The Syrian revolt is an important part of the broader Arab Spring that is transforming the Middle East, and U.S. policy must transform with it. After months of disappointing statements urging Assad to "reform," the Obama administration has begun to align itself with the Syrian people....

Standard & Poor's downgrade of U.S. debt, along with the political battle over the debt ceiling and a faltering U.S. economy, will siphon away the time President Barack Obama has to deal with foreign policy issues. CFR's James M. Lindsay says that while the United States remains the world's dominant power, the downgrade strengthens the hand of those who argue that it is "in terminal decline."

Some may continue to point to the structural advantages enjoyed by the United States...of its rare combination of hard and soft power; of the fact that it remains the only serious power with true global reach... But in the current climate such facts appear to be cutting little ice with those who now insist that as result of Bush's ill-conceived war on terror, followed by the financial crisis, American decline is now a foregone conclusion.

Obama "seems to be a passive figure at a time when the world needs a leader." Obama and his advisers should pay heed to this quietly devastating observation. Even if they're right about where Obama is positioned politically, they have to worry whether all the concessions and maneuvering undercut a president's most important asset: an earned image of strength rooted in principle.

The US is making a mistake in demonising Iran, says Patrick Seale. Obama should have seized the chance to engage. It’s now widely accepted – and lamented – that US President Barack Obama failed dismally in attempting to make peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

We think to date, the government is responsible for the deaths of more than 2,000 people of all ages, and the United States has worked very hard to corral and focus international opinion to take steps toward a unified response to the atrocities that are occurring...

The new Middle East is very much a work in progress, but... the latest developments...are making the stirring picture of freedom, democracy and secularism that so many had envisioned in the early days of the Arab Spring look more like a glassy mirage masking anti-liberal, anti-Western sentiment.

CPD Director Philip Seib was interviewed on PRI's The World this week about the power of media coverage to make the public act upon current issues.