At the 2009 UN General Assembly, the world's deliberative body opens its sixty-fourth annual session. UN reform, the international financial situation, disarmament, and diseases will likely loom large.

Speech

Fact Sheet

In this First Take, CFR's James M. Lindsay says President Obama's decision to alter missile defense plans in Eastern Europe makes sense from a military standpoint but he faces challenges in selling the strategy to Americans.

Listen to Stephen Biddle, CFR's senior fellow for defense policy, discuss U.S. policy toward Afghanistan in light of his recent trip to Afghanistan as a member of General Stanley A. McChrystal's strategic assessment group, as part of CFR's Academic Conference Call series.

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CFR's Japan expert Sheila Smith says U.S.-Japan relations remain important for both governments, but the issue of realigning U.S. military forces in Japan will continue to be a difficult challenge.

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The United States has pursued missile defense technologies for six decades, with mixed results. Changes under the Obama administration, including adjustments to planned defenses in Europe, could portend a new direction.

The United States has been developing missile defense technologies since the beginning of the Cold War, first with nuclear-tipped interceptors and later with conventional "hit-to-kill" missiles, weapons intended to destroy enemy warheads in flight.

CFR Senior Fellow Michael A. Levi and CFR.org Editor Robert McMahon discuss the deadlock in global climate negotiations and the upcoming UN Copenhagen Summit in December 2009.