Best Foreign Affairs Web Stories of 2011

Al Qaeda is likely to survive bin Laden's killing for one simple reason: the group had already largely passed him by.

This article appears in the Foreign Affairs eBook, "The U.S. vs. al Qaeda: A History of the War on Terror." Now available for purchase.

Now that Mubarak has stepped down, the army may step in as a transitional power, recognizing that it must turn power over to the people quickly. More likely, however, is the return of the somewhat austere military authoritarianism of decades past.

This article appears in the Foreign Affairs/CFR eBook, The New Arab Revolt.

Portraying the Muslim Brotherhood as eager and able to seize power and impose its version of sharia on an unwilling citizenry is a caricature that exaggerates certain features of the Brotherhood and underestimates the extent to which the group has changed over time.

This article appears in the Foreign Affairs/CFR eBook, The New Arab Revolt.

Speculation is swirling as to why Wadah Khanfar, the director general of the Arab world's most powerful satellite news broadcaster, resigned his post last week. But the real question is whether the network can survive the challenges it now faces.

Due to the U.S. experience in Iraq, Americans became skeptical of intervening in overseas conflicts. Much of this "Iraq syndrome" can be seen in the hesitant approach to the chaos in Libya.

Unlike other movements, the rallies across the United States have no distinct constituency, put forward few policy proposals, and have a shifting configuration of supporters. They are something new. These are "we are here" protests.

Obama's self-imposed deadline to close Guantánamo within a year of taking office is long past, and it now appears that the prison camp will continue to house detainees indefinitely. Why Guantánamo remains open is a story of cynical congressional politics and bureaucratic inefficiency.

The Pentagon’s boosters are right that big budget cuts will limit military capabilities. What they fail to recognize is that would actually be a good thing for the United States, as reductions will dial back Washington's overzealous foreign policy.

As the eurozone's biggest economy, it was Germany's job to stabilize the system when the first signs of financial trouble appeared. Instead, it did precisely the opposite. Whether the euro survives depends on Frankfurt finally assuming its role as leader.

With its entrenched advantages, the Kremlin's United Russia party should be safe for now -- but if Vladimir Putin doesn't acknowledge the widespread dissatisfaction with his rule, he may soon find that force is the only way to preserve his regime.

To outsiders, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi may appear to be an Italian extravagance. But behind the political and sexual scandals hides a history of moral malaise.

China will not simply bail out Pakistan with loans, investment, and aid, as those watching the deterioration of U.S.-Pakistani relations seem to expect. Rather, China will pursue profits, security, and geopolitical advantage regardless of Islamabad's preferences.