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On Thursday, President Obama makes a major address on the uprisings sweeping the Middle East and North Africa and what those events mean for the U.S. His comments will likely be compared to his speech in Cairo in June 2009, where he went to "seek a new beginning" in the region and the Muslim world.

The State Department will still need security, but its use of private companies draws questions.

All U.S. combat forces are scheduled to leave Iraq by year's end, but the State Department will still need security. So it's planning to add thousands more private contractors. Critics doubt that there will be enough oversight and say the task should be left to trained government workers.

In addition to its investigation of WikiLeaks, the Justice Department has brought criminal charges against four former government employees for violating their pledge of secrecy. Yet members of Congress still want the Obama administration to take more action against leaks.

Cyberattacks, assassinations and defections are among the black operations that have replaced, at least for now, all talk of launching military attacks on Iran's suspect nuclear facilities. And covert operations are increasingly being viewed as the most effective approach, analysts say.

U.S. success with covert efforts like cyberattacks is making Iran's leaders nervous, analysts say.

Though there are still forceful advocates of a strong, continuing U.S. military presence in Afghanistan, Osama bin Laden's death has broadened calls for Obama to draw down troop levels there in favor of a more limited, targeted hunt for terrorists.

William Dodd served for four years as the ambassador to Germany before resigning — after repeated clashes with both Nazi Party officials and the State Department. Erik Larson chronicles Dodd's time in Berlin in his new book, In the Garden of Beasts.

Palestinian officials are preparing to seek a resolution from the U.N. General Assembly declaring statehood. Israeli officials have criticized the idea — and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said there will be no hope for peace with a Palestinian government that includes Hamas.

President Obama's picks to head Defense and the CIA mostly suggest continuity of policy but also point to possible debates with Congress over military spending and the direction of the war in Afghanistan.