CFR.org - Foreign Affairs

Is Turkey Leaving the West?

Soner Cagaptay — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:39:05 -0400

Under the leadership of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), Turkey's foreign policy is becoming more Islamic. Can the country's history of cooperation with the West survive?

Dollars Without Borders

Dilip Ratha — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:12:00 -0400

The global flow of remittances represents the link between migration and development. If the world's largest economies are serious about recovery, they should make money transfers as easy and cheap as possible.

Letter From New Delhi

Samanth Subramanian — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 09:22:00 -0400

The BJP's Hindu nationalism may have won it votes in the past, but the party now faces an identity crisis that is imperiling its future.

Boom Box U.S.A.

Jeffrey Gedmin — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 10:17:32 -0400

Surrogate broadcasting was a central element of U.S. soft power in the Cold War. Today, it should take on a larger role in the United States' efforts to combat authoritarianism and extremism.

Star Wars Retreats?

Michael E. O'Hanlon — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:10:30 -0400

The Obama administration's cancellation of a missile-defense network in Europe is not a sign of misguided weakness, but rather the result of a prudent reexamination of U.S. priorities. But what will come in its place?

Getting on Board

Kenneth Michael Absher, Michael C. Desch and Roman Popadiuk — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 09:38:02 -0400

The President's Intelligence Advisory Board is often criticized as a do-nothing panel. But it might be just the tool Obama needs to fix the U.S. intelligence community.

An Agenda for NATO

Zbigniew Brzezinski — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:55:00 -0400

In the course of its 60 years, NATO has united the West, secured Europe, and ended the Cold War. What next?

The Default Power

Josef Joffe — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:52:07 -0400

Since the United States first became a global superpower, it has been fashionable to speak of its decline.

Low and Behold

Edward L. Morse — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:48:30 -0400

Despite common assumptions, oil prices are likely to remain low for a while: key producers, especially Saudi Arabia, have been boosting their production, and demand growth in top consumers like the United States and China will be more modest than expected.

The Dollar Dilemma

Barry J. Eichengreen — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:45:59 -0400

The economic crisis is hurting the world's top currency. But the pound, the yen, the euro, the renminbi, and the IMF's accounting currency are no match for the dollar. At least for now.

The Death of Dayton

Patrice McMahon and Jon Western — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:40:44 -0400

Bosnia was once a poster child for successful postwar reconstruction; today, it is on the verge of collapse.

Without Conditions

Deepak Malhotra — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:37:04 -0400

In deciding whether to impose preconditions before negotiating with an enemy, governments should make sure two criteria are satisfied.

Copenhagen's Inconvenient Truth

Michael Levi — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:11:56 -0400

The Copenhagen conference won't solve the problem of climate change once and for all. Rather than aiming for a broad international treaty, negotiators should strengthen existing national policies and seek targeted emissions cuts in both rich nations and the developing world.

The Other Climate Changers

Jessica Seddon Wallack and Veerabhadran Ramanathan — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 10:23:01 -0400

Little attention has been given to reducing emissions of the light-absorbing particles known as "black carbon" or the gases that form ozone--even though doing so would be easier and cheaper and have a more immediate effect.

The Low-Carbon Diet

Joel Kurtzman — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 10:19:00 -0400

The free market has eliminated environmental hazards in the past, from leaded gas to acid rain, and it can solve the problem of climate change today.

All (Muslim) Politics Is Local

Charles Tripp — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 10:13:50 -0400

Gilles Kepel and Ali A. Allawi explore the troubled relationship between power and Islam and conclude, each in his own way, that Muslims who seek to shape the world according to their religious values often confront an obdurate reality.

The Unbalanced Triangle

Stephen Kotkin — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 10:10:26 -0400

The Chinese-Russian relationship is more opportunistic than strategic, Bobo Lo argues. The United States is stuck watching from the sidelines and may be pushing Moscow further into Beijing's pocket.

Born Again in the U.S.A.

Timothy Samuel Shah — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 10:06:05 -0400

Religion and modernity were never expected to go hand in hand, and for centuries they coexisted uncomfortably.

Obama's Honduras Problem

Michael Shifter — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 09:20:54 -0400

After the June ousting of President José Manuel Zelaya, Honduras has become a test of the Obama administration's posture toward the whole of Latin America.

China's Western Front

Christian Le Mière — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:05:26 -0400

Recent violence in China's western provinces shows that the state's dual policy of migration and development has failed. A political solution for Xinjiang and Tibet, however, could be closer than Beijing may think.

Letter From Tbilisi

Lionel Beehner — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 09:30:26 -0400

One year after its war with Russia, Georgia is dispirited and unsure of its future. Has the United States staked too much on this small, fractured country in the Caucasus?

Hamas 2.0

Michael Bröning — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 10:10:21 -0400

The January war in Gaza overshadowed the fact that Hamas is in the midst of an unprecedented ideological transformation -- and it's time for the West to pay attention.

The Tigers’ Shadow

Amita Shastri — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 10:04:46 -0400

Is a lasting peace in Sri Lanka possible?

Globalization in Retreat

Roger C. Altman — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:52:55 -0400

The popularity of the U.S. economic model is waning. To put globalization back on track, President Barack Obama must articulate the benefits of open markets and free trade.

Tamed Tigers, Distressed Dragon

Brian P. Klein and Kenneth Neil Cukier — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:44:55 -0400

For decades, Asian economies used exports to the West as a means of growth. Now, if they hope to weather the global recession, they will have to enact deep structural changes such as higher wages and increased domestic consumption.

The Pentagon's Wasting Assets

Andrew F. Krepinevich — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:38:03 -0400

The military foundations of U.S. dominance are eroding. In response, Washington should pursue new sources of military advantage and a more modest grand strategy.

Flipping the Taliban

Fotini Christia and Michael Semple — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:28:35 -0400

The deployment of more U.S. troops to Afghanistan is necessary to tip the balance of power against the Taliban. But this military "surge" must be accompanied with a political one designed to persuade insurgents to give up their fight.

Tehran's Take

Mohsen M. Milani — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:03:08 -0400

Iran's foreign policy is often portrayed in sensationalistic terms, but in reality it is a rational strategy meant to ensure the survival of the Islamic Republic against what Tehran thinks is an existential threat posed by the United States.

The Real War in Mexico

Shannon O’Neil — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:52:38 -0400

Hysteria over bloodshed in Mexico clouds the real challenge: the rising violence is a product of democratization -- and the only real solution is to continue strengthening Mexican democracy.

The Russia File

Robert H. Legvold — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:46:26 -0400

As it redesigns U.S. policy toward Russia, the Obama administration needs to set far more ambitious goals than it has so far -- it needs to start a comprehensive strategic dialogue.