National Program

The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is a truly national organization, with more than one-third of its members based outside of New York and Washington, DC. The National Program provides a forum for members across the country to discuss pressing foreign policy issues and contribute to CFR's research and publications.

Convening approximately ninety-five on-the-ground sessions annually, the National Program is centered around foreign policy seminars at which CFR fellows discuss their research and writing. These are complemented by roundtables that build upon the expertise of CFR members and community leaders in ten U.S. cities (Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle), as well as internationally in London and Tokyo. The National Program also connects National members to CFR programming through weekly teleconferences of New York and Washington, DC, meetings, as well as an interactive conference call series focused on current events.

The highlight of the National Program is the annual National Conference. Held at CFR's headquarters in New York, the National Conference brings together members from across the country and around the world for two and a half days of discussions and networking with fellow members and other leading thinkers and practitioners. The conference is underwritten by a grant in memory of Peter E. Haas from the Mimi and Peter Haas Fund.

The National Program also arranges talks at colleges and universities, editorial board briefings, and local media appearances for CFR fellows. Additionally, the National Program makes live streams and on demand audio and video recordings of on-the-record CFR meetings available to the general public on www.cfr.org.