The battle for Kunduz highlights the military and political challenges facing Afghanistan and the narrowly defined U.S. mission there, says CFR’s Stephen Biddle.

The odds of an economic hard landing for China remain low, but continuing stock volatility could set back critical market reforms, says expert Stephen Roach.

Special tax incentives have enabled Puerto Rico to borrow irresponsibly for years, and now the island must take painful steps to balance its budget, explains expert Matt Fabian.

The new agreement between Iran does not resolve the problem and complicates U.S. relations with regional allies, says CFR President Richard N. Haass.

The pope’s encyclical on the environment carries a profoundly religious message about care for the earth, wedded to a new call for activism, say religious scholars Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim.