A pending American military offensive in southern Afghanistan is buoying hopes for a return to government control, but New York Times reporter David Rohde says success could be short-lived.

President Obama is pushing for a "civilian surge" in Afghanistan, but John E. Herbst, in charge of staffing a State Department civilian-led reconstruction program that operates there, says congressio…

The Obama administration’s proposed defense budget fails to align spending with calls to rebuild the military to handle irregular warfare, says expert Todd Harrison. He also cites an inability to get…

As Iraq’s pre-election crisis deepens, Iraq analyst Reidar Visser says Washington must do more to counter the sectarian agenda emerging in Baghdad’s political landscape.

President Obama says "systemic failures" contributed to the Christmas Day airliner plot, but CFR’s Steven Simon says given the huge volume of intelligence analyzed daily, reforms won’t come easily.