The U.S. defense budget serves as a sign of how America has prioritized its global commitments and the bridge between strategy and implementation, where military capabilities define the roles and missions of America’s men and women in uniform. The defense budget has broad global impact, but understanding it is not always easy. As military spending finds its way into the nation’s headlines, learn more about how America allocates resources to support its strength abroad.

In the United States and in Great Britain, parties that had previously enjoyed success with a center-left "third way" are now in trouble with voters as they have moved well to the left.

At the heart of the debate over renewing No Child Left Behind, the nation’s education reform act which is overdue for reauthorization, is the question: what is the role of the federal government in K-12 education? Though the law was initiated and signed by a Republican president, presidential candidates like Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, who once supported it, now talk about getting the federal government out of education. Democratic reformers, meanwhile, insist that the federal government has a role in telling states how to identify, punish and fix low-performing schools — despite little evidence that Washington has been good at any of these tasks.  Over the last decade, AEI Education has been exploring these concerns.

The Greek tragedy is far from over as the debate over whether to accept debt-forgiveness conditions upended the government in Athens. Furthermore, other debt-laden European nations risk going under.

Yes, Ronald Reagan wanted to rid the world of nuclear weapons, but he was a stickler for verification.

A review of the research suggests that, on balance, mayoral control is sensible for troubled, urban school systems.

It's all right to aim high, but not when it blinds a young person to the reality of her situation, and her actual opportunities for a better life.

Gingrich is unlikely ever to be a figure of much fondness outside the ranks of the Gop.