The Chicago Council for Global Affairs

A US oil blockade has brought Cuba to the negotiating table. That gives Washington an “extraordinary opportunity” to influence the island’s trajectory and its relationship with the United States. Will Trump’s power play get in the way?

The Iran war is presenting the greatest test yet of the limits of America's power in an increasingly multipolar world.

“This moment calls for us to reimagine the possibilities,” Dr. Olufunmilayo I. Olopade tells the Council.

As the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement heads toward its first review in 2026, Julián Ventura shares what’s at stake for the region’s economies.

"A two-week ceasefire is going to be very unstable," Council Lester Crown Senior Nonresident Rachel Bronson says. "You need to have some stability for tankers to move in and out, so anything that threatens that will continue this crisis and keep energy prices high."

"The US has achieved a type of tactical victory," Council Senior Nonresident Fellow Paul Poast says. "But the terms that are on the table right now would put Iran in a position to be able to control the Strait of Hormuz and actually be in a stronger position than they were even prior to the war."

"Ceasefires are incredibly precarious," says Council President and CEO Leslie Vinjamuri.  "But it does give at least a pause—at least a window—to try and push forward more of a negotiation, especially on the question of the nuclear conditions."