Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Read our research on:

Global

  • report

    Will Budget Cuts = Isolationism?

    The forced budget cuts, known in Washington as sequestration, are now in force. These reductions in defense spending, anti-terrorism activities, foreign aid and the budget for the State Department will shrink the U.S. footprint around the world, with consequences for the projection of both U.S. hard and soft power.

  • report

    Secretary of State John Kerry’s Travel Itinerary

      John Kerry will take his first trip abroad as Secretary of State from February 24 to March 6, travelling to Europe and the Middle East. In Europe, he will visit Britain, Germany, France and Italy, where he will discuss bilateral relations as well as the ongoing conflicts in Mali and Syria. America’s image remains […]

  • report

    American Star Power Still Rules the Globe

    Surveys consistently show that movies – and more broadly, American popular culture – are a strong suit of U.S. soft power. And, while studio executives spend considerably more time thinking about box office returns than public diplomacy, Tinseltown is actually pretty effective at nudging America’s international image in a positive direction.

  • report

    How America and Japan See the World

    The U.S.-Japan relationship has gone through numerous ups and downs in the last few decades and Americans’ fears that Japan Inc. will overwhelm them have subsided. Yet challenges remain: how to jointly deal with China, North Korea and Iran, and whether Tokyo will join with other Asian governments and Washington in creating a transpacific free trade area.