The United States, facing deepening economic and fiscal woes at home, is preparing to withdraw from Afghanistan.

Abandoning counterinsurgency doctrine after Afghanistan would doom the U.S. military to irrelevance and impotence, writes Christopher Sims and Fernando Luján. Not so, says Bing West; like it or not, the United States will be much less ambitious in future wars.

The United States gives Pakistan billions of dollars in aid each year. Pakistan returns the favor by harboring terrorists, spreading anti-Americanism, and selling nuclear technology abroad. Washington must tell Islamabad to start cooperating or lose its aid and face outright isolation.

China seems to want the yuan to dethrone the dollar as the global reserve currency. But don't expect China's currency to take over anytime soon.

China's rise is overstated, and its financial problems are massive, argues Derek Scissors. Arvind Subramanian disagrees, claiming that Beijing already calls theshots in the global economy.

Evan A. Feigenbaum argues that China will not simply bail out Pakistan with loans, investment, and aid, as those watching the deterioration of U.S.-Pakistani relations seem to expect. Rather, China will pursue profits, security, and geopolitical advantage regardless of Islamabad's preferences.

As Indonesia hosts a number of high-level summits this year, it looks set to take its place among the world's economic superstars.

In their single-minded pursuit of economic growth, China's leaders have long overlooked public health—which, by some measures, is now worse than under Mao.

Before complaining about China's refusal to buy into the liberal world order, argues Amitai Etzioni, the West should stop moving the goalposts by developing new norms of intervention, such as "the responsibility to protect."

Two trends represent Korea today: South Korea's extraordinary economic boom and North Korea's stagnation and provocation.

The Afghans will indeed be ready to take over their own security by 2014, writes the former commander of the ISAF Joint Command.

In 2001, fearing ethnic strife, the international community pushed for a strong central government in Kabul.

Is China poised to take over from the United States as the world's leading economy?

Sure, China's economic growth has been unprecedented, even miraculous. But the country is unlikely to keep up its breakneck pace.

Japan is undergoing profound changes that are empowering its political leadership at the expense of its bureaucracy.

If the United States is interested in leaving behind a better Afghanistan than the one it found, it needs to take the experiences of past invasions to heart.

Two documentaries on the Afghan war, Restrepo and Armadillo, show how a combination of overwhelming military resources and aggressive counterinsurgency ultimately leads to frustration on the battlefield.

Sheila A. Smith says Yoshihiko Noda will need to stitch together a frayed party and a fractured public to lead Japan — and stay in power.

Two documentaries on the Afghan war, Restrepo and Armadillo, show how a combination of overwhelming military resources and aggressive counterinsurgency ultimately leads to frustration on the battlefield.

Since taking office, the Obama administration has ramped up the U.S. drone program in Pakistan.