home > think tank > research projects
Below you will find a chronological list of current Council research projects. You can search by issue or region by selecting the appropriate category. In addition to this sorting control, you can search for specific subjects within the alphabetical, regional, and issue categories by choosing from the selections in the drop-down menu below.
Each project page contains the name of the project director, a description of the project, a list of meetings it has held, and any related publications, transcripts, or videos.
October 1, 2007—Present
| Director: | James M. Goldgeier, Whitney Shepardson Senior Fellow for Transatlantic Relations |
|---|
The goal of the America, Europe, and the World roundtable series is to examine how America and Europe can move forward with a constructive transatlantic agenda for managing problems that arise outside of North America and Europe.
November 2007—Present
| Director: | Paul B. Stares, General John W. Vessey Senior Fellow for Conflict Prevention and Director of the Center for Preventive Action |
|---|
The meeting series focuses attention on situations that are increasingly discernible as "flashpoints" for violent conflict. At each on the record meeting, experts from government, private sector, and nongovernmental communities present different perspectives on and address discrete elements of the problem. The goal of the "Flashpoints" series is to raise public awareness of potentially explosive places and to offer practical recommendations for preventive action in the discussed state or region.
December 10, 2007—Special One-Day Symposium
| Director: | Paul B. Stares, General John W. Vessey Senior Fellow for Conflict Prevention and Director of the Center for Preventive Action |
|---|
Timed with the tenth anniversary of the release of the final report of the widely regarded Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict, the symposium, titled "The Future of Conflict Prevention," assessed what we -- the United States, UN, and international community -- have and have not accomplished in terms of conflict prevention (theory and practice) over the last decade, and looked forward to new challenges and requirements for successful preventive action.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007—Thursday, November 15, 2007
| Fellow: | James P. Dougherty, Adjunct Senior Fellow for Business and Foreign Policy |
|---|
Presented by the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies and hosted by
Edmund S. Phelps 2006 Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, McVickar Professor Political Economy, Columbia University; Director, Center on Capitalism and Society
James P. Dougherty Adjunct Senior Fellow for Business and Foreign Policy, Council on Foreign Relations
January 2007—Present
| Staff: | Sebastian Mallaby, Director of the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies and Paul A. Volcker Senior Fellow for International Economics |
|---|
This roundtable series brings together policymakers, scholars, and journalists to explore current policy challenges that have both economic and national security dimensions.
September 2007—September 2008
| Staff: | Charles D. Ferguson, Philip D. Reed Senior Fellow for Science and Technology |
|---|---|
| Author: | Bruce W. MacDonald |
This report will provide options and make recommendations to Congress and the broader public on U.S. military and diplomatic steps to address the national security challenges posed by China's current and projected military space capabilities. The report will also highlight options that China should consider that would enhance both its own and U.S. security interests as well.
December 2007—July 2008
| Director: | Paul B. Stares, General John W. Vessey Senior Fellow for Conflict Prevention and Director of the Center for Preventive Action |
|---|---|
| Author: | Daniel Markey, Senior Fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia |
May 2007—June 2008
| Directors: | Paul B. Stares, General John W. Vessey Senior Fellow for Conflict Prevention and Director of the Center for Preventive Action Steven A. Cook, Hasib J. Sabbagh Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies |
|---|---|
| Author: | Scott Lasensky, Senior Research Associate, United States Institute of Peace Mona Yacoubian, Special Adviser, Muslim World Initiative, United States Institute of Peace |
This forthcoming report will focus on Washington's policy toward Syria. The Syrian regime believes it plays a pivotal role in the region and is seeking to capitalize on its influence in several major arenas: Iraq, Lebanon, Israel-Palestine, and Iran. This CSR will develop a set of policy recommendations for an effective strategy toward Damascus and prescribe an incentive-based approach to secure its cooperation in these areas.
May 2007—October 2007
| Staff: | William L. Nash, Adjunct Senior Fellow for Military Affairs and Director of the Military Fellows Program |
|---|---|
| Director: | Paul B. Stares, General John W. Vessey Senior Fellow for Conflict Prevention and Director of the Center for Preventive Action |
| Author: | Michelle D. Gavin, Adjunct Fellow for Africa |
This forthcoming report will survey the current situation in Zimbabwe, identifying current structural and legal impediments to economic and political recovery. It will argue that the time to develop post-Mugabe plans is now, and will then develop policy prescriptions for encouraging a transition, containing turmoil in the midst of change, and establishing structures that will contribute to long-term growth and stability in southern Africa.
September 27, 2007—Present
| Staff: | Gene B. Sperling, Senior Fellow for Economic Policy and Director of the Center for Universal Education |
|---|
As part of its research and policy work, the Center focuses on examining how education can be a vital part of a comprehensive humanitarian strategy for conflict, post-conflict and refugee settings. Education can provide a healing and safe place for children of conflict; it can provide a sense of much needed normalcy in a chaotic conflict environment, it can teach non-violence and understanding, and most importantly, it can give young people who have been through the worst misfortune and even horrors, the tools to build a better life for themselves and a better future for their nations. Yet education in emergencies and post-conflict situations too often falls through the cracks; overlooked because it is not seen as “life-saving” or because donors do not trust the governments in which these children live. The Center's work seeks to address this gap by
(a) studying and promoting best practices and model programs including those standards developed by the INEE, and
(b) drafting and delivering new analyses and recommendations on international financing of education in conflict situations to major stakeholders including G-8 development agencies, the United Nations, and World Bank
(c) creating support, understanding and momentum for the design and implementation of high-quality education projects for children of conflict
September 2007—Present
| Staff: | Gene B. Sperling, Senior Fellow for Economic Policy and Director of the Center for Universal Education |
|---|
This roundtable series focuses on the challenge of funding and managing education in emergency and conflict situations.
November 30, 2007—New York, NY
| Directors: | Walter Russell Mead, Henry A. Kissinger Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy Timothy Samuel Shah, Adjunct Senior Fellow for Religion and Foreign Policy |
|---|
A three-part symposium on the history of evangelicals, and their role in influencing U.S. foreign policy.
This is the second symposium in the Religion and Foreign Policy Symposia Series, which is made possible by the generosity of the Henry Luce Foundation.
May 2007—Present
| Director: | Laurie A. Garrett, Senior Fellow for Global Health |
|---|
The Series was developed with the Global Public Health Practice at McKinsey & Company.
The goal of the series is to examine proven technologies that are known to be life-saving, but are not yet in widespread use in poor countries. A number of questions will be discussed, including: What are the barriers to ubiquitous use? What controversies surround them? Are there specific funding issues in Congress or in the Executive branch that currently make support for these efforts difficult, or impossible? Are there domestic political issues in the US that limit their application? Are there reasons that desirability of these innovations is limited, on the ground in target countries? Are there novel ways to overcome current barriers to implementation, including different economic models?
A CFR general meeting and four roundtables will take place throughout spring and summer of 2007 where medical technologies such as male circumcision, HPV vaccine, eyeglasses, HIV vaccine, and sterile syringes will be discussed.
July 2007—Present
| Directors: | Julia E. Sweig, Nelson and David Rockefeller Senior Fellow for Latin America Studies and Director for Latin America Studies Shannon K. O'Neil, Douglas Dillon Fellow for Latin America Studies |
|---|
Despite substantial structural reforms and market opening, Latin America continues to lag behind other developing regions. Trade and economic growth trail far behind both East and South Asia. Value-added and high technology exports remain minimal. Economic inequality rivals even the most troubled African nations, leaving the vast majority of the population without the resources to successfully integrate into an increasingly global marketplace. Limited opportunities at home are driving migratory flows north, changing the economies, societies and polities of both the sending Latin American countries and the main receiving country, the United States. Politically, the narrow gains from globalization are placing democracy at risk. The recent electoral prominence of outsider, populist, and even authoritarian candidates reflects the growing apathy and distrust of citizens, due in large part to the economic exclusion of Latin America's majorities from the benefits of globalization.
The Globalization and Democracy Roundtable Series will look broadly at the issues facing Latin American and U.S. policymakers. Drawing on the experience of practitioners and experts from the public sector, academia, and the private sector, it will systematically examine a range of related issues, including the state of Latin America's social contract, the rule of law, the informal sector, the digital divide, physical infrastructure and human capacity building, taxation and governments' revenue stream, poverty and inequality, the potential for public-private partnerships, and the potential for energy resources to redress social exclusion.
This series is made possible by the generous support of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Ford Foundation.
Novemeber 13, 2007—Tokyo, Japan
| Director: | Gary Samore, Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair |
|---|
Presented jointly by the Council on Foreign Relations and the Japan Foundation and supported by Asahi Shimbun and the Tokyo American Center.
November 12, 2007—Tokyo, Japan
| Director: | Gary Samore, Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair |
|---|
Presented jointly by the Council on Foreign Relations and the Keizai Koho Center.
July 2007—June 2008
| Directors: | Colonel Jeffrey B. Kendall, USAF, Military Fellow, U.S. Air Force William L. Nash, Adjunct Senior Fellow for Military Affairs and Director of the Military Fellows Program Colonel Paul E. Greenwood, USMC, Military Fellow, U.S. Marine Corps Colonel Robert S. Ferrell, USA, Military Fellow, U.S. Army Captain Jeffrey A. Harley, USN, Military Fellow, U.S. Navy |
|---|
The Military Fellows Roundtable Series provides a forum for experts from both the public and private sector to engage senior officers from the U.S. Armed Forces in discussions on timely and important defense and national security issues.
November 2007—Present
| Staff: | William L. Nash, Adjunct Senior Fellow for Military Affairs and Director of the Military Fellows Program |
|---|
The Post-Conflict Reconstruction Roundtable Series provides a forum for experts from the U.S. government, military, private sector, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to assess U.S. post-conflict reconstruction and stabilization (PCRS) capabilities (military and civilian), discuss challenges in undertaking PCRS operations, and develop policy recommendations to improve future stabilization and reconstruction operations. The series will pay special attention to the prospect for increased civilian-military coordination in reconstruction efforts, progress within U.S. government agencies in implementing National Security Presidential Directive 44 (NSPD-44), and the experience of Provincial Reconstruction Teams in Afghanistan.
November 2007—Present
| Director: | Paul B. Stares, General John W. Vessey Senior Fellow for Conflict Prevention and Director of the Center for Preventive Action |
|---|
This series consists of quarterly events sponsored by the Center for Preventive Action, convenes experts from government, private sector, nongovernmental, and civil society to analyze weak or fragile regions and states at risk of conflict in the next two to five years and to devise approaches to work with practitioners to build early policy responses to address those situations.
March 2007—Present
| Staff: | Michael A. Levi, David M. Rubenstein Senior Fellow for Energy and the Environment and Director of the Program on Energy Security and Climate Change |
|---|
Preventing the spread of nuclear weapons is a key goal of American foreign policy, yet sometimes nonproliferation fails. This series explores ways the United States can prepare to deal with states that, despite our best efforts, acquire nuclear weapons.
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
Janine Hill
Deputy Director of Studies Administration
+1.212.434.9753
jhill@cfr.org
Copyright 2009 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.