Regions
Africa
Essay,
Nov/Dec
2009
Washington's repeated attempts to bring peace to Somalia with state-building initiatives have failed, even backfired. It should renounce political intervention and encourage local development without trying to improve governance
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Essay,
JUL/AUG
2009
Many economies in Africa have remained largely sheltered from the global financial crisis. To keep economic development there on track, the West must avoid protectionist impulses.
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Letter From,
April 29, 2009
Rwandan troops have pulled out of eastern Congo. Will peace fill the vacuum they left behind, or is a new front in a long war on the horizon?
ReadAmericas
Comment,
Nov/Dec
2009
Strict export restrictions are making U.S. businesses less competitive and the country less secure. Policymakers must craft new regulations to help, rather than harm, U.S. interests.
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Comment,
Nov/Dec
2009
Cyberwarfare is not an abstract future threat. The United States’ electronic defenses are vulnerable and Washington must act quickly to secure computer networks, software, and hardware before it is too late.
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Postscript,
October 27, 2009
General Stanley McChrystal had the right to offer President Obama advice about his Afghanistan strategy. But by offering it so publicly, he undermined the president's authority over the military.
ReadAsia
Snapshot,
November 4, 2009
With the cancellation of Afghanistan's runoff election, Washington is left with Hamid Karzai as its partner in Kabul. How did Karzai come to power in the first place, and what might that say about his ability to rule?
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Snapshot,
November 2, 2009
Beyond the current debate about U.S. strategy in Afghanistan lie more fundamental questions of who the Taliban are, how they are organized, what they want, and whether they can be separated from al Qaeda.
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Essay,
Nov/Dec
2009
By exposing them to the truth about their impoverishment and about the prosperity of their South Korean cousins, the United States can encourage North Koreans to change the regime in Pyongyang.
ReadEurope
Essay,
Nov/Dec
2009
Turkey hopes to be a global power, but it has not yet become even the regional player that the ruling AKP declares it to be. Can the AKP do better, or will it be held back by its Islamist past and the conservative inclinations of its core constituents?
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Snapshot,
October 26, 2009
Under the leadership of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), Turkey's foreign policy is becoming more Islamist. Can the country's history of cooperation with the West survive?
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Essay,
Sep/Oct
2009
In the course of its 60 years, NATO has united the West, secured Europe, and ended the Cold War. What next?
ReadMiddle East
Letter From,
September 30, 2009
Iran's disputed election marked the rise of a new power elite. Now, with more protests looming and a nuclear program facing international pressure, can the Revolutionary Guard and its allies sustain their tightening grip on the Islamic Republic?
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Author Interview,
September 21, 2009
Next week, Edward Morse will answer reader questions about the price of oil and what it means for oil-producing states and U.S. foreign policy. Submit a question
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Snapshot,
September 11, 2009
Hezbollah may have lost Lebanon’s election, but it remains the country’s dominant political force.
ReadRussia & FSU
Essay,
Nov/Dec
2009
Today, Russia has more to gain by cooperating with the world's major powers than by opposing them. It should craft a foreign policy that turns relations with the European Union, the United States, and others, into domestic economic and political transformation.
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Twenty years after the revolutions of 1989 brought down communism, a fresh crop of books attempts to unpack this epic story. The story these books tell is more of a civil war within the elite than of a revolt from below.
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Postscript,
October 11, 2009
The recent EU report on the 2008 Russia-Georgia War confirms that both Georgia and Russia acted irresponsibly before and during the war. But it misses an opportunity to outline how the long-running territorial disputes of the Caucasus might be best resolved.
ReadGlobal Commons
Essay,
JUL/AUG
2009
To defeat piracy in centuries past, governments pursued a more active defense at sea and a political solution on land. The current piracy epidemic off the coast of East Africa requires many of the same tactics.
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Comment,
May/June
2009
The expansion of the Proliferation Security Initiative to South Korea is a welcome development. The PSI is not only a promising model for combating nuclear proliferation, but also offers a blueprint for future international cooperation.
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Postscript,
March 25, 2009
The Arctic is rich in natural resources and lies at the epicenter of a rapidly changing climate -- and it is time the United States paid more attention to the region.
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