William B. Quandt, a leading historian of Middle East diplomacy, says that modest progress is possible toward an eventual Palestinian-Israeli agreement based on the U.S.-backed peace plan known as t…

Walter Russell Mead, the Council’s expert on U.S. foreign policy, says President Bush has scored “some successes” in the past year and maintained “a very high level of political support in the United…

CFR President Richard N. Haass, who worked on previous presidential transitions, says that given the current world situation, he believes the first priority for President-elect Barack Obama lies in "…

CFR economic expert Sebastian Mallaby credits President Obama with highlighting the long-term structural reforms needed to repair the U.S. economy and competitiveness, but says the scope of reforms m…

Rachel Bronson, who heads CFR’s Middle East and Gulf Studies program, says the Bush administration’s expectations that as a Middle East country “democratizes” it would move away from terrorism seem t…