Amitai Etzioni

Professor of international relations, George Washington University

When historians write their chapter on the second Obama administration, many of its stories will have originated in the Middle East. However, in terms of weighty consequences for the U.S.'s role in the future world order, nothing will be as determinative as developments in the Far East.

Lisa Haugaard and Jennifer Johnson

Executive Director, Latin America Working Group

Just as we heard the victims from Mexico say in the halls of the U.S. Congress this fall, we want President Obama to remember, "Our loved ones have names, they have mothers and fathers. They are not collateral damage." Along with the families of Newtown, Conn., they deserve justice -- and change.

Michael Shammas

Cynical idealist

Certain features of his past are being grossly exaggerated in order to cloak the real anxieties of Hagel's critics -- namely, the fear that Hagel is not a proponent of the Bush Doctrine.

XPRIZE

Making the Impossible Possible

By Marc Goodman By Marc Goodman, Chair for Policy, Law and Ethics at Singularity University and Founder of the Future Crimes Institute. The Comm...

Jon Wiener

Contributing editor, The Nation; professor of history, UC Irvine; author, 'How We Forgot the Cold War: A Historical Journey Across America'

It couldn't be a sadder thing to admit, given what happened in those years, but -- given what's happened in these years -- who can doubt that the America of the 1950s and 1960s was, in some ways, simply a better place than the one we live in now?

Michael Brenner

Senior Fellow, the Center for Transatlantic Relations; Professor of International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh

The intellectual doldrums stultifying American foreign policy create incentive to take the initiative; they at the same time resist any deviation from the inertial course.

Stephen Zunes

Professor of Politics and Chair of Mid-Eastern Studies, University of San Francisco

The Obama administration's reaction to November's Israeli onslaught on Gaza is emblematic of the contradictions in its foreign policy. Though the administration deserves credit for preventing greater carnage, why did it apparently give Israeli the green light during the first week of fighting?

Ian Bremmer

Author, 'Every Nation for Itself'

The furious protests that have toppled autocrats and roiled politics across North Africa and the Middle East for the past two years will enter a new phase in 2013.

Michael Brenner

Senior Fellow, the Center for Transatlantic Relations; Professor of International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh

The emerging conventional wisdom on a deficit-driven decline in the United States' international position too easily can slip into groupthink that features dubious premises, doubtful logic and questionable arithmetic.

92nd Street Y

Former U.S. Secretary of State thinks the U.S. has a responsibility to protect other countries facing crisis. She was here last month as part of a pan...

Gernot Wagner

Economist, Environmental Defense Fund and author, 'But Will the Planet Notice?'

Mind you, "President Obama isn't going to halt the rise of the oceans in his second term."

Lisa Haugaard

Executive Director, Latin America Working Group

If we could keep these resolutions, 2013 would be a banner year for U.S.-Latin American relations.

Freedom House

Independent watchdog organization dedicated to the expansion of freedom around the world

The success or failure of Egypt's transition will have a significant effect on the rest of the Arab world, and the country's current economic, social, and political challenges are all but overwhelming.

Michael Brenner

Senior Fellow, the Center for Transatlantic Relations; Professor of International Affairs, University of Pittsburgh

Officials have gone so far as to declare, off the record, that any claimed civilian casualty must be so proven or otherwise presumed to have been a combatant. Proven by whom? By what measure? From beyond the grave? To what effect?

Freedom House

Independent watchdog organization dedicated to the expansion of freedom around the world

As 2012 winds down, it is time again to reflect on the year’s human rights developments. How did the world do following an eventful 2011?

James Zogby

President, Arab American Institute; author, 'Arab Voices'

As President Obama prepares to launch his second term in the White House, he can take some comfort in the fact that positive attitudes toward the United States have once again risen sharply in several Arab countries.