As the debate over intervention or arming the opposition grows amid continuing violence in Syria, four CFR experts offer their recommendations on how Washington should respond to the crisis.

CFR's James M. Lindsay recalls the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II and discusses the balance between civil liberties and national security.

China's cheap labor is reaching a tipping point, writes New York Times' Michelle Dammon Loyalka. Is Obama right to suggest that manufacturing may return to the United States?

Steven Hurst writes that Mitt Romney has taken the hard line on foreign policy, indiscriminately escalating rhetoric against both European allies and international antagonists.

U.S. presidential candidates mostly share a wary posture toward China, out of concern over trade imbalances and its regional assertiveness. Yet, many also consider China a potential partner.

The Obama administration's 2013 budget plan has revived debate over the sustainability of U.S. spending. This Backgrounder outlines the competing policy paths on fiscal reforms and the global consequences for failing to bring down U.S. debt.

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney writes that "the character of the Chinese government--one that marries aspects of the free market with suppression of freedom--shouldn't become the norm."

Election year doesn't have to be a wasted year on the fiscal front, say Pete V. Domenici, Co-Chair of the Bipartisan Policy Center's Debt Reduction Task Force and Alice M. Rivlin, Senior Fellow for Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution, emphasizing the need to slow down the growth of major entitlements and raise additional revenue from an efficient tax system.

A preview of world events in the coming week from CFR.org: UN nuclear officials visit Iran for a second time; a Friends of Syria meeting is held in Tunis; and G20 foreign ministers convene in Mexico.

Shannon K. O'Neil discusses the role illegal immigration plays in the 2012 U.S. presidential race and says the rhetoric does not always match up to current immigration realities.

As the decade-long war in Afghanistan finally winds down, presidential candidates continue to differ on timetables for U.S. troop withdrawal from the country.

The winner of the 2012 presidential election faces an important leadership test on trade, which will have challenges and opportunities, says CFR's Thomas Bollyky, including leveling the playing field with China and finalizing the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Frank Klotz argues that the closure of a military base is economically and emotionally difficult, but the U.S. military cannot afford to maintain facilities it no longer needs, especially in the midst of a budget crisis.

Peter Orszag outlines five basic principles for U.S. fiscal policy to follow: continue short-term economic support, enact automatic stabilizers, couple stimulus with delayed deficit reduction, raise additional revenue, and move forward on small-scale policy issues.

With Rick Santorum's recent caucus victories, Jason Miks takes a second look at the potential candidate's foreign policy talking points, describing them largely hyperbolic, hawkish, and faith-driven.

CFR's James M. Lindsay remembers Richard Nixon's historic trip to China in 1972 and discusses the importance of diplomacy in international relations.

The Economist comments on Obama's recently released federal budget: as a fiscal document, it is optimistic though not unreasonable; as a political move, it is an early campaign promise towards reelection.

Uri Friedman discusses the evolution of Rick Santorum's hard-lined aproach to Iran, drawing from the potential candidate's time at the Ethics and Public Policy Center to his current polemic.

President Obama and Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping gave these remarks at the White House on February 14, 2012.

The White House released the proposed FY 2013 U.S. government budget document on February 13, 2012.