What the UN Security Council Can and Cannot Do
The Security Council is the United Nations body with the power to authorize sanctions and force, but its structure, including the veto, limits what it can actually deliver.
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What is happening beyond America's borders and why it matters at home.
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NATO's Article 5, Explained: What Collective Defense Does and Does Not Promise
Article 5 says an armed attack on one NATO member is an attack on all. The text is shorter and more flexible than many people assume. Here is what it says and how it has been used.
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How Economic Sanctions Work, and Why They Are Hard to Judge
Sanctions are tools of pressure short of war, from frozen assets to trade bans. Here is who imposes them, how they are enforced, and why measuring their success is difficult.
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G7 vs. G20: How the Two Groups Differ
Both hold summits and issue joint statements, but the G7 and the G20 have different members, origins and purposes. Here is a plain comparison, and what neither can do.