Participants discuss possible U.S. policy approaches to Iran's nuclear program and the recently concluded talks in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Ed Husain says the Arab boycott of Israel is counterproductive, and that abandoning it would be a positive step for Arab states' involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) Stuart Bowen produced this final report for Congress, released March 6, 2013. The report details how much money was spent and which programs it funded over the nine year reconstruction in Iraq, and seven lessons the United States can learn about stabilization and reconstruction efforts. Other quarterly reports to Congress and the legislation that created SIGIR are also available.

Council on Foreign Relations President Richard N. Haass writes that John Kerry has only one chance to make a first impression on his first trip abroad as secretary of state, and what is said and not said on this visit will have repercussions for years to come.

Secretary John Kerry and Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Amr gave these remarks on March 2, 2013. During this visit, Secretary Kerry also met with President Morsi, Egyptian business leaders, and nongovernmental representatives, and announced the Egyptian-American Enterprise Fund and more U.S. foreign aid.

World powers are now offering to ease sanctions on Iran if it agrees to halt its most sensitive nuclear activity. Expert Daryl Kimball urges a full diplomatic press to stop Iran from crossing the nuclear weapons line.

Secretary Kerry held this press conference on February 28, 2013, in Rome. He discussed the United States committing $60 million in humanitarian aid to Syria.

A group of foreign ministers met with the leader of the Syrian National Coalition, Sheikh Moaz al Khatib, in Rome for the fourth Friends of the Syria conference on February 28, 2013. They released this final statement announcing "increased political and material support to the Syrian National Coalition."

Two new books lament the outsized role of the military in Israeli national security decisionmaking, blaming the generals for favoring force over diplomacy.

Leslie H. Gelb writes that the aim now in Syria can't be just to help the rebels and get rid of Assad; it must be to prevent al Qaeda's extremist cohorts from grabbing power.

Conflict between Israelis and Palestinians began even before the State of Israel was established in 1948, and the two populations have opposing claims to the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea that have defeated numerous U.S. efforts to broker peace. Right now there is little hope of a comprehensive solution—one that resolves all the issues and involves not only Israel and the PLO but the Arab states as well. Today, the most that Israel can realistically offer is less than the least the Palestinians can realistically accept. For now, the best way forward is to continue talks, but to emphasize practical steps forward on the ground that move Palestinians toward construction of a state.

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Ambassador Fredrick Barton assesses challenges facing his bureau stemming from conflicts around the world.

People love to talk about "red lines" for all sorts of challenges, and the Iranian nuclear program is no exception. The United States can, in principle, threaten stronger sanctions if Iran crosses certain red lines. It can threaten military action if Iran crosses others. But it's not clear that setting red lines—particularly in public, where failing to follow through on threats can be costly—is a productive course.

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In recent years, the strategic alliance between Iran and Hezbollah has grown to the point where the Lebanese militant group's fealty to Tehran is paramount, a dynamic currently on display in Syria, says counterterrorism expert Matthew Levitt.

A take-it-or-leave-it deal by the United States on the nuclear issue is the wrong strategy, says Ray Takeyh.

Secretary John Kerry and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon gave these remarks before their meeting on February 14, 2013. They outlined the main issues they would discuss: North Korea's nuclear test and Six Party Talks, negotiations with Iran, the crisis in Syria, and France's intervention in Mali.

The Egyptian uprising presents a rare opportunity for the United States to resolve the tension between its strategic priorities in the Middle East and its desire to support democratic change in the region. Washington's past approach to aiding Egypt was based on relations with authoritarian leaders who could be counted on to advance the United States' interests. With the fall of Hosni Mubarak and Egyptian efforts to build a more open political system, a policy based on "authoritarian stability" is no longer possible, and the United States is now forced to alter the way it appropriates and distributes bilateral assistance.

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Iran's reluctance to negotiate over its controversial nuclear program makes a deal with international powers unlikely, says CFR's Carla Robbins.

Ed Husain hosts Bernard Haykel in a discussion of the convergences and divergences in Gulf governments' policies toward the Arab Spring, both domestically and regionally.