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Providing leadership in this difficult political context will require the United States, the United Kingdom and France to achieve unprecedented levels of cooperation and collaboration.

Iraq has made significant progress in defeating the insurgency and improving its security. The level of violence in Iraq is sharply lower than the levels that peaked in 2007.

The world was surprised when China emerged in 2004 as a major importer and consumer of oil. Today, that surprise has been replaced by growing concern that the China of tomorrow may be in a position to challenge the United States not only for economic leadership but for political leadership as well.

Until Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential election, it was taken for granted that no African-American could become president of the United States. Any great talent in that population group, about 13.5 percent of Americans, was discarded for the top position in the country. The situation has changed, and the United States is surely better for it.

Q1: What are the key defense issues?

It is a strange kind of republic in which presidents serve for life. It is an even stranger one in which rulers inherit power from their fathers. Yet, that is the direction in which the Arab Republic of Egypt is going.

The United States is pouring massive resources and risking precious lives of its soldiers in its efforts to stabilize Afghanistan, a part of the world most Americans could not identify on a map before 9/11. President Barack Obama has already increased the U.S. force presence considerably and is deliberating further increases in what may be the most portentous decision of his presidency.

BEIJING – With President Barack Obama making his first trip to China, it is vital that the two countries have a clear understanding of what they expect from each other. Failure to reconcile expectations could derail a partnership that is increasingly critical to the management of pressing global issues.