President Obama’s upcoming European trip will aim to reassure European allies about transatlantic ties and forge consensus on supporting and sustaining democratic reforms in the Middle East, says CFR…

Increased military pressure and reassurances by the United States that it will not pull out of Afghanistan in July 2011 are keys to successful negotiations with the Taliban, says CFR’s Max Boot.

Stephen Sestanovich, a Clinton administration expert on the former Soviet Union, says the crisis between Russia and Georgia plays to deep-seated fears in both countries and could build to the point w…

Daniel Markey, a CFR South Asia expert, says a recent trip to Pakistan revealed deep official concerns that protests against the president could spiral out of control.

Gary Sick, the director of Columbia University’s Middle East Institute, says that any warming trend in U.S.-Iranian relations has stalled. Despite “widespread dissent and dissatisfac…