If Congress and the President do not reach a spending deal by March 1st, budget cuts will automatically go into effect. Todd Zwillich explains the steps the president and Congress are taking to avoid sequestration.

At his Senate confirmation hearing yesterday, John O. Brennan tried to restore Americans' faith in the C.I.A. While Brennan expressed his disapproval for torture, he staunchly defended the C.I.A.'s drone program.

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Kishore Mahbubani explores how the global middle class brings about an unprecedented convergence of interests, perceptions, cultures, and values. In Convergence: Asia, the West, and the Logic of One World, Mahbubani argues that it’s a positive change that world's population outside the West is rising to Western living standards and sharing Western aspirations, but warns a new global order requires a shift in policies and attitudes.

There are many ways to tell the story of what has happened in Egypt since the start of the revolution two years ago. Journalist Christopher Lydon chose the art created by Egypt’s leading novelists, architects, poets, musicians, and painters.

If confirmed, how would Brennan shape the C.I.A.? Glenn Greenwald is a columnist on civil liberties and U.S. national security issues for the Guardian. He explores Brennan's foreign policy influence in the region, and his potential role in Obama's second term.

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As Obama's chief counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan has been associated with some controversial policies, including the use of armed drones. It's unlikely his appointment as CIA director is in trouble, but he's likely to face questions on drones as well as the agency's interrogation policies.

The violent anti-American demonstrations occasioned by Vice President Richard M. Nixon's recent trip to Latin America are the subject of this 1958 International Interview with Edward W. Barrett, dean of the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.

Before last November's election, few Republicans supported granting undocumented immigrants a path to legalized status. But then President Obama won reelection and 71 percent of the Latino vote. Have Republicans changed their minds about immigration reform?

John McGinnis, author of "Accelerating Democracy: Transforming Governance Through Technology," explains why he believes the federal government should legalize internet gambling on legislative outcomes, how the government can harness data to test social policy, and much more. 

In the first hearing on immigration reform in Congress this week, House Republicans indicated that they are open to a plan that would allow for legacy residency for the some 11 million undocumented immigrants already in the country. But they stopped short of agreeing to a plan that would include a pathway to citizenship.

What if protecting civilians from drone attacks was approached as a design challenge, rather than a legal one? Asher J. Kohn, a law student at Washington University at Saint Louis, recently audited an architecture class where he decided to imagine a drone-proof city.

Its allegedly rosy ratings for mortgaged backed securities understated the severity of the growing housing crash and may have actually contributed to the financial crisis. Michael de la Merced has been following the story reporter for our partner, The New York Times.

Congress created the Office of Science and Technology Policy in 1976, but Barack Obama was the first president to appoint a White House chief technology officer. In 2012, Todd Park became the second person to hold the position.

What will future cyber-conflicts look like? Richard Clarke, former White House counter-terrorism czar, has a few ideas. He's a managing partner of Good Harbor, a cyber-security consultancy.