Washington must confront the possibility that its crucial Asian allies no longer share the same strategic goals.
Kim Hong-ji/AFP/Getty Images
Promoting greater trilateral cooperation between the U.S.-South Korea and U.S.-Japan alliances would bring Northeast Asia closer to the North Atlantic model of collective defense, but doing so comes with significant risk.
Congress
Brennan Linsley/AFP/Getty Images
Brinkmanship between Iran and the United States has renewed congressional debate over the post-9/11 war authorization.
Trade
Despite the president's diplomatic drama, U.S. interests will likely, in the end, decide policy.
Can China generate new friends by strategically opening its markets while…also importing less?
(Don't judge China just by changes in its tariffs, the Chinese state has many other policy tools to limit imports)
North Korea
Without proper preparations, what can a handshake at the DMZ deliver?
China is North Korea’s biggest trade partner and arguably has the most leverage on Kim Jong-un’s regime. But while Beijing appears willing to condemn its neighbor’s nuclear developments, analysts say its policies remain focused on stability.
Nuclear negotiations involving the United States and North Korea, which have proceeded in fits and starts over more than a quarter century, have been stymied by mistrust.
European Union
The EU’s authority has steadily expanded as its members have passed more and more decision-making power to the union. How do its institutions work?
Southeast Asia
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations brings together disparate neighbors to address economic, security, political, and social issues, but the group's impact remains limited.
CFR on the Record
Jerome Powell discusses the challenges facing the U.S. economy and the policies of the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The Elders, an independent group of global leaders founded by Nelson Mandela, work to address challenges of peace-building, inequality, exclusion, and injustice in a rapidly changing world. Mary Robinson, Ban Ki-moon, and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf discuss the vital role of a well-functioning multilateral system and how it can provide the tools and institutions needed to manage and prevent conflicts before they turn violent.
Governor Inslee discusses international climate policy and U.S. leadership in global climate action.
Expert Spotlight
Explainers
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China
Photos: Thirty Years of Protests in China Since Tiananmen
From demonstrations for religious freedom to demands for environmental protection, citizens from diverse backgrounds have challenged authority in China. Here’s a look at major protests since 1989.
Pollution
Why Air Pollution Is So Bad in Asia’s Cities
Air pollution in Asia is deadly. Here’s why it’s so bad.
China
Belt and Road Tracker
This tracker shows how the Belt and Road Initiative has changed countries’ bilateral economic relationships with China over time.
Trade
The Truth About Tariffs
Tariffs have been applied over the years to protect homegrown industries and target competitors who are seen as using unfair trade practices. They impose costs on both importers and exporters and had been in decline until the recent U.S.-China trade spat.
Wars and Conflict
Global Conflict Tracker
The Center for Preventive Action’s Global Conflict Tracker is an interactive guide to ongoing conflicts around the world of concern to the United States.
Featured Publications
President Donald J. Trump’s actions have often been rash, ignorant, and chaotic. Yet some of his individual foreign policies are substantially better than his opponents assert.
Japan’s United States–imposed postwar constitution renounced the use of offensive military force, but, Sheila A. Smith shows, a nuclear North Korea and an increasingly assertive China have the Japanese rethinking that commitment—and their reliance on U.S. security.
In chronicling the adventurous life of legendary CIA operative Edward Lansdale, The Road Not Taken definitively reframes our understanding of the Vietnam War.