The World Health Organization’s decision to designate the growing Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo an international health emergency will likely unlock badly needed assistance.
John Wessels/AFP/Getty Images
Public Health Threats and Pandemics
Endemic to the African tropics, the Ebola virus has killed thousands in recent years, putting the World Health Organization and major donor countries in the limelight as they’ve grappled with how to respond to outbreaks.
Public Health Threats and Pandemics
Since its postwar founding, the UN agency has garnered both praise and criticism for its response to international public health crises.
Tech
Guillaume Souvant/AFP/Getty Images
With France raising taxes on big tech firms, Washington says American companies are being unfairly targeted.
Asia
We may well come to look back on this moment as the time in which Asia began to come apart.
Immigration
Immigration has been an important element of U.S. economic and cultural vitality since the country’s founding. This interactive timeline outlines the evolution of U.S. immigration policy after World War II.
Refugees and Displaced Persons
Why the world’s swelling refugee population has shrinking options.
Comprehensive immigration reform has eluded Congress for years, moving controversial policy decisions into the executive and judicial branches of government.
Women’s Rights
A recent spate of state laws to restrict abortion services in the United States has reignited debate over the procedure. How does the United States’ regulation of abortion compare to the rest of the world?
Space
Fifty years after the Apollo 11 moon landing, U.S. policymakers face the choice of whether to put humanity on a trajectory of peaceful cooperation or dangerous militarization in space.
U.S. space exploration inspired a generation of students and innovators, but NASA’s role has diminished, and the number of global space competitors is growing.
CFR on the Record
Jerome Powell discusses the challenges facing the U.S. economy and the policies of the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The Elders, an independent group of global leaders founded by Nelson Mandela, work to address challenges of peace-building, inequality, exclusion, and injustice in a rapidly changing world. Mary Robinson, Ban Ki-moon, and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf discuss the vital role of a well-functioning multilateral system and how it can provide the tools and institutions needed to manage and prevent conflicts before they turn violent.
Governor Inslee discusses international climate policy and U.S. leadership in global climate action.
Expert Spotlight
Explainers
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China
Photos: Thirty Years of Protests in China Since Tiananmen
From demonstrations for religious freedom to demands for environmental protection, citizens from diverse backgrounds have challenged authority in China. Here’s a look at major protests since 1989.
Pollution
Why Air Pollution Is So Bad in Asia’s Cities
Air pollution in Asia is deadly. Here’s why it’s so bad.
China
Belt and Road Tracker
This tracker shows how the Belt and Road Initiative has changed countries’ bilateral economic relationships with China over time.
Trade
The Truth About Tariffs
Tariffs have been applied over the years to protect homegrown industries and target competitors who are seen as using unfair trade practices. They impose costs on both importers and exporters and had been in decline until the recent U.S.-China trade spat.
Wars and Conflict
Global Conflict Tracker
The Center for Preventive Action’s Global Conflict Tracker is an interactive guide to ongoing conflicts around the world of concern to the United States.
Featured Publications
President Donald J. Trump’s actions have often been rash, ignorant, and chaotic. Yet some of his individual foreign policies are substantially better than his opponents assert.
Japan’s United States–imposed postwar constitution renounced the use of offensive military force, but, Sheila A. Smith shows, a nuclear North Korea and an increasingly assertive China have the Japanese rethinking that commitment—and their reliance on U.S. security.
In chronicling the adventurous life of legendary CIA operative Edward Lansdale, The Road Not Taken definitively reframes our understanding of the Vietnam War.