Richard N. Haass

President Obama has been of two minds toward Afghanistan since the outset of his presidency. In December 2009, en route to tripling the U.S. military presence there, he declared that U.S. military forces would begin to withdraw from that country in 18 months. Now, two-and-a-half years later, he stated that...

North Korea's failed attempt to launch the Unha-3, a new three-stage long-range ballistic missile, is for obvious reasons welcome. More than anything else it demonstrates limits to the DPRK's technical prowess. And it means that the United States and the world have more time before they must contend with the...

Some 40 years ago, when I entered Oxford University as a graduate student, I declared my interest in the Middle East. I was told that this part of the world came under the rubric of "Oriental Studies," and that I would be assigned an appropriate professor. But when I arrived...

More than four decades after he seized power, and more than seven months after the civil war began that led to his ouster, Muammar al-Gaddafi is apparently dead, forever removed from Libya's politics.

Gaddafi's death alters but does not transform the situation in Libya. Fighting could still continue for some...

Reactions to President Obama's Afghan speech last night are all over the lot. This should not surprise. The words emphasize the commitment over the next three and a half years to sharply scale back the level of U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan, but in the short run, there will be...

Council on Foreign Relations president Richard Haass testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Tuesday morning on the matter of Afghanistan. Here are his prepared remarks:

Mr. Chairman:

Thank you for asking me to appear before this Committee, in this instance to discuss U.S. policy...

The killing of Osama bin Laden constitutes a significant victory over global terrorism. But it is a milestone, not a turning point, in what remains an ongoing struggle without a foreseeable end.

The significance of what was accomplished stems from bin Laden's symbolic importance. He has been an icon, one...

The recent revolutionary turmoil in the Middle East has underscored the limited ability of the United States to influence outcomes there now, says CFR President Richard Haass. "The [U.S.] ability to shape things in the Middle East is no longer what it was," says Haass, who notes that U.S. standing...

I did not support the U.S. decision to intervene with military force in Libya. The evidence was not persuasive that a large-scale massacre or genocide was either likely or imminent. Policies other than military intervention were never given a full chance. It was anything but apparent that military intervention would...

The latest unauthorized release, i.e., leak, of some 250,000 documents by WikiLeaks does not appear to constitute a national security crisis, although it will cause more than a little near-term awkwardness and create some longer-term problems for the United States and its partners.

Much of what we have seen thus...

Few Americans cast their ballot in the recent mid-term elections on the basis of foreign policy. While it may be difficult for people around the world to comprehend this, given the global reach of the United States, it is an undeniable fact.

Most Americans are, after all, preoccupied with the...

Cross-posted from CFR.org

Speaking on August 31 to the American people from the Oval Office, President Barack Obama announced that the U.S. combat mission in Iraq was over after more than seven costly years. "Now, it's time to turn the page," he said. But turning the...

This post originally appeared at CFR.org.

By choosing General David Petraeus as new commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, President Barack Obama ended the political distraction caused by General Stanley McChrystal's ill-advised Rolling Stone interview. It will be more difficult to end the strategic distraction that...

The good news is that the United States and the other four permanent veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council (China, France, Russia, and the United Kingdom) have at long last agreed on a resolution that would inflict a new round of sanctions on Iran to persuade its rulers to...

Cross-posted from the Council on Foreign Relations

The "Gates memo" -- a classified memorandum written by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in January, arguing to his senior colleagues that the administration needs to develop a more effective policy for dealing with Iran's nuclear progress -- marks a significant signpost...

Iran's future is unlikely to be determined on the streets of Tehran this month, the thirty-first anniversary of the revolution that ousted the Shah and brought Islamic rule to Iran. Neither the Revolutionary Guard nor the Green Movement is in a position to deliver a knockout blow to the other.

Cross-posted from the Council on Foreign Relations.

Last night's address was noteworthy for many reasons, but one reason has largely been overlooked: It was the first post, post-9/11 State of the Union speech given by an American president. Foreign policy and national security did not merit a mention...

I recently had a question and answer session with CFR Consulting Editor Bernard Gwertzman regarding President Obama's upcoming State of the Union address. There is no doubt that the President will focus far more on economic and domestic issues than foreign affairs. This is partly for political reasons, but also...

It is not easy for a political figure leading his country at a time of two wars to speak at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, but President Barack Obama managed to finesse both the irony and the tension. His mantra might have been "Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum" (If you...

All wars of choice are risky, and Barack Obama's decision to send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan is no exception. The president is banking on the idea that doing more for 18 months will make it possible to do less in the long run.

More specifically, he is betting that...