President Hollande’s state visit was an attempted boost for the United States’ lead EU security partner and a sign of a more activist foreign policy in the White House, says CFR’s Charles Kupchan.

President Obama’s announced reforms should help restore public confidence in some controversial U.S. surveillance practices, says expert Andrew Weissmann.

As twin explosions in Volgograd raise concerns of terrorist attacks disrupting Russia’s Winter Olympics in February, expert Dmitri Trenin explains the root causes of insurgency in the North Caucasus.

European outrage over NSA surveillance speaks to a larger disappointment with President Obama’s inability to strike a better balance between security and civil liberties, says CFR’s Charles Kupchan.

A number of diplomatic challenges, including disagreements over the crisis in Syria, could threaten to undermine years of improving U.S.-Turkey relations, says CFR’s Steven A. Cook.