Terrorism and Counterterrorism
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are gaining traction as a source of funding for terrorist groups, such as the self-proclaimed Islamic State.
Jim Urquhart/Reuters
Sub-Saharan Africa
Baz Ratner/Reuters
Will ongoing African security challenges hinder greater U.S. investment on the continent during the Trump era?
Extremism
Armed protests in Charlottesville highlight how the U.S. government has long devoted insufficient resources toward countering domestic far-right movements.
The U.S. far right has learned from the self-declared Islamic State to spread its message of hate online. Fortunately, the neo-Nazi message is less likely to spread offline in the United States.
Missile Defense
Attempts by the United States and Japan to intercept North Korean ballistic missiles headed toward Guam could fail and undermine the credibility of missile defense.
U.S. missile defense in the twenty-first century is focused on emerging threats from North Korea and Iran, but critics say these systems are too costly and largely unproven.
NAFTA
More than twenty years after its implementation, the North American Free Trade Agreement continues to spur debate over its impact on economic growth and jobs.
CFR on the Record
Jocelyne Cesari, Jack A. Goldstone, and Pankaj Mishra discuss the rise of ethnonationalism and the future of liberal democracy.
Senator John Cornyn discusses the challenge facing the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.
Is it possible for the United States to avoid a confrontation with China?
Experts discuss foreign language learning in the U.S. education system as well as learning methods that go beyond the classroom walls, and the value of foreign language learning to U.S. national security.
Expert Spotlight
Explainers
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Brazil
Deforestation in the Amazon
The Amazon rainforest absorbs more greenhouse gases than any other tropical forest. But in Brazil, deforestation threatens biodiversity and contributes to climate change. Explore the Emmy-nominated InfoGuide.
Syria’s Civil War
Who’s Who in Syria’s Civil War
Syria’s civil war is being fought on multiple fronts by an array of combatants whose alliances, capabilities, and in some cases motives have been in flux.
Labor and Employment
U.S. Temporary Foreign Worker Programs
Hundreds of thousands of migrants come to the United States each year for work, but Washington has struggled to balance the shifting needs of industry with the concerns of the domestic labor force.
Democratic Republic of Congo
The Eastern Congo
Over the past two decades, the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo have experienced fighting that has killed more than five million people. As the eastern Congo struggles to overcome years of regional war, its hard-won progress remains at risk.
Cuba
U.S.-Cuba Relations
The Trump administration has partially rolled back some business guidelines with Cuba while largely leaving the normalization policy unchanged.
Experts in the News
Featured Publications
A sweeping narrative account of the last five years in the Middle East and a timely argument of how and why the Arab uprisings failed.
CFR President Richard N. Haass argues for an updated global operating system to address challenges from terrorism and the spread of nuclear weapons to climate change and cyberspace.
The definitive account of the secret war in the tiny Southeast Asian nation of Laos, which lasted almost two decades and forever changed the CIA’s controversial role in foreign policy.