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May 21, 2009
See more in North America, Energy/Environment
December 2, 2008
See more in Middle East, U.S. Strategy and Politics, U.S. Election 2008
June 25, 2008
See more in Middle East, Israel, Syria, Public Diplomacy
February 14, 2008
See more in Middle East
November 7, 2007
See more in Zimbabwe, Conflict Prevention
May 7, 2007
“Few African countries are more important to U.S. interests than Angola. The second-largest oil producer in Africa, Angola’s success or failure in transitioning from nearly thirty years of war toward peace and democracy has implications for the stability of the U.S. oil supply as well as the stability of central and southern Africa,” finds a Council-sponsored Independent Commission in a report produced by the Center for Preventive Action, Toward an Angola Strategy: Prioritizing U.S.-Angola Relations.
See more in Angola, Nation Building
April 4, 2007
“For policymakers everywhere, Nigeria should be the central African question. No country’s fate is so decisive for the continent. No other country across a range of issues has the power so thoroughly to shape outcomes elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa. If Nigeria works well, so might Africa. If the democratic experiment in Nigeria stalls, and development and governance stagnate, the rest of Africa suffers and loses hope,” concludes a new Council Special Report.
See more in Nigeria, Elections
February 20, 2007
“Washington’s reaction to [Evo] Morales’ election, policies, and rhetoric has been to ‘wait and see,’” says a new Council Special Report. “Yet after nearly nine months in office, the Morales administration’s policy agenda has taken shape and, unfortunately, has exacerbated political, ethnic, and racial schisms in Bolivian society.”
See more in Bolivia, Public Diplomacy
December 14, 2006
Conflict in the Horn of Africa is escalating rapidly as power struggles within Somalia are exacerbated by military support that both Ethiopia and Eritrea give to the opposing parties there. Ethiopia backs the weak interim government; Eritrea sponsors the Islamic militants fighting to overthrow it. Because the United States has accused Somalia of harboring al-Qaeda suspects, “the Ethiopian-Eritrean proxy conflict increases the opportunities for terrorist infiltration of the Horn and East Africa and for ignition of a larger regional conflict,” warns a new Council Special Report.
See more in Horn of Africa, Terrorism
November 27, 2006
“Chávez’s bark...is far worse than his bite,” says a new Council Special Report, which urges U.S. officials to “look beyond his blustery rhetoric…as long as Chávez does not take steps that fundamentally threaten essential U.S. interests in Latin America.” With polls showing Chávez strongly in the lead in the upcoming December 3 Venezuelan presidential election, the United States needs to prepare for another six-year term with the controversial leader.
See more in Venezuela, Public Diplomacy
October 13, 2006
Replacing domestic currencies with an international one is the best way for developing countries to create a financially stable environment and integrate into the ever-globalizing world economy, argues international financial consultant Manuel Hinds in a new Council book.
See more in Central America, Economics
August 30, 2006
Trade accounts for nearly a quarter of U.S. gross domestic product. In recent decades, trade has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty around the world. Furthermore, trade policy inevitably affects national security, employment stability, environmental protection, labor standards, health issues, immigration, and monetary policy—all of which makes the recent implosion of the Doha trade talks all the more significant.
See more in United States, China, Trade
July 25, 2006
Responding to recently proposed Congressional legislation in the wake of the Dubai Ports World controversy, a new Special Report argues that the “Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has proved to be—and continues to be—an effective tool for vetting the national security concerns associated with foreign investment. If Congress fails to achieve the right balance, U.S. companies and workers could feel the repercussions for years to come.”
See more in United States, Homeland Security, Business & Foreign Policy, Congress
June 21, 2006
“The growing schism between the West and the Islamic world is one of the primary challenges confronting American foreign and defense policymakers. As a consequence, the relationship between the United States and Turkey—a Western-oriented, democratizing Muslim country—is strategically more important than ever,” asserts a new Special Report.
See more in United States, Turkey, U.S. Strategy and Politics
June 7, 2006
If Congress does not approve the U.S.-India nuclear deal, “it would damage the bilateral relationship,” concludes a new Special Report. Congress should adopt a two-stage approach: formally endorsing the deal’s basic framework, while delaying final approval until it is assured that critical nonproliferation needs are met.
See more in United States, India, Homeland Security, Technology and Foreign Policy, Weapons of Mass Destruction
April 19, 2006
Recent deadly clashes between Papuans and Indonesian police, protests against an American copper and gold mining company, and Australia’s controversial granting of asylum to a group of Papuan refugees have brought the issue of autonomy for the remote province of Papua to international attention.
See more in Indonesia, Conflict Assessment
April 10, 2006
Stabilization and reconstruction operations in Afghanistan have been overshadowed by developments in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, says the report, Afghanistan’s Uncertain Transition From Turmoil to Normalcy , by Afghanistan expert and New York University Professor Barnett R. Rubin.
See more in Afghanistan, Civil Reconstruction
March 28, 2006
While the “threat of a nuclear attack by terrorists has never been greater,” the U.S. government has yet to make prevention the highest priority, says a new Council on Foreign Relations report that outlines ways to reduce the possibility of nuclear terrorism.
See more in United States, Homeland Security, Technology and Foreign Policy, Weapons of Mass Destruction
June 30, 2005
See more in Balkans, Kosovo, Peacekeeping
Explore the international finance regime with a new interactive from CFR's program on International Institutions and Global Governance.
Identifying international threats and acting on them may be the most difficult job for U.S. policymakers. This report
provides an actionable road map for managing international threats before they erupt into crises and makes a strong case that preventive action is not a luxury but a necessity.
For more than a decade, the United States has mostly watched from the sidelines as Asian countries organize themselves into an alphabet soup of new multilateral groups. In this report, the authors review the relationship between pan-Asian and trans-Pacific institutions and suggest policy guidelines for a new U.S. approach to this new Asian landscape.
Complete list of Council Special Reports
Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion-dollar question: How is it that Israel—a country of 7.1 million, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies— produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the UK? With the insights of geopolitical experts and investors, the authors examine this nation’s adversity-driven culture to answer this question and offer prescriptions for a global economy on the rebound.
In Forces of Fortune, Vali Nasr presents a paradigm-changing revelation that will transform the understanding of the Muslim world at large. He reveals that there is a vital but unseen rising force in the Islamic world—a new business-minded middle class—that is building a vibrant new Muslim world economy and that holds the key to winning the cold war against Iran and extremists.
In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba's unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.
Complete list of CFR Books
For more information on the David Rockefeller Studies Program, contact:
James M. Lindsay
Senior Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair
+1.212.434.9626 (NY); +1.202.509.8405 (DC)
jlindsay@cfr.org
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Deputy Director of Studies Administration
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jhill@cfr.org
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