China has increased its economic ties with Africa as it seeks to fulfill its growing energy demands. But China's way of doing business has prompted international criticism, even as its policy of noninterference faces new challenges.

Steve Coll, Robert Grenier, and Daniel Markey look at changes in U.S.-Pakistan relations over the past year and make recommendations for moving forward.

David Marchick calls for new U.S. government efforts to increase the small share of Chinese direct investment in the United States, including combating perceived prejudices, removing policy impediments, and encouraging U.S. businesses to partner with their Chinese counterparts.

Gordon Orr, a director in McKinsey Quarterly's Shanghai office, offers a forecast for growth in China this year: Despite food price inflation and a stagnant housing market, he writes, China should maintain a rapid rate of growth.

The Pentagon's plan for an end to U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan by the end of 2013 has drawn familiar battle lines in the public debate over the proper endgame for the war.

Steve Coll, Robert Grenier, and Daniel Markey look at changes in U.S.-Pakistan relations over the past year and make recommendations for moving forward.

Steve Coll, Robert Grenier, and Daniel Markey look at changes in U.S.-Pakistan relations over the past year and make recommendations for moving forward.

The newly announced U.S. plan to end its combat mission in Afghanistan by mid-2013 could make it more difficult to realize the chief goal of helping Afghan national forces become self-sufficient, says CFR's Stephen Biddle.

Myanmar's sudden transition from repressive pariah to potential democracy should be viewed through the lens of a military alarmed by people power revolts and by the country's increasingly shaky economic condition, says CFR's Joshua Kurlantzick.

Leslie H. Gelb says the Obama administration's announcement of a quick end to U.S. combat in Afghanistan is a surprise decision of strategic skill and political courage.

Scott A. Snyder and See-won Byun say that uncertainties regarding a new North Korean leadership will create the context in which China, South Korea, and the United States must grapple with their future options for preserving stability in Northeast Asia.

China's search for food and land in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa, reflects the country's pressing scarcity of water. China's approach has set off alarm bells in the region and the United States should work actively to address China's water security needs, argues Elizabeth Economy before the House U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

Jerome A. Cohen and Jared Genser argue that the case of detained Chinese rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng demonstrates how far the Chinese government will go to suppress legitimate criticism by its citizens.

The winner of the 2012 U.S. presidential race will have to make critical decisions on Afghanistan, including how to support and fund Afghan forces as well as possible concessions to the Taliban, says CFR's Stephen Biddle.

Elizabeth C. Economy argues that unless the leadership in Beijing changes course, China faces increasing isolation.

The United States continues to pursue peace talks with Afghanistan's Taliban as a means to secure stability. Bruce Riedel discusses the challenges faced by the administration, including its ongoing tensions with Pakistan.

Max Boot reviews All In: The Education of General David Petraeus by Paula Broadwell and Vernon Loeb.

The crisis of Western liberal capitalism has coincided with the rise of a powerful new form of state capitalism in emerging markets, says Adrian Wooldridge.

Joshua Kurlantzick says that despite the hopes raised by the Arab Spring, democracy is actually in retreat around the world, but there is a way to revive it.

This week's meeting between U.S., South Korean, and Japanese officials signaled an opening for North Korea to rejoin the suspended talks on its nuclear program. CFR's Scott Snyder discusses the talks and says it's unlikely the dialogue will resume soon.

Ed Husain reviews Imran Khan's Pakistan.

CNA senior research analyst Ken Gause discusses power politics and the leadership transition in North Korea.

A potential Taliban office in Qatar has raised hopes for a negotiated end to the Afghan war. But numerous challenges remain even as a new controversy over U.S. troop behavior threatens to derail talks.

Yanzhong Huang discusses China's efforts toward achieving universal healthcare.

China's rising global prominence, increasing assertiveness and upcoming leadership transition may pose significant challenges for the next U.S. president, says CFR's Elizabeth C. Economy.

This Constitution of the People's Republic of China was adopted in 1982. The Chinese government's website states that it was "adopted at the Fifth Session of the Fifth National People's Congress and promulgated for implementation by the Proclamation of the National People's Congress on December 4, 1982, and amended in accordance with the amendments to the Constitution of the People's Republic of China adopted at the First Session of the Seventh National People's Congress on April 12, 1988, at the First Session of the Eighth National People's Congress on March 29, 1993, at the Second Session of the Ninth National People's Congress on March 15, 1999,and at the Second Session of the 10th National People's Congress on March 14, 2004".

The Pentagon's strategic review sets the stage for a new era of restraint in U.S. military spending and a focus on priorities in Asia. CFR's Richard K. Betts and Max Boot discuss the challenges facing the U.S. military and the implications for U.S. defense policy.

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon says the the shocking torture of Sahar Gul is just one example of widespread violence against women in Afghanistan, which mostly goes unreported and unpunished.

The Pentagon's new strategic review signals a shift toward the Asia-Pacific region and calls for a leaner fighting force at a time when the United States must exercise fiscal restraint.

Abandoning counterinsurgency doctrine after Afghanistan would doom the U.S. military to irrelevance and impotence, writes Christopher Sims and Fernando Luján. Not so, says Bing West; like it or not, the United States will be much less ambitious in future wars.