
Obama’s absence from the APEC meeting is a disappointment for U.S. partners in Asia, but Washington can recover its credibility in the region by rescheduling meetings and pushing forward on the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

President Obama’s historic phone call to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is the first step in what could be a very long journey between the two countries.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani may be interested in a détente with the United States, but thorny issues remain. Nonetheless, the United States should seize the opportunity.

Given everything that’s taking place in the Middle East, Iran may be one of the few sources of hope for the Obama administration to reach some kind of diplomatic accommodation.

If the joint efforts of the United States and Russia in Syria are to succeed, they must attain a ceasefire between Bashar al-Assad’s armed forces and the opposition, and discover and destroy all chemical weapons in Syria.

The world watches and waits to hear if the Assad government will give up Syria’s chemical weapons stock.

Although Vladimir Putin used his New York Times op-ed to reiterate his position on Syria in an aggressive tone, there is now a potentially productive discussion of Assad’s chemical weapons underway.

If the conflict in Syria is to be resolved, it is important to go beyond the chemical attack issue and work through a political process that would end the war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s New York Times op-ed does not complicate international negotiations over Syria’s chemical weapons. Contrary to common perceptions, Putin is pragmatic and capable of making deals.

In his New York Times op-ed, Vladimir Putin asserts that Russia is not supporting Assad as an ally, but it is supporting the world order, centered on the U.N. Security Council.