High-profile mass shootings in the United States in recent years have rekindled the gun control debate and raised comparisons of policies around the world.
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Explainers
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World Trade Organization (WTO)
With President Trump skeptical of the WTO’s usefulness and Doha negotiations stalled, the future of global trade rules is in doubt. -
CFR is following the presidential candidates on the major foreign policy issues. Dive deeper below.
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NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)
As NATO readies for what some believe is a new Cold War with Russia, the seventy-year-old alliance struggles to manage widening internal divisions. -
The Organization of American States is an important forum for regional diplomacy and has become more assertive in promoting the rule of law, human rights, and fair elections as some states face domestic upheaval.
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More than a million Muslims have been arbitrarily detained in China’s Xinjiang Province. The reeducation camps are just one part of the government’s crackdown on Uighurs.
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Public Health Threats and Pandemics
Less than a century after the discovery of antibiotics, the world is at risk of entering an era in which the life-saving drugs no longer work. -
The International Monetary Fund, both criticized and lauded for its efforts to promote financial stability, continues to find itself at the forefront of global economic crisis management.
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With the U.S. national debt already exceeding $16 trillion, tax reform championed by President Trump and increased spending are adding to the country’s deficits.
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A growing number of countries are legalizing same-sex marriage amid a steady advance in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights, but opposition remains strong in many countries.
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Violence continues to rage in Mexico more than a decade after former President Felipe Calderon launched a crackdown on drug cartels.
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North Korea has embarked on an accelerated buildup of weapons of mass destruction and the modernization of its already large conventional force.
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Differences over Taiwan’s status fuel tensions between the island and mainland, yet cross-strait economic ties continue to deepen.
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As Europe has weathered a succession of economic crises, the European Central Bank has responded with an aggressive set of monetary policies that have redefined the bank’s original mandate.
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The U.S. government is struggling to respond to another large wave of migrants fleeing poverty, violence, and corruption in the Central American region.
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As China’s power continues to grow, some fear that the considerable autonomy Hong Kong has enjoyed over the last three decades could slip away.
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The Chinese Communist Party faces a host of pressing domestic and international policy challenges as it transitions to a new generation of leaders.
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The UN General Assembly hosts a much-watched debate of world leaders each year but has struggled to make its work more substantive. The seventy-fourth session will likely be dominated by issues including climate change, tensions in the Middle East, and the humanitarian situation in Venezuela.
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Public Health Threats and Pandemics
Opioid addiction in the United States has reached epidemic proportions, threatening not only public health but economic output and national security. -
U.S. space exploration inspired a generation of students and innovators, but NASA’s role has diminished, and the number of global space competitors is growing.
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The United Nations’ top leadership position has broad authority to steer the organization’s agenda, but its impact has varied widely since 1946.
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The alliance with Japan has been the cornerstone of U.S. security policy in East Asia for decades, but new challenges from China, North Korea, and within the alliance itself raise questions about its future.
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The Group of Seven serves as a forum to coordinate global policy, but the Trump administration has provoked questions about the group’s cohesion and relevance.
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The U.S. Navy’s dominance of the world’s oceans has made it an indispensable foreign policy tool as well as a guarantor of global trade, but a mix of challenges is raising difficult questions about its future.