home > the cfr think tank > experts > peter beinart
Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy
Contact Info:
Phone: +1-202-509-8436
E-mail: pbeinart@cfr.org
Location:
Washington, DC
Media downloads:
High-resolution photo (JPG, 862K)
One-page bio (PDF, 58K)
Author of The Good Fight: Why Liberals-And Only Liberals-Can Win the War on Terror and Make America Great Again. Editor-at-Large and former editor of the New Republic, columnist for the Washington Post, and contributor to Time magazine. Current work examines how the United States recovers from lost wars.
Expertise:U.S. national security; domestic politics and foreign policy; foreign policy history; the media and foreign policy; nationalism; democracy and human rights; Congress; the presidency.
Experience:Editor at Large, The New Republic (currently); Columnist, the Washington Post (currently); Contributor, Time Magazine (currently); Editor, The New Republic (1999-2006); Non-Resident Fellow, the Brookings Institution (2005-2006).
Honors:The Week magazine's columnist of the year for 2004. The Good Fight: Why Liberals-- And Only Liberals--Can Win the War on Terror and Make America Great Again named one of the best books of 2006 by the Washington Post.
Selected Publications:The Good Fight: Why Liberals--And Only Liberals--Can Win the War on Terror and Make America Great Again (HarperCollins, 2006). Also written for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, the Boston Globe, the Atlantic Monthly, Newsweek, Slate, Reader's Digest, Die Zeit, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and Polity: the Journal of the Northeastern Political Science Studies Association.
Current Research Project
August 28, 2008
Op-Ed
Time Magazine
Peter Beinart writes that “of all the disasters that have befallen the Republican Party in recent years, the most cataclysmic may be about to unfold: John McCain might win.”
See more in United States, U.S. Election 2008
August 13, 2008
Op-Ed
Washington Post
Barack Obama wants race to stay out of the campaign, instead choosing to focus on issues like the environment, gas prices, the Iraq war and almost anything else. Unfortunately for him, he is not going to get his wish, writes Peter Beinart, pointing to the McCain campaign’s insistence on making race an issue any chance they get.
See more in Society and Culture, Media and Foreign Policy
July 7, 2008
Op-Ed
Time Magazine
“On the surface, defining patriotism is simple. It is love and devotion to country. The questions are why we love it and how we express our devotion. That's where the arguments begin,” says Peter Beinart
See more in Presidency
July 6, 2008
Op-Ed
Washington Post
Americans are much less afraid of military threats today than they were in 2004 and that has fundamentally changed the politics of foreign policy, argues Peter Beinart. Because of this, Barack Obama and the Democrats should not worry about being called “soft” if they advance policies that defend civil liberties, reduce troop presence in Iraq and engage Iran in unconditional negotiations.
See more in Media and Foreign Policy, Presidency
June 5, 2008
Op-Ed
Time Magazine
Peter Beinart warns Barack Obama that taking a guided tour of Iraq will allow the tour guide—usually an American officer or diplomat—to decide what the senator gets to see and potentially distort his perception of the war.
See more in U.S. Strategy and Politics
May 26, 2008
Op-Ed
Time Magazine
“Because Bill Clinton threw his body into the line, wrecking the Republican Party's intricate defenses, Obama today has the political room to run,” argues Peter Beinart.
See more in Presidency, U.S. Election 2008
April 8, 2008
Op-Ed
Washington Post
If presidents govern the way they campaign, then Obama will be a fine leader, argues Peter Beinart.
See more in U.S. Election 2008
March 20, 2008
Article
Time Magazine
Peter Beinart writes that the Iraq war has spelled the end for muscular moralism in U.S. foreign policy.
See more in Iraq, Wars and Warfare, Democracy Promotion
March 3, 2008
Article
Time Magazine
“The Democrats may seem divided along class lines,” argues Peter Beinart, “but it's actually the Republicans who need to worry.”
See more in United States, U.S. Election 2008
January 31, 2008
Op-Ed
Washington Post
Peter Beinart argues that “bitter primary contests don't necessarily hurt candidates in the general election.”
See more in United States, Presidency, U.S. Election 2008
![The Impact of Foreign Policy in the 2008 Election [Rush Transcript; Federal News Service]](/content/publications/images/flag.jpg)
January 31, 2008
Transcript
See more in United States, U.S. Strategy and Politics, U.S. Election 2008
January 31, 2008
Audio
Listen to experts discuss the role of foreign policy in the 2008 presidential campaign.
See more in U.S. Strategy and Politics, U.S. Election 2008
January 28, 2008
News Briefing
CFR experts offer their analysis of President George W. Bush's final State of the Union address.
See more in U.S. Strategy and Politics, Presidency
January 16, 2008
Audio
Listen to Peter Beinart, CFR senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy, discuss the presidential primaries and the key international issues being debated among the candidates as part of CFR's State and Local Officials Conference Call Series.
See more in U.S. Election 2008
January 4, 2008
Interview
CFR's Peter Beinart says the Iowa caucuses reveal shifts in the political beliefs of both parties' bases.
See more in United States, Presidency, U.S. Election 2008
December 9, 2007
Op-Ed
Los Angeles Times
Peter Beinart writes about the implications of the use of the term “World War IV ” in place of “war on terror.”
See more in Middle East, Wars and Warfare, Foreign Policy History
December 3, 2007
Op-Ed
Washington Post
Peter Beinart writes that "in the biggest surprise of the campaign so far, the election that almost everyone thought would be about Iraq is turning out not to be. And that explains a lot about which candidates are on the rise and which ones are starting to fall."
See more in Iraq, Wars and Warfare, U.S. Election 2008
November 28, 2007
Op-Ed
Washington Post
Peter Beinart writes that Obama must convince voters that his original antiwar stance still matters.
See more in U.S. Election 2008
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
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.
In this report, CFR Fellow Brad W. Setser recommends addressing the U.S. current account deficit in order to strengthen the United States’ position abroad.
This report, written by CFR Senior Fellow Daniel Markey, 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.
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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