A favorite view of the Internet holds that the democratization of communications will bring about the democratization of the world.

Religion is on the rise around the world, from the southern United States to the Middle East.

Clean-energy technology is expensive and the United States is spending far too little on developing it.

Governments across the Middle East and South Asia are increasingly losing power to substate actors that are inserting themselves at a mezzanine level of rule between the government and the people.

The United States worldwide system of more than 1,000 military bases, stations, and outposts has actually provokes conflict and creates insecurity.

Moscow would like to trade its cooperation on a range of international issues for technology and investment, both of which it needs for domestic growth and stability.

Brazil's rapid economic growth has transformed the country into a new global heavyweight, but Brazil must not let an overly ambitious foreign policy agenda distract it from lingering domestic challenges.

Americans must realize that expanding educational attainment everywhere is the best way to grow the pie for all.

The ouster of General Stanley McChrystal does not suggest that U.S. political-military relations are in crisis. But the episode should remind the military's highest officers of the need for, and the requirements of, appropriate professional behavior.

President Obama must recognize that there is not a clean divide between a moderate pro-American camp and an extremist militant axis and take into account the Middle East's rapidly shifting dynamics.

In Reset, Stephen Kinzer argues that the United States should partner with Iran and Turkey to promote democracy and combat extremism in the Middle East. Although it is hard to imagine Iran as a friend of Washington, Turkey is ready to play that role.

The Pentagon recognizes the catastrophic threat posed by cyberwarfare, and is partnering with allied governments and private companies to prepare itself.

Mexico is currently suffering from the same sort of drug-related violence that plagued Colombia during the 1980s. Mexico and the United States can learn a great deal from Colombia's example, including that they must build law enforcement capacity and not rely solely on military force.

Cubans want the United States to lift its long-standing embargo on Cuba, but any serious easing of trade and travel restrictions between the two countries may badly harm Cuba's health-care industry.

The Obama administration has not yet delivered on the promising new policy for Latin America and the Caribbean it announced last year, but it still can.

In The Flight of the Intellectuals, Paul Berman argues that it is not violent Islamists who pose the greatest danger to liberal societies in the West but rather their so-called moderate cousins, such as Tariq Ramadan.

David Remnick's The Bridge delivers fresh insights about Barack Obama's personal and political odyssey -- particularly when it comes to understanding the degree to which Obama is a product of New England's commitment to social and global reform.

Jane Burbank and Frederick Cooper's extensive volume and Timothy Parsons' selective survey are systematic treatments of empires; Richard Immerman's history is a focused critique of America's imperial career. None is an apologia for the United States.

Despite international pressure, Iran appears to be continuing its march toward getting a nuclear bomb.

The U.S. government must improve its ability to help its partners defend themselves or, if necessary, fight alongside U.S. troops.