As China's economy has expanded to become the second largest in the world, and as China's geopolitical clout has grown commensurately, the United States has sought to broaden the U.S.-China relationship to encompass a wide range of global and regional issues. Among the global issues on which the Obama Administration has sought to work with China are the international financial crisis, climate change, and nuclear non-proliferation.

In Mexico, the violence generated by drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) in recent years has been, according to some, unprecedented. In 2006, Mexico's newly elected President Felipe Calderón launched an aggressive campaign--an initiative that has defined his administration-- against the DTOs that has been met with a violent response from the DTOs. Government enforcement efforts have had successes in removing some of the key leaders in all of the seven major DTOs. However, these efforts have led to violent succession struggles within the DTOs themselves.

U.S. economic sanctions imposed on North Korea are instigated by that country's activities related to weapons proliferation, regional disruptions, anti-terrorism, and undemocratic governance. The sanctions have the following consequences for U.S.-North Korea relations: • Trade is minimal and mostly limited to food, medicine, and other humanitarian-related goods. North Korea has no advantageous trade status and is outright denied certain goods--including luxury goods--and trade financing, primarily due to its proliferation activities.

This report analyzes bilateral issues between the United States and Syria. Unrest in Syria and the Asad government's violent response are adding new complexity to the troubled U.S.-Syrian relationship. The Obama Administration's policy of limited engagement with Syria to address areas of longstanding concern has been met with criticism from some, including some Members of Congress. Critics believe that the Administration should apply further pressure to the Syrian government and consider implementing harsher economic sanctions against it.

The U.S. program of assistance to Afghanistan is intended to stabilize and strengthen the Afghan economic, social, political, and security environment so as to blunt popular support for extremist forces in the region. Since 2001, about $47 billion has been appropriated toward this effort. More than half of U.S. assistance--roughly 57%--has gone to the training and equipping of Afghan forces. The remainder has gone to development and humanitarian-related activities from infrastructure to private sector support, governance and democratization efforts, and counter- narcotics programs. Key U.S.