Analysis

This past week, President Obama laid out the foreign policy objectives for the remainder of his time in office, a speech that included his wish to end not just the war in Afghanistan but the "war on terror." Weekends on All Things Considered host Jacki Lyden speaks with James Fallows, national correspondent with The Atlantic.

Have Republicans finally succeeded in persuading the public at large that the Benghazi attack wasn't just a tragedy but actually a huge scandal? Another big problem for the Obama administration was revealed last week:the IRS was paying special attention to conservative political groups.

The situation in Syria seems to have the Obama administration scrambling in the face of what appear to be no good options. Public opinion does not favor military intervention. On a different front, the president pushed for overhauling immigration while in Latin America last week.

President Obama spent part of the weekend reaching out to members of Congress. He's still looking for some alternative to the budget cuts that he ordered on Friday.

The Vatican is now under the control of the cardinals who will elect a new leader of the Catholic Church. On Thursday, Pope Benedict gave up his ring, cape and red papal shoes and became pope emeritus.

President Obama goes before a joint session of Congress Tuesday evening to deliver his State of the Union message. White House briefers say the president plans to bring the national conversation back to the economy after weeks of focusing on immigration and gun violence.

The president will visit the city's police department — most police organizations favor tougher gun laws. The president leaves behind a new Congress that's getting down to business. Consuming most lawmakers' time are the budget and deficit.

The proposal would include a pathway to citizenship for millions of people now in the United States illegally. Republicans have led the opposition to that change up to now, commonly calling it amnesty.

Less than a week into his second term, President Obama has already met with resistance over procedural matters, such as his use of the recess appointment to circumvent the Senate confirmation process. Weekends on All Things Considered host Robert Smith speaks with James Fallows, national correspondent for The Atlantic.

With just a couple of days before President Obama receives his second inaugural parade, weekends on All Things Considered host Jacki Lyden speaks with James Fallows of The Atlantic about whether we can expect Obama's second term to fall into the same patterns as previous second-term presidents. Historically, the second term has an emphasis on foreign policy and is often riddled with scandal.