
As fears rise over currency clashes, policy makers must confront the challenges of a two-speed global economy where China and other emerging markets are surging ahead while Europe, the United States, and Japan face a number of serious economic concerns.

An examination of past episodes of currency tension suggests that competitive devaluations are not likely today. But the forces behind past collapses remain highly relevant and policy makers cannot afford to be complacent.

Overcoming the debt crisis that has stricken Europe and restoring long-term growth prospects for the continent will require European countries to enact major coordinated action and far-reaching structural reforms.

If the European debt crisis, which is straining the ties that bind the continent together, brings about the end of European integration, the economic, political, and social repercussions will impact the entire world.

The revival of the European debt crisis will force EU leaders to choose between entering into a deeper fiscal and economic union or confronting sovereign defaults and the possible break-up of the euro area.

European economic adjustment will be both economically and politically painful, but Europe's financial crises will continue to recur until real fundamental rebalancing occurs.

Europe's debt crises are likely to worsen, requiring many European countries to implement difficult long-term economic and political adjustments to recover from their fiscal woes.

The results of the NATO summit in Lisbon, aimed at promoting cooperation between NATO and Russia, are a strong and useful platform for the continued transformation of the Russian-Western strategic relationship.

Policy makers should heed the lessons of the Great Recession and enact the structural and regulatory reforms needed to protect the world against the next crisis.

The Lisbon NATO summit is a critical event for making the Alliance between Europe and North America fit the security challenges of the twenty-first century.