The origins of the mistrust between the West and many of the world's Muslims - and how to resolve it - are the focus of a new book called American Raj: Liberation or Domination? American author Eric Margolis, a veteran Middle East correspondent, foreign policy analyst and syndicated columnist, says it will take meaningful actions, not better public relations, to build new bridges between the West and the Muslim world.

The incoming administration will confront an array of threats and challenges as serious as any ever faced by an American president, says Steve Fetter, dean of the University of Maryland School of Public Policy. To help whoever won, Fetter asked six experts on his faculty with deep research and government expertise to create policy briefs recommending steps to address key challenges.

A new study in the journal International Studies Perspectives examines U.S. foreign policy towards three Middle Eastern states and finds that the executive branch is often the driving force in foreign policy. Also, U.S. foreign policies tend to be reciprocal in nature.

Obama spoke using a podium used by former President John F. Kennedy during a presidential campaign visit to Terre Haute on Oct. 5, 1960.

A private report on U.S. - China relations urges the United States to support China's ambition to become a great power. Victoria Cavaliere reports for VOA that a panel of experts is calling for an "affirmative agenda" in Washington's dealings with China.

President Bush says the opposition leader in the House of Representatives is sending the wrong signals to America's friends and foes by visiting Syria for talks with President Bashar Assad. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns has the story.

A new poll shows that declining American public support for the war in Iraq is leading to an increasingly negative public opinion of resorting to military force to settle global conflicts. The findings come in the fourth survey conducted jointly by the non-profit organization Public Agenda and Foreign Affairs, one of America's most influential publications on foreign policy.