Stephen Biddle, CFR’s top military analyst on Iraq, says the only analytically sound alternatives in Iraq are to either pull out now, or to stick with a revamped “surge.”

Ukraine faces descent into prolonged civil conflict unless a political deal can be forged among ruling party moderates, oligarchs, and opposition leaders, says expert Adrian Karatnycky.

Afghanistan expert Thomas H. Johnson says Western efforts to force a runoff election will not produce a legitimate leader in the eyes of Afghan voters, and could further destabilize the country.

New Chinese territorial claims over the East China Sea have alarmed trade partners and neighbors, but no major disruption in the region’s booming commerce is expected, says CFR’s Thomas Bollyky.  

The biggest threats to global health are not pandemics, but rather, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and other noncommunicable diseases, says CFR’s Thomas J. Bollyky.