Joshua Kurlantzick examines how emerging democratic powers like India and Brazil have thus far avoided a leadership in democracy promotion commensurate with their new global statuses

Women in the Arab world have certainly played a prominent role in their countries' transition, writes Isobel Coleman, but cannot take for granted that their activism will translate into political influence or legal gains in the emerging systems.

On the upcoming South Korean presidential election, Scott A. Snyder says the determining vote will be "South Korea's bulging forties cohort" that played a critical role in South Korea's transition from authoritiarianism to democracy and also has the greatest stake in its economic stability.

Elliott Abrams examines recent news of Jews in Denmark being warned against openly wearing religious symbols amid rising anti-Israeli sentiment in Copenhagen.

Americans want to see Congress and the president make a deal on the "fiscal cliff," but the incentives are strongest for policymakers to act only after the cliff has come and gone—and wreaked a great deal of havoc in the process, says Gayle Tzemach Lemmon.

Meghan L. O'Sullivan says, "No single proposal is going to smooth over the acute political division in Egypt. Yet a deal over a constitutional review holds the prospect of at least breaking the impasse."

Joshua Kurlantzick shares an excerpt from his new book, Democracy in Retreat, which revolves around a disturbing thesis: that after a steady increase in the number of democracies in the world for nearly a century, autocratic rule is on the march.

With the passing of International Human Rights Day, Jerome A. Cohen says China still has no effective means of enforcing the rights enshrined in its constitution. Yet, once again, new Communist Party leaders reignite hopes for bringing government and the party under the rule of law.

Shannon K. O'Neil says, "U.S.-Mexico security cooperation is vital and must continue. But with Enrique Peña Nieto's inauguration, Mexico's political landscape is now changing, and the United States must adjust its strategy and support accordingly."

Micah Zenko says unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are a different kind of weapon, and one that is quickly proliferating

Joshua Kurlantzick suggests that the interethnic conflict in Rakhine State in western Myanmar is symptomatic of the larger challenges the country faces as it transitions from absolute military rule to democracy.

Max Boot reviews The Generals by Thomas E. Rick, a book that traces the evolution of prevailing attitudes toward the promotion and relief of generals from the 1940s to present day, seeking to discover how the Army changed so dramatically in the past sixty-plus years and the consequences for the future of American military power.

Congress voting to normalize trade relations with Russia and repealing the restrictive Jackson-Vanik amendment will both help the U.S. economy and also integrate Russia into multilateral norms, rules, and values, says Anya Schmemann.

While California may not be getting much attention at this year's UN climate talks in Doha, "California's new cap-and-trade system is perhaps the biggest good news climate story this year, and delegates in Doha should be celebrating it," says Michael A. Levi.

In the past, U.S. officials have been less than eager to define a specific redline for the Iranian threat. While setting a March deadline could provide more certainty and coercive leverage to compel Iran to cooperate with the IAEA, it also places U.S. "credibility" on the line, says Micah Zenko.

Elliott Abrams says if the recent truce announced in Cairo truly brings the Gaza war to a close, it is not too soon to assess who gained and who lost from this conflict.

Kenneth Anderson and Matthew C. Waxman say some view automated technology developments as a crisis for the laws of war. But provided we start now to incorporate ethical and legal norms into weapons design, the incremental movement from automation to genuine machine autonomy already underway might well be made to serve the ends of law on the battlefield.

Reza Aslan says, "It has always been extremely easy to inject God into political conflicts... But if we are to find an equitable end to such intractable conflicts as the one between Israel and Palestine, we must learn to actively strip them of their religious connotations. Otherwise, we will never stop fighting them."

The female veterans who filed the lawsuit say combat exclusion is unfair and outdated, based on stereotypes, inhibits recognition and promotion of servicewomen—and ignores the realities of the modern battlefield, says Gayle Tzemach Lemmon.

After decades of fueling hunger for oil in the United States, Europe, and China, Blake Clayton says that the Middle East itself has developed a voracious appetite for energy.