A UN tribunal’s ruling upholds the need for a rules-based order that counters China’s efforts to turn the South China Sea region into a sphere of influence, says expert Andrew Erickson.

Amid political paralysis in Baghdad, the populist Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is pressuring lawmakers to approve Prime Minister Abadi’s proposed reforms, says expert Mohamad Bazzi. 

The United States should partner with Iran and Russia in countering Sunni jihadists, the top strategic threat in both Iraq and Syria at the moment, says CFR President Emeritus Leslie H. Gelb.

An array of internal challenges looms over Iraq’s future as the country votes in its first general election since the 2011 U.S. withdrawal, explains expert Ned Parker.

Ukraine may be heading for the type of frozen conflict that occurred in Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Moldova immediately after the breakup of the Soviet Union, says CFR’s Stephen Sestanovich.