Joshua Kurlantzick discusses democracy's decline and his new book, Democracy in Retreat: The Revolt of the Middle Class and the Worldwide Decline of Representative Government in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.

In 2009 the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Center of Excellence (NATO CCD COE) asked a panel of international law experts to "apply standards of international law to a virtual battlefield." The panel released this report on March 28, 2013, as "an expression of opinions of a group of independent experts acting solely in their personal capacity."

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) on April 2, 2013. The press release says the treaty makes it "harder for human rights abusers, criminals and arms traffickers to obtain weapons" and gives a brief history of the treaty from the 1990s. The United States signed the treaty, but Congress has not yet ratified it.

What is needed is not more research on what causes the resource curse, but better and more practical thinking and writing on how countries can avoid it.

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A preview of world events in the coming week from CFR.org: Pakistan prepares for a government transition; the BRICS summit takes place in South Africa; and the annual Arab League summit convenes in Doha.

Civil institutions are critical pillars of democratic accountability—without them, democracy remains elusive, regardless of the laws written in constitutions. This is particularly true in countries dependent on oil and other natural resource wealth, and those struggling to realize democratic transitions.

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Dr. Jendayi Frazer writes, "The ICC has fallen from high ideals of global justice, accountability," discussing the recent Kenya elections.

A preview of world events in the coming week from CFR.org: President Obama visits Israel; Iran's supreme leader delivers a speech for Iranian New Year; the 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq is marked; and China's new president visits Russia.

Max Boot discusses his new book, Invisible Armies: An Epic History of Guerrilla Warfare From Ancient Times to the Present, as part of the Pritzker Military Library Presents series.

A preview of world events in the coming week from CFR.org: Venezuela ponders life after Chavez; the U.S. Senate Armed Services committee debates strategic and cyber command; Russia's trial of deceased lawyer Sergei Magnitsky begins; and Tibetan Uprising Day is observed.

Benn Steil's op-ed on Bloomberg Echoes describes the drama surrounding the collapse of dollar-starved Britain's empire in the wake of WWII.

Alliances usually come to an end when the threat that led to their formation disappears. However, NATO defies the historical norm, not only surviving well beyond the Cold War's end, but also expanding its membership and broadening its mission.

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With the Universal Declaration of the Human Rights in 1948, the international community committed to prevent future mass atrocities and violations of human rights. Democracy and Human Rights Research Links provide news, research guides, organizations, country assessments, and more information on political reform and human rights.

UN General Assembly Resolution 56/183 in December 2001 endorsed the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), which encourages global discussions on how to benefit from the digital revolution while addressing the digital divide. The International Telecommunication Union hosted two phases in Geneva from December 10 to 12, 2003, and in Tunis from November 16 to 18, 2005. From February 25 to 27, 2013, WSIS participants met in Paris to evaluate progress and goals.

A preview of world events in the coming week from CFR.org: Kenya holds presidential and parliamentary elections; Italy tries to sort out its post-election stalemate; and the 60th anniversary of death of Stalin is marked.

Thanks to a once-obscure law passed in 1789, foreign victims of foreign human rights abusers can use U.S. courts to sue their abusers. But the Supreme Court may soon ban such suits. That would be a shame, since they offer victims some measure of solace and give substance to underenforced human rights laws. The law should be upheld, and other countries should follow the U.S. lead.

Since their inception in 2000, The Millennium Development Goals have revolutionized the global aid business, using specific targets to help mobilize and guide development efforts. They have encouraged world leaders to tackle multiple dimensions of poverty simultaneously and provided a standard for judging performance. As their 2015 expiration looms, the time has come to bank those successes and focus on what comes next.

Globalization refers to the increasing ease with which goods, services, capital and people can move across the world, which has been accelerated by advances in technology and government policies to reduce barriers. In terms of reducing poverty in as many countries as possible, there is no question that globalizationcontinues to be beneficial, even after the 2008 financial crisis. Poverty continues to fall worldwide at a rapid rate, and countries most integrated into the world economy have seen the biggest reductions in poverty. But it is also true that even before the crisis, the gains from globalization were not spread evenly. Though millions have been lifted out of poverty and everyone benefits from cheaper consumer goods and the opening of new export markets, there are still winners and losers.

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A comprehensive new study of the world's health status has the potential to dramatically improve how developing countries address surging problems like noncommunicable diseases, writes CFR's Thomas Bollyky.

A preview of world events in the coming week from CFR.org: Sequestration is set to go into effect; Pope Benedict XVI steps down; and the Academy Awards take on foreign policy.