Explainers

Special Projects

CFR produces a range of special resources, including trackers and data visualizations, for policymakers and citizens to get up to speed on major foreign policy and security challenges.

Interactives Filters and Cards

Conflict Prevention
Preventive Priorities Survey: 2013
The Center for Preventive Action’s annual Preventive Priorities Survey (PPS) evaluates ongoing and potential violent conflicts based on the impact they could have on U.S. interests and their likelihood of occurring in the coming year. Policymakers have limited time and resources for preventive action and thus have to focus on a select number of potentially harmful contingencies from a myriad of possibilities. The PPS polls experts in the field and aims to help the U.S. policy community prioritize these competing conflict prevention and mitigation demands.
Politics and Government
Eleven World-Shaking Developments in 2011
The year 2011 was marked by the advance of democratic movements in the Arab world and the economic struggle of advanced democracies. It saw unprecedented military operations in Pakistan and Libya and a new U.S. military commitment to the Asia-Pacific region. This interactive slideshow showcases ten momentous developments in 2011 that will likely continue to reverberate.
Conflict Prevention
Preventive Priorities Survey: 2012
The Preventive Priorities Survey (PPS) is intended to help inform the U.S. policy community about the relative urgency and importance of competing conflict prevention demands. The Center for Preventive Action asked a targeted group of government officials, academics, and experts to comment confidentially on a list of contingencies that could plausibly occur in 2012.
Iran
Crisis Guide: Iran
Iran poses steep challenges to its Middle East neighbors and the world. Explore the country’s complex regime structure and controversial nuclear program, and watch experts debate the range of policy options. This is a special feature presentation from CFR that offers a unique, full-screen experience.
Pakistan
Crisis Guide: Pakistan
Pakistan’s stability is of great consequence to regional and international security. Examine the roots of its challenges, what it means for the region and the world, and explore some plausible futures for the country. This is a special feature presentation from CFR that offers a unique, full-screen experience.
Energy and Climate Policy
Nuclear Energy Guide
After decades of decline, nuclear power is increasingly presented as a low-carbon way to meet growing electricity demands. Global construction of new reactors is on the rise, but there still exists an array of obstacles to expansion. This interactive guide explores the past, present, and future of nuclear power, focusing on its unique benefits and risks.
Elections and Voting
2012: The Year of Elections
Elections throughout the world in 2012 brought several countries to a crossroads as they struggled with the eurozone debt crisis, the formation of post-Arab Spring governments, and recovery from economic malaise. This timeline revisits twelve of the year’s most pivotal elections.
Economic Crises
Crisis Guide: The Global Economy
An in-depth, multimedia look at the causes and consequences of the global economic crisis that seeks to unravel the questions surrounding the downturn and shed light on its policy implications, drawing on insights from leading thinkers on economics and international affairs.
Global Governance
Global Governance Monitor
An interactive multimedia feature that maps out and evaluates multilateral efforts to address some of the most difficult international issues.
Economics
Motion Chart: Economic Power Shifts
Follow recent shifts in economic clout among the world’s major economies.
Budget, Debt, and Deficits
Motion Chart: Household Balance Sheet
Track the correlation between U.S. housing prices and household debt.
Trade
Motion Chart: Global Imbalances
Track the rise of global trade imbalances among the world’s major economies.
Budget, Debt, and Deficits
Motion Chart: Financial Failures
Follow the health, size, and debt levels of major investment banks over time.
Climate Change
Crisis Guide: Climate Change
An in-depth, multimedia look at climate change, its global impact, and efforts to combat it.
Media
Politics and the Olympics
An interactive slideshow looking at how the Olympics have served as political showcases for nations, individuals, and ideologies.