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The Council on Foreign Relations launched the Independent Task Force Program in 1995 with a Task Force on nuclear nonproliferation, chaired by Stephen J. Hadley, who now serves as President George W. Bush’s national security adviser. More than fifty reports later, Task Forces have become a trademark of the Council.
The Council sponsors an Independent Task Force when an issue of current and critical importance to U.S. foreign policy arises, and it seems that a group diverse in backgrounds and perspectives may nonetheless be able to reach a meaningful consensus on a policy through private and nonpartisan deliberations. Once formed, Task Forces are independent. Task Force chairs, directors, and members are solely responsible for the content of their reports.
As Task Forces are intended to help shape the public debate on critical foreign policy issues, the Council mobilizes its resources to maximize the impact of Task Force reports, both at the time of the initial release and as developments warrant. In addition to media outreach, the Council supports the efforts of Task Force chairs and members to reach influential practitioners in the executive branch, in Congress, and beyond.
For a complete list of Council-sponsored Independent Task Force reports online, click here.
November 21, 2006—Present
| Chairs: | Bob Kerrey, President, The New School William H. Webster, Partner, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP |
|---|---|
| Director: | Daniel B. Prieto, Vice President, Homeland Security and Intelligence, IBM Corporation |
Chaired by former Nebraska Senator and Governor Bob Kerrey and former Director of the CIA and FBI William H. Webster, the Task Force will address how to maintain America's longstanding democratic traditions while protecting against real and serious threats. Council member Daniel B. Prieto, vice president for Homeland Security and Intelligence at IBM Corporation, will direct the project.
Comprised of roughly two dozen national security and human rights experts, the Task Force aims to craft a set of recommendations for the country's mid- to long-term national security policy, addressing a range of issues including congressional and judicial oversight, secrecy and the free exchange of information, and privacy in a world of increased surveillance.
The Task Force held its first meeting in November 2006, and aims to publish a final report by the end of 2007.
February 23, 2007—Present
| Chairs: | Charlene Barshefsky, Senior International Partner, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP James T. Hill, President, The J.T. Hill Group, Inc. |
|---|---|
| Director: | Shannon O'Neil, Fellow for Latin America Studies |
| Senior Advisor: | Julia E. Sweig, Nelson and David Rockefeller Senior Fellow for Latin America Studies and Director for Latin America Studies |
Former U.S. trade representative Charlene Barshefsky and former commander-in-chief of the U.S. Southern Command James T. Hill are co-chairs of an Independent Task Force on U.S. Policy Toward Latin America. The Task Force will work to articulate U.S. interests in the region, review current U.S. policies, and consider the range of possible alternative strategies.
The Task Force aims to craft a set of recommendations for U.S. policy toward the region, addressing such critical issues as poverty and inequality, the hemisphere's energy potential, the rise of anti-Americanism, and security. Shannon O'Neil, fellow for Latin America studies, serves as project director, with Julia E. Sweig, Nelson and David Rockefeller senior fellow and director of Latin America studies at the Council, as senior advisor. The Task Force convened in early 2007 and is working to release its report early in 2008.
July 11, 2007—Present
| Chairs: | George E. Pataki, Counsel, Chadbourne & Parke LLP Thomas J. Vilsack, Of Counsel, Dorsey & Whitney LLP |
|---|---|
| Director: | Michael A. Levi, David M. Rubenstein Senior Fellow for Energy and Environment |
| Senior Advisor: | David G. Victor, Adjunct Senior Fellow for Science and Technology |
Chaired by former Governor of New York George E. Pataki, counsel at Chadbourne & Parke LLP, and former Governor of Iowa Thomas J. Vilsack, of counsel at Dorsey & Whitney LLP, the Task Force will address U.S. climate change policy with an emphasis on its international dimensions. Michael A. Levi, fellow for science and technology, serves as project director, with David G. Victor, adjunct senior fellow for science and technology and director of the Program on Energy and Sustainable Development at Stanford University, as senior advisor.
The Task Force will examine the economics, science, and politics of climate change, and will propose a comprehensive strategy for addressing the challenges and seizing the possibilities that climate change creates, with special emphasis on those dimensions that explicitly involve foreign policy.
The Task Force held its first meeting in July 2007, under the leadership of Governor Pataki and former Virginia Governor Mark R. Warner, who stepped down from his role as co-chair to pursue a seat in the U.S. Senate. The group aims to produce a report in the spring of 2008.
January 30, 2008—Present
| Chairs: | William J. Perry, Professor, Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University Brent Scowcroft, President and Founder, The Scowcroft Group |
|---|---|
| Director: | Charles D. Ferguson, Fellow for Science and Technology |
The Council has convened a new Independent Task Force on U.S. Nuclear Weapons Posture, chaired by former Secretary of Defense William J. Perry and former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft. The Task Force will take a fresh look at current U.S. nuclear doctrine and policy, determine the purpose of America's nuclear weapons, and make recommendations for the future of arms control and nonproliferation.
During its first meeting in January 2008, the group debated the purpose of U.S. nuclear weapons and discussed other core issues such as the size and composition of the U.S. nuclear arsenal and the effect of U.S. nuclear policy on preventing proliferation and nuclear terrorism.
Charles D. Ferguson, Council fellow for science and technology, serves as the project director. The group aims to produce the report in the fall of 2008, in anticipation of the new incoming presidential administration.
This report takes stock of the changes under way in China and what they mean for China and for U.S.-China relations.
U.S. energy dependence is undercutting U.S. national security, finds a new Council Task Force.
Independent
Task Force report on Russia says “partnership” between the two countries is not a realistic short-term goal.
About Independent Task Forces at the Council.
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In The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State, Noah Feldman tells the story behind the increasingly popular call for the establishment of the sharia—the law of the traditional Islamic state—in the modern Muslim world.
In Regional Monetary Integration, Peter B. Kenen poses an important question: Should various country groups follow the lead of the European Monetary Union and form similar full-fledged monetary unions?
Walter Russell Mead recounts the story of the centuries-long rivalry between the English- speaking peoples and their enemies in God and Gold.
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