Venezuela is grappling with the Western Hemisphere’s largest humanitarian crisis. Here’s how the United States can help ease the country’s much-needed political transition.
Carlos Garcia/Reuters
Military
U.S. European Command
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
The U.S. military is considering major shifts to its posture in Europe that are raising security concerns on the continent.
Iran
The Trump administration’s case for invoking “snapback” sanctions against Iran for violating the nuclear deal rests on shallow arguments that have left Washington alone in efforts to pressure Tehran.
Onetime allies, the United States and Iran have seen tensions escalate repeatedly in the four decades since the Islamic Revolution.
Food Security
Global food insecurity has surged amid the coronavirus pandemic, threatening to worsen humanitarian crises and spur further mass migration.
United Nations
President Trump's virtual address to the UN General Assembly was shallow, unpersuasive, and exaggerated his domestic and international achievements.
Diplomacy and International Institutions
Council of Councils global perspectives roundups gather opinions from experts on major international developments. In this edition, members of six leading global think tanks reflect on what reforms are the most important for the United Nations as it looks toward its next seventy-five years.
Elections
The experiences of dozens of countries offer lessons for U.S. officials as they prepare for the presidential election 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.
CFR is following the presidential candidates on the major foreign policy issues. Dive deeper below.
Events
John Campbell discusses Nigeria, its history, colonial legacy, and strategic importance to the United States.
Ambassador Campbell argues that Nigeria is the African country of greatest strategic importance to the United States, but it remains poorly understood. Unlike a conventional nation-state, Nigeria is run by a small cartel of self-serving elites who cooperate just enough to divvy up state oil revenue among themselves and their clients, but otherwise do little to improve the lot of the vast majority of Nigerians. How did it get this way? The answer lies in British indirect rule, a half-baked independence movement, a deadly civil war, and a generation of rapacious military rule that coincided with the oil boom.
The CFR Master Class Series is a weekly 45-minute session hosted by Vice President and Deputy Director for Studies Shannon O’Neil in which a CFR fellow will take a step back from the news and discuss the fundamentals essential to understanding a given country, region of the world, or issue pertaining to U.S. foreign policy or international relations.
Russia interfered with the U.S. presidential election in 2016, and in 2018, internet trolls again spread disinformation during the midterms. Intelligence officials warn that interference in this year’s presidential election may already be underway.
The effects of climate change, from higher temperatures, extreme rainfall, and stronger storms, have harmed communities across the globe, and will continue to cause significant damage if we fail to prepare for the consequences. In this meeting, panelists discuss climate change adaptation and the solutions being deployed to mitigate its effects.
Panelists discuss the Iranian hostage crisis and the implications of the failed rescue attempt for U.S.-Iran relations for the next forty years. From two-time Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple, Desert One tells the story of America’s secret mission to free the hostages of the 1979 Iranian revolution.
Expert Spotlight
Henri J. Barkey
Adjunct Senior Fellow for Middle East Studies
Philip H. Gordon
Mary and David Boies Senior Fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy
Middle East and North Africa Europe and Eurasia U.S. Foreign Policy
Explainers
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United States
How Police Compare in Different Democracies
Recent killings by U.S. officers have sparked widespread calls for police reform and an end to systemic racism. Here’s how U.S. policing compares with other countries’ approaches.
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.
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.
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?