home > the cfr think tank > experts > steven a. cook
Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies
Contact Info:
Phone: +1-212-434-9644
E-mail: scook@cfr.org
Location:
New York, NY
Media downloads:
High-resolution photo (JPG, 313K)
One-page bio (PDF, 42K)
Video clip (MP4, 1.2 MB)
Video clip (WMV, 715K)
Author of Ruling But Not Governing: The Military and Political Development in Egypt, Algeria, and Turkey. Directed the Council-sponsored Independent Task Force on U.S. policy toward reform in the Arab world. Currently writing a book on the future of U.S.-Egypt relations.
Expertise:Politics in the Arab world; U.S.-Middle East policy; Turkish politics; civil-military relations in the Middle East; Arab-Israeli conflict.
Experience:Instructor, University of Pennsylvania (2004); Research Fellow, Brookings Institution (2001-2002); Soref Research Fellow, Washington Institute for Near East Policy (1995-96).
Languages:Arabic (fluent); Turkish (working knowledge); French (reading comprehension).
Honors:Brookings Research Fellowship (2001-2002); Institute of Turkish Studies Research/Writing Fellowship (2001-2002); Boren Fellowship (1999-2000).
Selected Publications:"The Myth of Moderate Islam" (op-ed, Foreign Policy, June 17, 2008); "Turkey's Problematic Middle East Role" (op-ed, Bitterlemons-International.org, April 17, 2008); "Islamist Political Power in Turkey: Challenges for Brussels and Washington" (United States Institute of Peace, November 2007).
Related Links:
"Mubarak Hangs On" (for Middle East Strategy at Harvard; April 13, 2008)
Current Research Projects
Past Research Projects
July 30, 2008
Interview
Turkey's highest court decided not to ban the country's ruling party. CFR's Steven A. Cook says the decision saves the Turkish government but does little to heal mosque-state tensions.
See more in Turkey, Nationalism, Society and Culture
July 17, 2008
Op-Ed
Bitterlemons-International.org
After almost six years of political stability and democratic progress, the rivalry between President Abdullah Gul and the military establishment has thrown Turkey into turmoil, writes Steven Cook.
See more in Turkey
June 17, 2008
Op-Ed
Foreign Policy
“Not only is it impossible to agree on a working definition of the word ‘moderate,’ but there is scant evidence that extremists really do moderate once they assume power,” says Steven Cook, dispelling “The Myth of Moderate Islam.”
See more in Religion
May 6, 2008
Audio
Listen to Steven A. Cook, CFR's Douglas Dillon Fellow, discuss the status of the Israel/Palestine peace process sixty years after the creation of the state of Israel as part of CFR's Religion and Foreign Policy Conference Call Series.
See more in Israel, Palestinian Authority, Religion
April 17, 2008
Op-Ed
Bitterlemons-International.org
Steven A. Cook states that “not since the Ottoman Empire have the Turks played as prominent and potentially problematic a role in the Middle East.”
See more in Turkey, Iraq, International Peace and Security
March 19, 2008
Interview
Steven A. Cook, a Middle East expert, says he sees no chance the United States would break away from Israel and deal directly with Hamas in the Israeli-Palestinian peace dialogue, even if it might help move negotiations forward.
See more in United States, Israel, Palestinian Authority, Diplomacy
February 12, 2008
Transcript
Mohamad Bazzi details the current conditions on the ground in Lebanon.
See more in Lebanon, Civil Reconstruction
January 22, 2008
Interview
Steven A. Cook, CFR’s Douglas Dillon fellow and an expert on the Middle East, says a sense of normalcy pervades Beirut despite the continuing political standoff.
See more in Lebanon, Elections
December 2007
Article
CQ Global Researcher
Abdullah Akyuz and Steven Cook discuss whether U.S.-Turkish relations are likely to improve.
See more in United States, Turkey
December 2007, Volume 5, Issue 10
Op-Ed
Arab Reform Bulletin
Steven Cook talks about the candidate’s positions on democracy promotion in the Middle East.
See more in Middle East, U.S. Election 2008
November 28, 2007
News Briefing
CFR experts offer their analysis of the proceedings at the Mideast peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland.
See more in Israel, Palestinian Authority, Diplomacy
November 2007
Article
United States Institute of Peace
Steven Cook argues that Turkey can play an important role in helping the U.S. achieve its interests if the U.S. can accept the differences between the two nations.
October 11, 2007
Podcast
CFR’s Steven A. Cook says recent Turkish military action in Iraq and a controversial U.S. congressional vote could undermine U.S.-Turkish relations at a critical time.
See more in Turkey, Wars and Warfare
September 20, 2007
Audio
Listen to Steven A. Cook, CFR's Douglas Dillon fellow, discuss the impact of military regimes on political development in the Middle East with students, as part of the CFR Academic Conference Call Series.
See more in Middle East, Democracy Promotion, U.S. Strategy and Politics
September 11, 2007
Other Report
Six CFR experts provide their own analysis of the Petraeus and Crocker testimony.
See more in Iraq, Defense Strategy, Wars and Warfare
July 26, 2007
Op-Ed
The Boston Globe
See more in Turkey, Democracy Promotion, Religion
July 23, 2007
Interview
Steven A. Cook, an expert on Turkey, says the sweeping victory of the Justice and Development Party in parliamentary elections has proven “beyond a shadow of a doubt that you can have democracy in a Muslim-majority country.”
July 17, 2007
Op-Ed
Slate
See more in Middle East, Democracy Promotion
July 16, 2007
Interview
A week away from crucial parliamentary elections in Turkey, relations between the United States and Turkey are severely strained. CFR Fellow Steven A. Cook says a recent major poll shows that “in Turkey, a NATO country firmly allied with the United States over the last fifty years, only 9 percent of Turks have a favorable view of the United States.”
See more in Turkey, Elections, Religion
June 28, 2007
Op-Ed
International Herald Tribune
See more in Iraq, Wars and Warfare
In Termites in the Trading System, Jagdish Bhagwati reveals how the rapid spread of preferential trade agreements endangers the world trading system.
America Between the Wars explores how the decisions and debates of the years between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Twin Towers shaped the events, arguments, and politics of the world we live in today.
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.
Complete list of CFR Books.
This report outlines the nature of the challenges in Pakistan's tribal areas, formulates strategies for addressing those challenges, and distills the strategies into realistic policy proposals worthy of consideration by the incoming administration.
This report analyzes the debate over U.S. use of assurances against torture, explaining the contexts in which they are used, how they can be conveyed, and what they can contain, and recommends a number of ways to respond to criticism so that the United States can continue using assurances.
Complete list of Council Special Reports.
For more information on the David Rockefeller Studies Program, contact:
Gary Samore
Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair
+1.212.434.9627
gsamore@cfr.org
Sebastian Mallaby
Director of the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for
Geoeconomic Studies, Deputy Director of Studies, and Paul A. Volcker Senior
Fellow for International Economics
smallaby@cfr.org
Janine Hill
Deputy Director of Studies Administration
+1.212.434.9753
jhill@cfr.org
The David Rockefeller Studies Program is CFR’s “think tank.” Its work is integral to achieving CFR’s goal of contributing to the foreign policy debate. Fellows in the Studies Program do this by researching, writing, and commenting on the most important challenges facing the United States and the world.
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