In The New York Review of Books, Ahmed Rashid sifts through the conflicting reports of U.S. forces' success in Afghanistan and the distinct perspectives of the many players involved in the Afghan conflict.

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Benn Steil's op-ed for Project Syndicate argues that the United States and Europe are putting the credibility of the Fed and the ECB at risk by relying on extraordinary central bank interventions as a substitute for resolving the bad assets dragging down private sector banks.

In light of potentially insurmountable challenges to Obama's Afghanistan plan, Michale O'Hanlon and Bruce Ridel express alarm over alternative propositions that emphasize targeted counterterrorism operations, and outline their own fallback option. (Washington Quarterly)

To keep its edge in technological innovation against India and China, the United States must focus on open immigration policies, strengthening political and social networks, and more, says CFR's Adam Segal.

This Rand publication prescribes a course of action that international and domestic actors should prioritize in the massive effort to rebuild the nation.

Benn Steil's January column in Dow Jones' Financial News, co-authored with Paul Swartz, argues that the German-led Irish bailout is floundering because the Irish public balance sheet cannot absorb further Irish bank debt.? Until the inevitable losses on this debt are finally allocated, largely to other European banks, investors will continue to be wary of holding any assets which could conceivably bear the brunt of such losses.

In The National Interest, Bruce Riedel comments on the al-Qaeda plot to terrorize "Obama's city" of Chicago on the eve of U.S. elections back in 2010, noting that the Saudi spy who defected to our allies underscores the importance of U.S. alliances in the Middle East.