Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
The United States must balance its advocacy for human rights and democracy promotion in Egypt and the broader Arab world with other strategic interests; it would be wrongheaded to completely cut off ties with authoritarian regimes.
Fears about Asia’s rise warrant a more balanced and critical look. China and India's international standing should not be overstated because both face serious economic and social constraints that will limit their growth.
The main problem currently facing the Iranian opposition is that the bulk of their brain trust is either in prison, under house arrest or have no methods of communicating, which has stifled political expression.
Russia will not agree to the kind of deep cuts in nuclear weapons envisioned by President Obama without a concrete deal on missile defense.
Alexei Arbatov and George Perkovich discuss their expectations for President Barack Obama's first official visit to Russia.
In the aftermath of Iran's disputed election the opposition has grown bolder, seeking to fundamentally change the system of government by abolishing or seriously weakening unelected leadership positions, including that of the Supreme Leader, whose authority has never been challenged before.
Whereas the Bush administration united Iran's disparate political factions against a commmon threat, Obama's overtures have accentuated deep internal rifts amongst Iranian political elites.
Though the White House released a written statement Saturday in which President Obama used his strongest language to date to condemn what he called a "violent and unjust" government crackdown on protesters, critics say he needs to show more leadership on the issue.
Iran's disputed presidential elections have revealed and accentuated rifts among the clerical leadership.
Violence in the aftermath of Iran’s election has raised questions about the future of the regime, and about the way the Obama administration should respond to this controversial situation.