Without a major surge in force levels, the best outcome that the United States can hope for in Afghanistan is that the Taliban will tire of fighting and pursue peace, writes CFR’s Max Boot.

China’s flagship investment project in Pakistan could provide a much needed economic spark, but significant security and political challenges loom.

The first national elections since the Iranian nuclear agreement will neither lead to meaningful reforms nor moderation in government policies, writes CFR’s Ray Takeyh.

The seventieth anniversary of the end of World War II is being marked in Northeast Asia by efforts to refresh—and revise—understandings of the brutal twentieth century war that laid the foundations o…

Syria’s civil war poses an expanding threat to the region and beyond. Washington should seize the opportunity that still exists to weaken the Assad regime, writes CFR’s Elliott Abrams.

President Obama’s first major overseas summits are shadowed by disputes with European allies over stimulus plans and commitment to the Afghan war. He should seize the opportunity to appeal for a stro…

The fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago marked a triumph of the U.S. strategy of containment. But U.S. policymakers have been struggling to establish new guidelines for confronting the world’s compl…

The success of a UN investigation into an alleged chemical weapons attack in Aleppo province last week will depend on a number of factors and could prove inconclusive, says CFR’s Gregory Koblentz.

The miners’ strike reveals the growing frustration over the political bargain that ended apartheid but did little to ease systematic economic inequalities, writes CFR’s John Campbell.

The upcoming NATO summit will include talks on the endgame in Afghanistan, a new smart defense doctrine, and bolstering global partnerships, all of it colored by fundamental questions about the role …