Kal Raustiala (UCLA): Empire and Extraterritoriality in 20th Century America. In praise of nation-building: If the US and its allies are to address national security challenges successfully, then there is no choice but to engage in nation-building. Will America's budget deficit bring an end to world peace? The information revolution has upended the global balance of power, but America has failed to adjust. The international order that America created will endure — if we make the transition to a grand strategy based on reciprocity and shared leadership. Fareed Zakaria warns, stop searching for an Obama Doctrine. An interview with Robert Kagan on foreign policy under the Obama Administration. Could western neo-cons and Iranian hardliners be ratcheting up nuclear tensions for their own motives? Confessions of a Vulcan: An insider's story of how the Bush administration lost Afghanistan. From Ethics and International Affairs, a symposium on "The Ethics of America's Afghan War". The stick and the carrot: Alice Gadler on humanitarian aid in US counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has consolidated a dangerous amount of power; now, his citizens are angry and his opponents scheme. Welfare for Dictators: An investigation reveals how Pentagon billions are flowing to strongmen in the Middle East. Tribal Warriors: Why is it so hard for strongmen to say goodbye? How tyrants endure: Wealthy dictators can ward off revolution; poorer ones will have no choice but to democratize. What happens to deposed leaders? The good autocrat: A stark contrast exists between the tyrannical rulers of the Middle East and the benign despots of East Asia — the precepts of Enlightenment thought dictate freedom for all, but Confucian leaders offer a heretical alternative to Western ideals.