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Strength Through Peace

CFR experts explore how the United States can avoid war, stay strong, and keep the peace.

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Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta stands at the Nairobi Terminus, which operated the Standard Gauge Railway line constructed by the China Road and Bridge Corporation and financed by the Chinese government, on October 16, 2019.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta stands at the Nairobi Terminus, which operated the Standard Gauge Railway line constructed by the China Road and Bridge Corporation and financed by the Chinese government, on October 16, 2019. Thomas Mukoya/Reuters

In Africa, Major Power Rivalry Is Not the Whole Story

Any doubts about the bipartisan consensus in Washington around the need to compete with China in Africa were erased in the early months of 2021, when senior Biden administration appointees like U.S. Read More

Nonproliferation, Arms Control, and Disarmament
United States Should Rethink Its Approach to Strategic Arms Control
The United States has a strong interest in avoiding a costly and potentially destabilizing strategic arms race among the major powers. Painstakingly negotiated arms control agreements of the kind pur…
Asia
The Strategic Consequences of India’s COVID-19 Crisis
The geopolitical implications of India’s tragedy won't be lost on the Biden administration
China
Conflict Prevention Should Shape Policy Responses to Intensifying U.S.-China Competition
What idea—or set of ideas—will drive national security policy under the Biden administration? The Trump administration defined great power competition as the organizing principle of U.S. national sec…
  • Conflict Prevention
    Major Power Rivalry in the Middle East
    In a new paper, Steven A. Cook, the Eni Enrico Mattei senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies at CFR, discusses how great power competition is altering the prospects for managing conflicts i…
  • Taiwan
    Top Conflicts to Watch in 2021: The Danger of U.S.-China Confrontation Over Taiwan
    Yun Sun is a senior fellow, codirector of the East Asia program, and director of the China program at the Stimson Center. 2020 witnessed tension across the Taiwan Strait unseen since the 1996 miss…
  • Venezuela
    Top Conflicts to Watch in 2021: Economic, Political, and Humanitarian Catastrophe in Venezuela
    Paul J. Angelo is a fellow for Latin America Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. In this year’s Preventive Priorities Survey, experts ranked “accelerating economic collapse and political …
  • Syrian Civil War
    Top Conflicts to Watch in 2021: What's Next for Syria
    Steven A. Cook is Eni Enrico Mattei senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies and director of the International Affairs Fellowship for Tenured International Relations Scholars at the Council o…
  • Afghanistan
    Top Conflicts to Watch in 2021: Increasing Violence in Afghanistan
    Laurel Miller is director of the Asia program at the International Crisis Group and former acting special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan at the U.S. Department of State.  Although the…
  • North Korea
    Top Conflicts to Watch in 2021: A North Korea Crisis
    Scott A. Snyder is senior fellow for Korea studies and director of the program on U.S.-Korea policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. As we turn the calendar on 2020 and embark on 2021, the inc…
  • Conflict Prevention
    What to Worry About in 2021
    With attention focused on a slew of pressing domestic crises the new Biden Administration will have to contend with, U.S. policymakers should not ignore the risks of serious international conflicts e…