Section 123 of the United States Atomic Energy Act of 1954, titled "Cooperation With Other Nations," establishes an agreement for cooperation as a prerequisite for nuclear deals between the US and any other nation. Such an agreement is called a 123 Agreement. Over the last several years, the Obama administration has conducted and recently completed a policy review of 123 agreements. One question is how the review dealt with what has become known as the "gold standard." Should the United States require countries with which it enters into 123 agreements to completely forgo enrichment and...

The 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), which was passed after the 9/11 attacks, was not and is not intended to apply to the current engagement of the United States in Iraq and Syria. It is imperative that Congress authorize any further military action against ISIL. We need to know whether associated forces that come under this agreement could include forces affiliated with ISIL in Libya, Nigeria, or elsewhere. We need to know whether a new administration could revert to relying on the 2001 AUMF in 3 years if this AUMF, if passed, were to expire. And we need to know how long...

As a permanent member of the United Nation Security Council and the largest contributor to the U.N. peacekeeping budget, the U.S. has a particular interest in how U.N. peacekeeping mandates are set and operations are carried out. Because the United States cannot be everywhere all the time, there is an important role for U.N. peacekeeping in supporting U.S. interests with respect to security and stability around the world. U.N. peacekeeping is evolving in many ways. Traditionally, missions have focused primarily on negotiating peace agreements, inserting blue helmets to separate conflicting...

The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), created a decade ago, was intended to take a unique approach to the development and foreign aid. As designed, the MCC provides development assistance for clearly defined economic objectives in full partnership with a developing country. MCC compacts are earned, not given. With a set of clear indicators that emphasize democratic governance and economic freedoms that determine selectivity, the MCC works with successful countries committed to establishing appropriate enabling environments in which entrepreneurship and economic growth can thrive....