Foreign Service officer Payton L. Knopf argues that the State Department must develop a framework for engaging with nonstate armed groups. He calls on the department to make bureaucratic and operational reforms to execute this increasingly important mission.

As Africa's strategic importance grows, the African Union is poised to be a U.S. partner on the continent. The AU, however, must take concrete steps to develop its conflict-management capabilities—an area in which the United States can play a critical role.

Yemen is experiencing serious political turmoil after more than three decades of President Ali Abdullah Saleh's autocratic rule. To help stabilize Yemen, the United States must broaden its policy beyond counterterrorism efforts.

Investment in maternal health in Afghanistan provides a cost-effective way to promote strategic U.S. foreign policy objectives. As part of a responsible drawdown, the United States should continue its commitments to improving maternal health programs.

CFR scholars provide policy options for preventing a major crisis in the territories immediately adjacent to China: North Korea, Myanmar, Pakistan, and Central Asia.

In this globalized world, countries will need to cooperate on policies that extend across borders to address issues that affect them all, including conflict prevention and peacemaking. The authors of this report assess the strengths and weaknesses of international institutions and provide a set of practical recommendations for how the United States can strengthen the global architecture for preventive action by partnering with those organizations.

This Independent Task Force report encourages the Obama administration and Congress to adopt a "pro-America" trade policy that brings to more Americans the benefits of global engagement.

Business, policy, and thought leaders offer recommendations on enhancing the U.S.-India strategic relationship.

A broad-sweeping look at international efforts to combat terrorism. This is part of the Global Governance Monitor, an interactive feature tracking multilateral approaches to several global challenges.

The repercussions of a terrorist attack on the United States originating in Pakistan could be catastrophic. Professor Stephen Tankel outlines policy tools that U.S. decision-makers can employ to prevent an attack and to mitigate the consequences if one occurs.

As tobacco reemerges as a contentious issue in trade policy, CFR Senior Fellow Thomas Bollyky argues that the Obama administration can better balance U.S. mandates on tobacco trade policy with its interests in promoting global health and U.S. standing abroad.

Public disorder and instability in Libya could emerge if the Qaddafi regime falls. The United States should support a stabilization effort to prevent the potential consequences of regime failure.

The nuclear nonproliferation regime has had difficulty dealing with noncompliance and preventing the illicit use of dual-use materials. A strengthened Proliferation Security Initiative can help prevent proliferation and mobilize international action.

Emma Belcher recommends the establishment of a nuclear security fund. Contributions from the private sector could build nuclear security capacity worldwide.

This Independent Task Force finds that Brazil is a significant international actor whose influence on global issues is likely to increase and recommends that U.S. policymakers and others recognize its global standing and work with Brazil to develop complementary policies. This report is also available in Portuguese.

CFR Senior Fellow Paul B. Stares offers crisis preparedness solutions to help the Obama administration reduce its chances of being blindsided by future uprisings, as it was by the Arab Spring.

Recognizing the limitations of current international systems based in The Hague, David A. Kaye provides a strategy for promoting national-level justice and accountability mechanisms to prosecute perpetrators of mass atrocity crimes.

CFR Senior Fellow Daniel Markey argues that the United States should move quickly to convert the post–bin Laden crisis in U.S.-Pakistan relations into an opportunity for significant and positive reform of Pakistan's security and intelligence services.

Electoral instability and insurrectionary violence may once again afflict the Democratic Republic of Congo. Joshua Marks of the National Endowment for Democracy proposes steps the United States can take to prevent these scenarios from occurring and, if they occur, mitigate their potential consequences.

Investment in voluntary international family planning is one of the most cost-effective ways to strengthen critical U.S. foreign policy objectives, including improving global health, promoting economic development, stabilizing fragile states, and encouraging environmental sustainability.