A new trade deal promises to bring Taiwan and China closer economically, but tensions on security issues remain, says Taiwanese Minister Johnny Chiang.

A new spotlight on mineral wealth has spurred debate on the prospects for rescuing Afghanistan's feeble economy. The country's minister of mines and two World Bank experts discuss how to manage Afghan resources.

Amid Kyrgyzstan's domestic upheaval, the status of an important U.S. military base could become shakier, says expert Alexander Cooley of Columbia University.

While the secretary of defense targets the military services' hardware for future trims, Pentagon budget expert Todd Harrison says personnel costs should be the real target.

Unlike "too big to fail" financial firms, hedge funds spot market bubbles and assume their own losses, says CFR's Sebastian Mallaby.

The"proximity talks" being conducted between Israelis and Palestinians probably won't lead to a final status agreement, say CFR experts Elliot Abrams and Steven A. Cook, but they could lead to the framework for a Palestinian state on the West Bank.

The Obama administration needs to do more to promote free trade and should get tough with intellectual property violators abroad, says the U.S. Council for International Business's Jonathan Huneke at World Trade Week.

The Gulf of Mexico oil spill is not just a problem to clean up, says CFR's Michael Levi, it has serious commercial implications for some oil firms and has dimmed the prospects of U.S. climate legislation.

While the time isn't ripe for an Obama administration peace plan, the White House should try to reignite proximity talks and possibly work to develop terms of reference and a structure for future final status talks, says CFR President Richard N. Haass.

Iceland's volcanic disruption poses long-term problems for European airlines, says European economist Jacob Kirkegaard, and it could also depress the EU's overall GDP this quarter because of curtailed business travel.

After a spasm of violent protests that caused Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev to flee the capital, the international community must push the new transitional government to set the country back on a democratic path, says CFR Central Asia expert Evan Feigenbaum.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton faces a difficult task persuading Brazil to join tougher UN sanctions on Iran, amid a series of important regional meetings, says CFR's Julia Sweig.

Environmental economist Robert Stavins says Obama's energy plan is designed to make a climate bill more politically feasible, but he points out energy policy and climate policy often have different goals. Without cap-and-trade, it will be hard to meet the country's Copenhagen target, he notes.

The deaths of three U.S. soldiers in northwest Pakistan February 3 raised questions about military cooperation between the two countries. Pakistani security expert Hassan Abbas says while cooperation has been improving, on Afghanistan their interests are far from fully aligned.

Economists Allan Meltzer and Martin Baily discuss the economic and political implications of Obama's State of the Union proposals and the reappointment of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

The United States is falling behind international competitors in Internet technology and innovation, says Yochai Benkler, an expert on Internet law. He says FCC reforms should focus greater access to Internet infrastructure.

CFR's Adam Segal says the showdown between Google and the Chinese government could result in a world of separate regional Internets and comes at a difficult time in U.S.-China relations.

Haiti's horrific earthquake is a setback for the country's slowly improving development, says Edward Luck, vice president and director of studies at the International Peace Institute. While international efforts are important, especially in providing relief, over the long-term, Haiti's development must be driven by Haitians, he says.

CFR's Peter Navario says a new patent pool giving generic drugmakers access to branded drugs to help lower costs of HIV-AIDS treatments in developing countries is timely and necessary, but more still needs to be accomplished.

CFR's Roger Kubarych says despite the gains of foreign stock exchanges, the New York Stock Exchange should remain competitive globally, even in a tougher U.S. regulatory climate.