After months of harsh words, the White House’s conciliatory tone during the Afghan president’s visit was calibrated to encourage Karzai to behave more like a "wartime leader and less like an innocent…

William Drozdiak, president of the independent American Council on Germany, says the White House meeting last week between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Bush indicates “they seem to h…

Gary G. Sick, a prominent expert on Iran, worked with Robert M. Gates in the White House during the Ford and Carter administrations. He says the nomination of Gates to replace Donald M. Rumsfeld as s…

The White House should seize on Tehran’s diplomatic signals to advance a resolution to the nuclear question and potentially Syria, says expert Mohsen M. Milani.

Turbulence in the Middle East, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, have weakened U.S. influence in the region, says CFR’s Richard Haass, who argues the White House should shun an overall regional s…