A preview of world events in the coming week from CFR.org: Trade officials debate the Trans-Pacific Partnership; Afghan president Hamid Karzai visits Pakistan; the UN Security Council reviews several missions; and the U.S. Open tennis tournament begins.

"The illusory belief of America's ability" to effect foreign events leads to the assumption that "whenever or wherever things go wrong elsewhere on earth, it must be America's fault," according to Micah Zenko.

A preview of world events in the coming week from CFR.org: Egypt remains in a state of emergency; Japan and Russia hold talks over territorial disputes; and Al Jazeera America makes its debut.

Benn Steil takes a critical look at the longstanding efforts of former IMF historian James Boughton to disparage the evidence that the Fund's founding architect, FDR Treasury official Harry Dexter White, engaged in espionage on behalf of the Soviet Union.

"For better or worse, violence usually provides the most definitive answers to three major questions of political life: statehood, territoriality, and power. Violent struggle—war, revolution, terrorism—more than any other immediate factor, determines what nations will exist and their relative power, what territories they occupy, and which groups will exercise power within them."

A preview of world events in the coming week from CFR.org: U.S. diplomatic missions are set to reopen throughout the Middle East and Africa; U.S. and African officials discuss extending trade ties; and Mali holds a runoff presidential election.

A preview of world events in the coming week from CFR.org: Iranian president-elect Hassan Rowhani is sworn into office; President Obama marks six months into his second term; and Japan sends the first robotic astronaut into space.

The movement to recognize same-sex marriage continues to gain traction worldwide, though homophobia still persists within societies. This Backgrounder examines policies toward same-sex couples in select countries.

A preview of world events in the coming week from CFR.org: Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe tours Southeast Asia; Mali and Cambodia hold elections; and Congress continues immigration and spending debates.

Thomas Bollyky describes the crisis emerging over access to treatment for diabetes, cancers, and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Bollyky argues that this crisis could transform the global response to NCDs as the last treatment access crisis transformed the international approach to HIV/AIDS.

A preview of world events in the coming week from CFR.org: India and China convene talks on Depsang border security; President Obama hosts Vietnamese president Truong Tan Sang; and Pope Francis visits Brazil.

In this Working Paper, the author examines the controversy surrounding the publication of two H5N1 flu–transmission studies and offers lessons learned for future dual-use research.

A preview of world events in the coming week from CFR.org: Egypt faces turmoil during transition; the UN Security Council meets to discuss African conflicts and the protection of journalists worldwide; and North and South Korea resume Kaesong talks.

CFR Senior Fellow for Global Health Laurie Garrett explains the conundrum of dual-use research of concern (DURC), in which the same experiments that allow scientists to understand pandemics can also create dangerous pathogens. Combined with advances in synthetic biology and increasingly affordable technologies, there is the possibility for a true biology revolution.

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, "determined to protect the climate system for present and future generations," acknowledged that the climate system is a shared resource whose stability can be affected by greenhouse gases and human activity. Climate Change Research Links highlights resources about effects of climate change on international issues, and includes news, databases, statistics, conventions, and treaties.

Max Boot explains what Prince Alexander Bariatinsky's success against Chechen rebels in the nineteenth century can teach us about counterinsurgency today.

Stewart Patrick reviews new books America and the Rogue States, by Thomas H. Henriksen and Outlier States: American Strategies to Change, Contain, or Engage Regimes, by Robert S. Litwak.

Drones are not helping to defeat al Qaeda and may be creating sworn enemies out of a sea of local insurgents. Embracing them as the centerpiece of U.S. counterterrorism would be a mistake.

In the era of globalization, policymakers are increasingly debating the proper role of international law, and a group of legal scholars have embraced transnationalism, the idea that growing interconnectedness should dissolve international boundaries. But that approach is at odds with basic American principles.

Central bankers have always carried a mystique far beyond justification, whether they are cast as malicious, incomprehensible, or all-powerful. Neil Irwin's new book on monetary policy during the financial crisis should dispel these myths once and for all.