The country is now a known unknown, increasing the risk of crises from the Middle East to East Asia to Central America, a new survey suggests.
The end of the year brings myriad rankings: the best books, movies, and so on. In Washington, D.C., the lists tend to be of a more … sobering variety.
For years, the Council on Foreign Relations has asked hundreds of U.S. government officials and foreign-policy experts to rate the potential security crises that could most threaten the United States in the coming year. Typically the respondents have focused on the world’s hot spots. More top of mind this year, it seems, was the destabilizing force at home.