a collection of resources on the role of the United Nations.

The war between Russia and Georgia has complicated Western efforts to pressure Iran over its nuclear program, analysts say.

Rising global food prices have prompted major food exporters to lower their own import duties. The shift brings hope for free-trade boosters.

The gathering of the world’s top emitters under White House auspices yielded more positive reviews than the first, if no concrete results.

Work begins on the future of global climate change policy with the world’s largest nations divided on key issues, including the U.S. resistance to mandatory emissions caps.

South African President Thabo Mbeki has pursued an ambitious foreign policy agenda. But many remain disappointed with South Africa’s unwillingness to challenge the status quo in African trouble spots.

International attention is riveted on bringing Darfur’s rebel groups to the negotiating table. Meanwhile, peace in Sudan’s south appears increasingly fragile.

Following a turbulent week of rhetoric over Iran, the UN Security Council agreed to delay action on further sanctions until November.

A gathering of the world’s top greenhouse-gas emitters provides President Bush an opportunity to recast his administration’s approach to climate change, but skepticism remains high.

Despite a strong economy and political reforms, Taiwan continues to struggle for international recognition.

In a break from past UN speeches, President Bush emphasized poverty and multilateralism in his address to the General Assembly. Iran's president, meanwhile, declared the nuclear issue closed.

The annual flurry of UN summitry in New York is likely to be upstaged by a U.S.-Iran showdown over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.