Explainers

  • Temporary Protected Status has long been used as a humanitarian solution for migrants who are unable to return home safely. President Trump’s renewed efforts to scale back such programs have further fueled the debate over the immigration policy’s use and scope.  
  • The Group of Seven (G7) has been a forum to coordinate global policy for fifty years, but experts are increasingly questioning the group’s relevance.
  • Beijing has tightened its grip on Hong Kong in recent years, dimming hopes that the financial center will ever become a full democracy.
  • As BRICS grows in both membership and global sway, its expansion comes with divisions among its members old and new on how to set the stage for a revised world order.
  • The United States and its allies have imposed broad economic penalties on Russia over its war in Ukraine. As the conflict continues, experts debate whether the sanctions are working.
  • The Trump administration’s deportations of undocumented immigrants are accelerating as part of a broader crackdown on unauthorized immigration. The focus so far has been on immigration raids across the country and hundreds of deportation flights, mainly to Latin American countries.
  • More than two years into the civil war in Sudan, at least twelve million people have been forcibly displaced, but experts say the country’s devastating humanitarian crisis is still not getting the international attention it deserves.
  • Russia holds a sizable advantage over Ukraine on troop numbers and weaponry yet the two sides have fought to a standstill. Russia this spring has ramped up attacks on civilian targets while resisting U.S. ceasefire calls.
  • As part of our Election 2024 initiative exploring the role of the United States in the world, how international affairs issues affect voters, and what is at stake as voters make their choices in November, CFR visited colleges and universities in four battleground states—Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania—to hold public forums with top experts on international issues and how they influence the lives of Americans. Our nonpartisan conversations, co-hosted with Arizona State University, the Georgia Institute of Technology, Grand Valley State University, and Franklin & Marshall College covered the U.S. role in the world, the trade-offs presented by different policy options both locally and globally, and context on the international issues, choices, and challenges facing the next president.
  • 2023 was a tumultuous year, marked by violent conflicts, democratic erosion, and record-high temperatures. This year, experts at the Council on Foreign Relations, along with visiting world leaders and thinkers, unpacked these issues and more. Join CFR’s director of studies, Jim Lindsay, in looking back at his list of the ten most impactful events of the year.  
  • Taiwan's relationship with the United States, China, and the rest of the world has a complex history that informs why the island is so consequential to today's geopolitics. To better understand these dynamics, David Sacks, CFR's fellow for Asia studies, answers questions about Taiwan's history and its significance to diplomacy in East Asia. For more on the relationship between the United States, China, and Taiwan, check out the Council on Foreign Relations–sponsored Independent Task Force, "U.S.-Taiwan Relations in a New Era". cfr.org/us-taiwan
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) could transform economies, politics, and everyday life. Some experts believe this increasingly powerful technology could lead to amazing advances and prosperity. Yet, many tech and industry leaders are warning that AI poses substantial risks, and they are calling for a moratorium on AI research so that safety measures can be established. But amid mounting great-power competition, it’s unclear whether national governments will be able to coordinate on regulating this technology that offers so many economic and strategic opportunities.
  • Since Fidel Castro’s ascent to power in 1959, U.S.-Cuba ties have endured a nuclear crisis, a long U.S. economic embargo, and persistent political hostilities. The diplomatic relationship thawed under President Barack Obama, but many restrictions have since been renewed.
  • 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.
  • For more than a century, the United States and Canada have forged a strong partnership built on shared geography and economic and security cooperation. But while the two countries have traditionally had one of the closest bilateral ties in the world, relations have come under strain in recent years.
  • The United States and China have one of the world’s most important and complex bilateral relationships. Since 1949, the countries have experienced periods of both tension and cooperation over issues including trade, climate change, and Taiwan.