Informing U.S. engagement with the world
Mission Accomplished? Taking Stock of the War in Iran
By Michael Froman
AI Is Facing a Crisis of Control—and the Industry Knows It
By Gordon M. Goldstein
A U.S.-China Trade Breakthrough Appears Unlikely
Iran’s Policy Ripple Effect
More on the Iran War
Podcast: Gulf States Under Fire
In response to U.S.-Israeli attacks, Iran has increasingly targeted Gulf countries to broaden the pain of the conflict. The longer these strikes continue, the more the region’s security and economic prosperity hang in the balance. On The President’s Inbox podcast, host James M. Lindsay sits down with Mina Al-Oraibi, editor-in-chief of The National, to assess how Gulf states are responding.
Interview Series: Working in Foreign Policy
Around the World
CFR analyses and explainers that address global issues and challenges.
The Trump administration has tightened sanctions and restricted oil shipments to Cuba. The moves are part of a broader pressure campaign aimed at driving significant economic and political change on the communist-led island.
This summer’s tournament will make history by fielding forty-eight national teams for the first time. But as tensions simmer between the United States and several participating countries, questions abound over how the tournament will play out both on and off the field.
China has approved a blueprint to expand its lead in carbon-free energy, in sharp contrast to the Trump administration’s reliance on fossil fuels.
The IMF standard analysis of imbalances puts too much blame on Europe and way too little on China.
By Brad W. Setser
Between a reduction in freedoms in the U.S. and an uptick in organized collaboration among autocracies around the world, Freedom House’s most recent Freedom in the World report paints a stark image of the future of democracy in 2026.
By Joshua Kurlantzick
Tensions between nuclear-armed Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban regime have sharply escalated since late February, heightening regional instability and raising concerns about the risk of a prolonged conflict. Here’s what to know.
As Sudan’s civil war approaches its fourth year, the atrocities that have amassed are showing clear signs of genocide. The city of El Fasher illustrates the horror unfolding.
By David J. Scheffer
Trending at CFR
Artificial Intelligence
President Trump ordered the U.S. government to stop using Anthropic’s cutting-edge AI model. It is the latest development in a standoff between the tech company and the Pentagon over how the new technology should be used.
The War in Ukraine
Russia’s invasion has reshaped European security, strained Western alliances, and tested the limits of international resolve. But, as the conflict enters its fifth year, the terms of any eventual settlement appear to remain as contested as the front lines themselves.
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CFR publishes reports and papers for the interested public, the academic community, and foreign policy experts.
Suzanne Maloney, vice president and director of the Brookings Institution’s Foreign Policy Program, recommends that the United States reconsider its assumptions around eventual leadership change in Tehran, revive regime accountability efforts, prepare for opportunistic escalation by proxy groups, and ready itself for renewed nuclear diplomacy.
CFR International Affairs Fellow in National Security Roxanna Vigil argues that the United States should engage early with Colombia’s next administration to signal support for full implementation of the 2016 Peace Accords and provide targeted assistance.
The United States cannot out-mine and out-process China. Instead, it should leapfrog China’s dominance by scaling disruptive innovation, recovery, and recycling.
America Revived
CFR Senior Fellow Robert D. Blackwill outlines the conceptual pillars of five grand strategy schools and analyzes arguments for and against those strategies advanced by their proponents and critics. He then proposes an alternative American grand strategy: resolute global leadership.
The world continues to grow more violent and disorderly. According to CFR’s annual conflict risk assessment, American foreign policy experts are acutely concerned about conflict-related threats to U.S. national security and international stability that are likely to emerge or intensify in 2026. In this report, surveyed experts rate global conflicts by their likelihood and potential harm to U.S. interests and, for the first time, identify opportunities for preventive action.
Compete, Don’t Retreat
The primary U.S. response to China’s first-mover advantages in emerging auto technologies has been protection. A smarter strategy would seek to compete by supporting producers and collaborating with allies, while managing security risks.
Assumptions about how a potential conflict between the United States and China over Taiwan would unfold should urgently be revisited. Such a war, far from being insulated, would likely draw in additional powers, expand geographically, and escalate vertically.