A conversation with Manouchehr Mottaki, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran

U.S. policy towards Iran is a major campaign issue, given the country’s defiance of UN demands for transparency in its nuclear program. Candidates’ stances run the gamut from considering direct military action to isolating Iran.

Experts discuss poll results revealing the divergent opinions of Republicans and Democrats on U.S. foreign affairs priorities and how these could affect the presidential election.

Homeland security is likely to generate considerable discussion in the 2008 presidential race on topics such as the USA Patriot Act, border fences, and FEMA reforms after Hurricane Katrina.

The war in Iraq has remained a top concern of American voters in the 2008 presidential campaign season. Candidates are divided between supporting the president's strategy to surge more troops into central Iraq versus establishing a timetable to eventually pull out U.S. forces,with some residual units left in the region.

James M. Lindsay, an expert on U.S. foreign policy, and a former director of studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, discusses the first presidential debate between Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama.

The first debate between presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama was held on September 26, 2008 at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi. It was moderated by PBS' Jim Lehrer.

Democratic vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden gave this speech in Cincinnati, Ohio on September 24, 2008. Following are excerpts from the speech.

Listen to CFR fellows discuss topics such as U.S. relations with Asia, Russia, and Europe, as well as the financial crisis, nuclear terrorism, and climate change, as they relate to the presidential foreign policy debate.

Gideo Rose writes that "great powers need to be careful lest their dependents embroil them in unnecessary conflicts."

Michael J. Gerson writes that "Predicting the ideal combination of background, skills and values in a successful president--or VP--is no easy task."

Richard N. Haass writes that "understanding how a candidate thinks about the world gives a better sense of how he is likely to react to both opportunity and crisis."

Michael J. Gerson writes about the Bush Doctrine.

This chapter by Stewart Patrick is excerpted from the book The White House and the World: A Global Development Agenda for the Next U.S. President and addresses how the United States must reformulate how it handles failing, failed and war-torn states.

Michael Gerson analyzes, what he considers, Obama's first three major decisions as the democratic presidential candidate and how they will affect his campaign.

Michael Moran writes that, across the world, "America's electoral rituals are viewed with a mix of amazement, amusement, contempt and hope."

A look at how even though a woman is in a hot seat for office, history shows us that issues of policy will ultimately trump the politics of identity.

Michael Gerson writes that "deriding Palin's religion has been a poor strategy" for the Democrats.

Listen to experts discuss the influence of the Latino demographic on politics and elections.

This symposium was made possible by the generous support of the Ford Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Democratic presidential candidates have much more readily embraced plans for federally mandated action to curb carbon emissions, and combat climate change.