The election of pope to lead the world’s one billion Catholics stirs debate over the spiritual authority of the pontiff and the church’s role in the world.

Whether to engage heads of rogue states, a perennial foreign policy dilemma, has emerged in the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign.

The U.S. State Department’s annual global rating of human rights performance antagonizes friend and foe alike. Many rights activists embrace the reports while some express doubts about their influenc…

Robert M. Gates, a Cold War veteran selected to remain as defense secretary, has won bipartisan praise for his pragmatism and handling of the Pentagon amid two wars.