Informing U.S. engagement with the world

Between a reduction in freedoms in the U.S. and an uptick in organized collaboration among autocracies around the world, Freedom House’s most recent Freedom in the World report paints a stark image of the future of democracy in 2026.

Tensions between nuclear-armed Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban regime have sharply escalated since late February, heightening regional instability and raising concerns about the risk of a prolonged conflict. Here’s what to know.

As Sudan’s civil war approaches its fourth year, the atrocities that have amassed are showing clear signs of genocide. The city of El Fasher illustrates the horror unfolding.

The Board of Peace has appointed a committee of Palestinian technocrats to oversee day-to-day administration of the enclave. Here’s what is known so far.

Rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah’s success at the Nepalese ballot signifies a triumph for Gen Z demonstrators across the country.

Suzanne Maloney, vice president and director of the Brookings Institution’s Foreign Policy Program, recommends that the United States reconsider its assumptions around eventual leadership change in Tehran, revive regime accountability efforts, prepare for opportunistic escalation by proxy groups, and ready itself for renewed nuclear diplomacy.

CFR International Affairs Fellow in National Security Roxanna Vigil argues that the United States should engage early with Colombia’s next administration to signal support for full implementation of the 2016 Peace Accords and provide targeted assistance.

The United States cannot out-mine and out-process China. Instead, it should leapfrog China’s dominance by scaling disruptive innovation, recovery, and recycling.

CFR Senior Fellow Robert D. Blackwill outlines the conceptual pillars of five grand strategy schools and analyzes arguments for and against those strategies advanced by their proponents and critics. He then proposes an alternative American grand strategy: resolute global leadership.

The world continues to grow more violent and disorderly. According to CFR’s annual conflict risk assessment, American foreign policy experts are acutely concerned about conflict-related threats to U.S. national security and international stability that are likely to emerge or intensify in 2026. In this report, surveyed experts rate global conflicts by their likelihood and potential harm to U.S. interests and, for the first time, identify opportunities for preventive action.

The primary U.S. response to China’s first-mover advantages in emerging auto technologies has been protection. A smarter strategy would seek to compete by supporting producers and collaborating with allies, while managing security risks.

Assumptions about how a potential conflict between the United States and China over Taiwan would unfold should urgently be revisited. Such a war, far from being insulated, would likely draw in additional powers, expand geographically, and escalate vertically.