Leslie H. Gelb

A diplomat under fire.

Legendary economist Paul Volcker speaks out on what's wrong with Wall Street today, the Ryan plan, and the Fed's bold moves.

America's top diplomat on Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Taliban's weakness.

Romney's foreign policy: growl loudly, and avoid land wars.

Handicapping the race for secretary of state.

Violence in Syria escalates by the day. The drumbeat for war in Washington mounts. Why Obama should go slow.

The country is teetering on the brink of civil war. The deal that could be its salvation—and protect Baghdad from Iran.

The United States won't spend a dime to bail out Europe. The Taliban is not our enemy. And nobody's easing up on Iran's nukes. The vice president lets fly.

Obama's bin Laden strike brought the nation together. How the president should seize the day.

The biggest potential losers in the still-roiling revolutions of the Middle East and North Africa are the people themselves. Many are democrats at high risk of being overwhelmed over time by new dictators and organized religious extremists. But the uncontested winners are already quite clear: those who own, sell, and bet on oil.

Obama administration officials say they are not taking sides between President Hosni Mubarak, America's key ally in the Arab world, and the street protesters who purportedly represent a path to democracy in authoritarian Egypt. These officials might even believe what they're saying. But the very assertion of "not taking sides" is itself a tilt away from the all-out support traditionally given by Washington to this Egyptian strongman in recent decades.

Obama didn't get the concessions he wanted from China's Hu. But he didn't have the cards he needed.