While a new round of U.S. quantitative easing will have a negative impact on emerging markets like Brazil, the country should not blame U.S. monetary policy for the structural flaws in its economy, says expert Bernardo Wjuniski.

The myth about how the United States won the Cuban missile crisis made it more difficult for presidents to do what common sense dictated, says CFR president emeritus Les Gelb.

An intensifying anti-Assad stance has disrupted Turkey's pragmatic regional policy and aroused concerns at home that it is on a war footing, says expert Steven Heydemann.

Protests in Pakistan led by politician Imran Khan show how U.S. drone strikes are being exploited in the run-up to the general election, says expert Joshua Foust.

Billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, whose party won last week's parliamentary elections in Georgia, will forge a foreign policy based on pragmatism, not ideology, says RFE/RL's Elizabeth Fuller.

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

A recent agremeent between Sudan and South Sudan to restart oil exports is likely to improve the macroeconomic situations of the countries, while paving the way for future negotiations over land disputes, says expert Alex de Waal.

Economic woes caused by sanctions and mismanagement, coupled with an upcoming political transition, have created new uncertainties in Iran, says expert Farideh Farhi.

As the center of the eurozone debt crisis shifts to Spain, it could signify a potentially decisive phase in the EU's management of the crisis, says economist Megan Greene.

The Afghan troop surge has ended and full U.S. military involvement is to sunset in 2014, leaving a fragile security situation and questions about the U.S. role, says CFR's Max Boot.

The UN General Assembly will likely address two "lightning rod" issues: ending the bloodshed in Syria and curbing Iran's nuclear development, says CFR's Stewart Patrick.

Though Iran might be capable of making a nuclear weapon soon, whether it has decided to is up for debate and calls into question the pressure for immediate military action, says expert David Albright.

One year after the UN's high-level meeting on noncommunicable diseases, little progress has been made in generating momentum and new resources. But with the right focus and strategies, there is room to move forward, says CFR's Thomas Bollyky.

The Arab Spring severely weakened the narrative of Islamist extremists but they are now stirring anti-U.S. sentiments in fragile new democracies, says Mideast expert Ali Soufan.

Sheila Smith argues that while recent tensions between Japan and South Korea over territorial issues are deeply worrisome for the U.S. government and for regional stability, the reality is that a stronger bilateral relationship can only come about if it is the Japanese and Korean people that lead the effort on reconciliation.

Violence against U.S. diplomatic missions in Libya and Egypt highlights the difficult road ahead for U.S. relations with these struggling states, says CFR's Robert Danin.

Post-9/11 U.S. counterterrorism and surrounding civil liberties issues are unlikely to stray far from currently policy no matter who is in the White House in 2013, says CFR's Matthew Waxman.

Foreign policy has not played a major role in the presidential campaign so far, but a close race could make it a factor in courting "the moveable middle," says CFR's James Lindsay.

The growing likelihood of a protracted civil war in Syria does not necessarily warrant Western military intervention, which could "cause more damage, chaos, and instability than not," says Assad biographer David Lesch.

While a nuclear-armed Iran presents "a terrible outcome strategically," a U.S. or Israeli military attack carries unforeseeable risks, says CFR President Richard Haass.