An illuminating account by Walter Russell Mead of the birth and rise of the global political and economic system that, sustained first by Britain and now by America, created the modern world.

New York remains a global heavyweight in financial services, but markets in London and East Asia are gaining strength and posing a serious challenge to the Big Apple.

Britain’s latest brush with terrorism leads many to reexamine the country’s relationship with its own Muslim community. The United States, too, could benefit from such an analysis.

Car bombs in Scotland and London marked the advent of Gordon Brown's leadership in Britain and underscored the threat posed by those determined to strike at symbols of liberal democracy.

CFR.org Executive Editor Michael Moran speaks to BBC Diplomatic Correspondent Jonathan Marcus about the foreign policy legacy of British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Tony Blair announced plans to step down as Britain’s Prime Minister, but unhappiness over his Iraq policies overshadow talk of his political legacy.

The release of fifteen British military personnel mitigates one source of tension with Tehran, but questions remain about the chances for nuclear compromise.

The standoff between Britain and Iran may affect other issues in the region, from nuclear negotiations to the security conference on Iraq.

This report from UK development charity Oxfam says that UK foreign policy is at a crossroads, as one prime minister hands over the reins to another. It cautions that as foreign-policy discussions remain dominated by the debacle in Iraq, the danger is that UK foreign policy could lurch to a much more cautious approach, turning away from trying to solve the world’s worst crises, with potentially catastrophic consequences for people in them.

News story from the BBC on the political background to UK government criticism of a report in The Lancet magazine that estimated Iraq deaths since the invasion at 655,000. The BBC says that the British government was advised by its own experts against publicly criticising the report, and that the Ministry of Defence's chief scientific adviser said the survey's methods were "close to best practice" and the study design was "robust".

A third of people in the UK think going to war in Iraq was justified, but six in 10 believe it was a mistake, this BBC survey suggests. When the war began four years ago, two-thirds of Britons backed involvement, but the poll shows a marked decrease in support.

The British have announced they will draw down their troops just as the United States begins its 'surge.' Their claims to have pacified Iraq's southern region are widely doubted.

The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence has released a White Paper on the future of the UK's nuclear deterrent.

The World Health Organization's Department of Public Health and Environment has prepared a basic facts sheet about the radioactive Polonium-210 as a possible health concern.