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International efforts, such as the Paris Agreement, aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But experts say countries aren’t doing enough to limit dangerous global warming.
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The China-North Korea Relationship
China is North Korea’s biggest trade partner and arguably has the most leverage over Kim Jong Un’s regime. Analysts say Beijing’s policies are focused on stability, though it signals ambivalence about its neighbor’s nuclear arms advances.
Haiti’s Troubled Path to Development
Hobbled by foreign interventions, political instability, and natural disasters, the former French colony is paralyzed by multiple crises.
Funding the United Nations: How Much Does the U.S. Pay?
Many UN agencies, programs, and missions receive crucial funding from the United States. The Trump administration sharply reduced funding to some UN agencies, but President Biden has largely reversed those cuts.
The UN Security Council
The UN Security Council is the premier global body for maintaining international peace and security, but it faces steady calls for reform to better meet twenty-first-century challenges.
Moving Past the Troubles: The Future of Northern Ireland Peace
The Good Friday Agreement has dampened sectarian conflict and brought stability to Northern Ireland, but the peace deal has been challenged by Brexit-related border tensions that have thrown the region’s hard-won gains into doubt.
The U.S. Vice President and Foreign Policy
Modern vice presidents can trace much of their political influence to the broad reforms that Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale made to the second-highest elected office in the late 1970s.
Why China-Taiwan Relations Are So Tense
Differences over Taiwan’s status have fueled rising tensions between the island and the mainland. Taiwan has the potential to be a flash point in U.S.-China relations.
Seeking Protection: How the U.S. Asylum Process Works
Record numbers of migrants seeking to cross the southern U.S. border are challenging the Joe Biden administration’s attempts to restore asylum protections. Here’s how the asylum process works.
Argentina’s Struggle for Stability
Argentina has struggled with political dysfunction and financial crises for decades. What could firebrand President Javier Milei mean for Argentina’s economy and role in the world?
Somaliland: The Horn of Africa’s Breakaway State
The would-be independent state strikes a contrast with Somalia as a place of relative stability, and despite its lack of international recognition, Somaliland continues to push its own foreign policy.
The Crypto Question: Bitcoin, Digital Dollars, and the Future of Money
The dizzying rise of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has created new challenges for governments and central banks. Increasing popularity and high levels of market volatility have raised the stakes of the digital asset experiment.
Russia’s Growing Footprint in Africa
African governments have increasingly welcomed economic, diplomatic, and security ties with Russia—leading Western countries to denounce what they see as Moscow’s destabilizing influence and seek their own, more equal partnerships.
What Is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?
Artificial intelligence breakthroughs promise unprecedented opportunity but also economic, political, and social disruption. Experts say AI needs oversight to ensure the changes it engenders are for the better.
Venezuela: The Rise and Fall of a Petrostate
Venezuela’s ongoing descent into economic and political chaos is a cautionary tale of the dangerous influence that resource wealth can have on developing countries.
Fentanyl and the U.S. Opioid Epidemic
Opioid addiction has become one of the United States’ biggest killers, endangering public health, the economy, and national security. But closing the floodgates on fentanyl poses a significant foreign policy challenge.