In 2007 Georgetown University established the CyberProject under the auspices of the Institute for Law, Science & Global Security. The CyberProject seeks to hone the Institute’s resources to help policymakers develop a greater understanding of current international cybersecurity issues. On 10 April 2012, the Institute held its second annual international cyber conference entitled, “International Engagement on Cyber: Establishing International Norms & Improved Cyber Security.” Under the direction of the CyberProject and the Institute, we have devoted this second annual special issue of the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs to cyber exclusively, and the challenges that societies face as they seek to establish norms of behavior so all may coexist peacefully in this domain. In the pages that follow, participants from the Institute’s second international cyber conference and other leaders, domestic and foreign, lay out their visions for protecting cyberspace and maintaining its stability.

The Georgetown Journal of International Affairs is the official publication of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Each issue of the journal provides readers with a diverse array of timely, peer-reviewed content penned by top policymakers, business leaders, and academic luminaries. Annual peer reviewed ‘special editions’ feature collected academic analysis on rapidly changing domains within the arena of international affairs, including the International Engagement on Cyber series.

In 1950 six nations created the European Coal and Steel Community, laying the foundations for what would later become the European Union. Since then many other regions have integrated and the number of regional organizations has proliferated. Regional organizations are key actors in tackling tough problems, such as protecting human rights, preventing and resolving conflict, strengthening regional cooperation, and promoting economic growth.The purpose of this issue’s Forum, consisting of five articles, is to provide readers with a theoretical and practical overview of key aspects of regional integration and regional organizations. The first two articles provide a theoretical discussion on regional integration, while the following three articles present case studies on regional organizations – the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Arctic Council, and ASEAN. These pieces are summarized in Piero Graglia’s introduction. Other contributions to this issue include articles about self-defense groups in Mexico, reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan after the 2014 withdrawal, the Chinese middle class, and Scotland’s referendum on independence. The issue also features interviews with Ambassador Joseph D. Stafford III on his experience in the U.S. Embassy in Tehran during the hostage crisis, Professor Joseph S. Nye on American leadership, and Ambassador-at-Large Melanne Verveer on global women’s issues. In selecting the topics for this issue we have reached beyond the headlines in an effort to explore tough and persistent global problems.

The Georgetown Journal of International Affairs is the official publication of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Each issue of the journal provides readers with a diverse array of timely, peer-reviewed content penned by top policymakers, business leaders, and academic luminaries. The Journal takes a holistic approach to international affairs and features a ‘Forum’ that offers focused analysis on a specific key issue with each new edition of the publication, as well as nine regular sections: Books, Business & Economics, Conflict & Security, Culture & Society, Law & Ethics, A Look Back, Politics & Diplomacy, Science & Technology, and View from the Ground.

The international system and the individual nation states that comprise it face crucial decisions regarding both the means and methods employed to supply energy to the globe’s seven billion human inhabitants. Indeed, there are few issues of public policy with as far-reaching implications as those related to energy production, consumption, distribution, and conservation. The extent to which fluctuations in price and supply of this diverse group of resources can have a dramatic impact upon the industry and livelihood of the entire global population cannot be overstated. The Future of Energy seeks to serve as a primer for increasing public dialogue about this incredibly important topic, presenting a diverse array of arguments on issues spanning the gamut of relevance to the current global schema. Resource policies greatly impact the international sphere in economic, political, social, and security contexts and this issue will attempt to demonstrate how these fields of study and practice collide when energy is concerned.

The Georgetown Journal of International Affairs is the official publication of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. Each issue of the journal provides readers with a diverse array of timely, peer-reviewed content penned by top policymakers, business leaders, and academic luminaries. The Journal takes a holistic approach to international affairs and features a ‘Forum’ that offers focused analysis on a specific key issue with each new edition of the publication, as well as nine regular sections: Books, Business & Economics, Conflict & Security, Culture & Society, Law & Ethics, A Look Back, Politics & Diplomacy, Science & Technology, and View from the Ground.