Tobias Ellwood, a leading UK parliamentarian from the Conservative party, urges the international community to make adjustments to its approach in supporting Afghanistan, if it is to achieve its aims post-2014.

Former US Army Chief George Casey and Congressman Jim Kolbe argue that the transitions in Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia will be reversible unless and until their security agencies are better equipped to carry out their functions without abusing citizen rights or interfering in politics.

China’s new leadership takes office amid growing questions about China’s internal direction and its assertive foreign policy. Conventional wisdom portrays China in the mode of Sun Tzu, far-sighted strategists looking decades ahead. But thus far, it appears that China’s leaders have strategic goals, but no apparent strategy for how to achieve them. This Atlantic Council brief-authored by Robert A. Manning and Banning Garrett-assesses the challenges China faces–worsening pollution, corruption, and a growth model that needs sweeping reforms and examines the difficulties Beijing faces in addressing them.

The Middle East Peace and Security Initiative is pleased to release a new issue brief, “A Strategy for US Engagement in the Middle East: Contain Threats, Embrace Dignity." Michele Dunne, director of the Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East and Barry Pavel, director of the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security evaluate challenges and opportunities for US interests in President Barack Obama’s second term, in light of profound changes in the Middle East and North Africa.

International security in today's globalized world demands a framework responsive to interconnectedness, multiple power centers, shared vulnerabilities, and dramatic change. To meet these diverse challenges that affect the security of its members, NATO, as the West's premier security organization, must reach beyond the transatlantic arena.

The Obama administration is sending mixed messages about the role that Congress should play in creating policies that would prevent the possibility of a catastrophic cyber attack, according to a new issue brief released by the Cyber Statecraft Initiative of the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security. 

The Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East and the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security are pleased to release a new issue brief, "The United States and the Gulf States: Uncertain Partners in a Changing Region." Senior Fellow Richard LeBaron evaluates the relationship between the United States and the Gulf states as they face democratic transitions in the Arab world as well as security challenges in the Gulf.

In this issue brief Martin Murphy and Lee Willett make the case for deepening naval cooperation among the so-called “Five Eyes” countries of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

On Monday December 10, 2012 the Office of the Director of National Intelligence released the National Intelligence Council's (NIC) latest Global Trends report, Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds. The Global Trends project engages expertise from outside government on factors of such as globalization, demography and the environment, producing a forward-looking document to aid policymakers in their long term planning on key issues of worldwide importance.

Envisioning 2030: US Strategy for a Post-Western World is a report released today by the Atlantic Council’s Strategic Foresight Initiative that urges the Obama Administration to seize a historic opportunity to ensure America’s global interests over the long term.