Snapshots
The U.S. government is relaxing its limits on the export of Internet technology to Iran. Unless Washington takes further action, though, Tehran's filters might still stop Iranians from accessing critical digital tools.
ReadIn 1960, Japan and the United States signed a security treaty that has proven to be the basis for bilateral relations over the last half century. Now, fifty years later, how can Tokyo and Washington strengthen their relationship?
ReadThe political trends behind Malaysia's recent "Allah" controversy could undermine the delicate sociocultural balance in one of the Muslim world's most developed nations.
ReadLetters From
In Yemen, where political and tribal authorities compete, interest groups -- including al Qaeda’s regional offshoot, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula -- have begun to fill the voids.
ReadThat talks between the Philippine government and the secessionist group Moro Islamic Liberation Front have restarted is a good sign, but the hope of some officials that an accord can be reached soon seems overly optimistic.
ReadA hostile diplomatic battle has erupted in recent months between China and India. Do tensions over visas and the two countries' shared border pose a threat to one of Asia's most formidable partnerships?
ReadPostscripts
For many climate-change experts, the Copenhagen summit was something of a failure. In order to make real progress on pressing climate issues, policymakers must give up on a binding deal and begin to look outside the UN process.
ReadSince winning elections in 2006, Hamas has demonstrated that it cannot be part of an Israeli-Palestinian peace process, nor part of a Palestinian body politic based on democracy and free elections. But can policymakers deny the group the ability to play the spoiler?
ReadAs the International Year of Biodiversity approaches in 2010, the loss of wildlife, genetic material, ecosystems, and evolutionary processes is as marked as ever. Climate change, meanwhile, is becoming an even greater threat to the biosphere.
ReadReading Lists
Comments
U.S. President Barack Obama has vocally promoted a human rights agenda. Now, his administration must translate his rhetoric into practice.
ReadThe United States hopes to create a strong central government in Afghanistan -- but is such state building possible? Yes, and policymakers should look to Louis XIV and the development of France's ancien régime for guidance.
ReadThe "green revolution" dramatically boosted crop yields throughout the world, but it also bred overconfidence and complacency. Now, global food stocks are too low, and food prices are too high. Malthus is back.
ReadEssays
The treaty that forms the backbone of postwar relations between Washington and Tokyo is one of the most enduring treaties since the Peace of Westphalia. But with the election of the Democratic Party of Japan last summer, the deal is now being called into question.
ReadThe economic crisis did not alter the deep structural changes already in global energy markets -- rising energy demand in the developing world and growing concerns about carbon emissions -- and it revealed how the oil, coal, and natural gas markets could help address the major energy challenges ahead.
ReadRather than pursuing a final-status deal now, Israel and the Palestinian Authority should agree to establish a Palestinian state within temporary armistice boundaries. Without it, the Palestinians may abandon the idea of a two-state solution altogether.
ReadResponses
Does the United States need to update its nuclear arsenal so that it can destroy an enemy's nuclear weapons? Or should Washington instead work to eliminate nuclear weapons altogether? Keir Lieber and Daryl Press take on their critics.
ReadAndrew Krepinevich's vision for the U.S. military underestimates Washington's existing commitments and capabilities, Thomas Donnelly and Philip Dur argue. Not so, replies Krepinevich, and now is no time to stay the course.
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