New U.S. sanctions under the Caesar Act could compound the economic turmoil threatening to undo the Assad regime.
SANA/Reuters
In order to prevent a humanitarian disaster in Syria and avoid regional instability, the United States should make the outcome of the fight for Idlib a national security concern and exercise the leadership necessary for implementing diplomatic and political solutions to the civil war.
Afghanistan
Omar Sobhani/Reuters
Despite a U.S.-Taliban agreement, significant obstacles to a peaceful resolution remain.
Since its ouster in 2001, the Taliban has maintained its insurgency against the U.S.-led mission in Afghanistan and the Afghan government. A new U.S.-Taliban deal could pave the way for the group’s return to power.
Russia
Russians have voted on a sweeping package of more than two hundred constitutional amendments, the most important of which exempts President Vladimir Putin from term limits and potentially allows him to rule until 2036. What does this change mean for the country’s future?
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov as he discusses Russian foreign policy toward the United States and prospects for future cooperation.
Coronavirus
The race to find a vaccine for the new coronavirus is well underway. Governments and researchers are aiming to provide billions of people with immunity in eighteen months or less, which would be unprecedented.
Hong Kong
As China’s power continues to grow, some fear that the considerable autonomy Hong Kong has enjoyed in recent decades could slip away.
Beijing’s new national security legislation could effectively end Hong Kong’s promised semiautonomy.
North Korea
Tensions rocketed on June 16 when North Korea demolished a liaison office that had stood as a symbol of hope for improved communications.
A renewed crisis on the Korean Peninsula could arise in the next twelve months. The United States should revamp UN sanctions and revitalize multilateral diplomacy in opposition to North Korea's nuclear development.
In North Korea, all authority flows from Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. He has reinstated the party as the central hub to consolidate his power and bring elites to heel.
CFR on the Record
Brian Hook discusses the future of U.S.-Iran relations and the current state of the Iranian economy during the coronavirus pandemic.
As countries consider how and when to vote in the coming months, here's what experts recommend for holding safe and secure elections during the coronavirus pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic has already sparked considerable debate over how the present international order could change as a consequence. Some commentators see the world growing more fragmented and disorderly while others believe this moment will give new impetus to international cooperation on a variety of global challenges. Speakers Andrey Kortunov, Russian International Affairs Council, and Nathalie Tocci, Istituto di Affari Internazionali, discuss what the post-pandemic world may look like.
For further reading, please see the CFR discussion paper, "Perspectives on a Changing World Order," by Dhruva Jaishankar, Qingguo Jia, Andrey Kortunov, Paul Stares, and Nathalie Tocci.
Expert Spotlight
Shannon K. O'Neil
Vice President, Deputy Director of Studies, and Nelson and David Rockefeller Senior Fellow for Latin America Studies
Jamille Bigio
Senior Fellow for Women and Foreign Policy
Women and Women's Rights Peacekeeping Conflict Prevention
@jamillebigio
Stewart M. Patrick
James H. Binger Senior Fellow in Global Governance and Director of the International Institutions and Global Governance Program
Global Governance Diplomacy and International Institutions International Organizations
Explainers
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China
China’s Approach to Global Governance
Learn about China's evolving approach to global governance and how it has shifted strategy under President Xi Jinping related to trade, the belt and road initiative, and the coronavirus pandemic.
Public Health Threats and Pandemics
The Coronavirus Pandemic, With Tom Bollyky
Thomas J. Bollyky, director of CFR’s Global Health program and senior fellow for global health, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the World Health Organization’s newly declared pandemic, COVID-19.
Human Trafficking
Modern Slavery: Its Root Causes and the Human Toll
Slavery, long banned and universally condemned, persists in many corners of the world, victimizing tens of millions of people.
Syria
Syria's War and the Descent Into Chaos
In the nine years since protesters in Syria first demonstrated against the four-decade rule of the Assad family, hundreds of thousands of Syrians have been killed and some twelve million people have been displaced.
Global
Women’s Power Index
Find out where women around the world wield political power—and why it matters.
Experts in the News
Featured Publications
An invaluable primer from Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, that will help anyone, expert and nonexpert alike, navigate a time in which many of our biggest challenges come from the world beyond our borders.
The United States should respond to the COVID-19 reordering moment and stop deterioration in the balance of power with China, bolster relations with India and Europe, and reform the way it deals with allies and partners.
Diplomacy and International Institutions
Is America’s alliance system so quietly effective that politicians and voters fail to appreciate its importance in delivering the security they take for granted?