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Consulting Editor
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E-mail: bgwertzman@cfr.org
Bernard Gwertzman has spent his entire career in journalism, starting as a reporter for the Washington Star in Washington, DC, in 1960. There he covered the Cold War as a specialist on Communist affairs. In late 1968, he was hired by the New York Times and sent to Moscow as its bureau chief from 1969-71, where he covered the tensions along the Soviet-Chinese border and the first steps toward detente.
In 1971, Gwertzman returned to Washington, where he worked for the next sixteen years covering U.S. foreign policy for the Times. He traveled throughout the Middle East with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, where he charted the first Arab-Israeli accords, leading up to the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel brokered by President Carter in 1979. In that period, he also wrote extensively on the first arms control accords between the United States and Russia.
With the advent of President Reagan to the White House in 1981, he covered the chill in Soviet-American relations, followed by the warming of the Gorbachev-Reagan ties. In 1987, Gwertzman was invited to New York to become the deputy foreign editor of the Times, and in 1989, he became foreign editor. During his tenure as foreign editor, he directed the Times' coverage of the collapse of the Soviet empire, the Persian Gulf war, the U.S. invasion of Panama, the first Israeli agreement with the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), and the outbreak of the Bosnian war. In the six years Mr. Gwertzman was at the helm, the New York Times won four Pulitzer Prizes for international coverage.
When the Times began its electronic division in the summer of 1995, Mr. Gwertzman shifted to new media. He was editor-in-chief of the New York Times on the web from 1996 until he retired from the Times in 2002. He has been consulting editor for cfr.org since October 2002. Gwertzman, who has an AB and MA from Harvard, is the co-author with Haynes Johnson of Fulbright: the Dissenter, and with Michael Kaufman on three anthologies on the fall of Communism and the breakup of the Soviet Union. He lives in Riverdale, NY, with his wife Marie-Jeanne. He has two married sons, James and Michael.
June 30, 2009
Transcript
CFR Experts Charles D. Ferguson and Stephen Sestanovich discuss the Obama-Medvedev summit.
See more in Russian Fed., Defense/Homeland Security, U.S. Strategy and Politics
July 1, 2009
Interview
CFR's top Russia expert, Stephen Sestanovich, says there is a potential for some hard bargaining to take place over arms control at the July 6-8 summit of U.S. and Russian leaders.
See more in Russian Fed., Defense/Homeland Security, U.S. Strategy and Politics
June 30, 2009
Audio
Listen to CFR Experts Charles D. Ferguson and Stephen Sestanovich discuss the Obama-Medvedev summit.
June 30, 2009
Interview
As U.S. combat forces begin to withdraw from Iraq's cities, expert Kenneth M. Pollack says he remains "very concerned" about the political situation in Iraq. He stresses the need for the "continued attention" of the United States to bring about a stable Iraq.
See more in Iraq, National Security and Defense, Nation Building
June 26, 2009
Interview
CFR President Richard N. Haass says in the aftermath of the Iranian regime's crackdown on post-election protesters, the Obama administration will need to revive efforts to negotiate an end to Tehran's nuclear program.
June 24, 2009
Interview
Following the 2009 disputed Iran presidential election, CFR's Isobel Coleman, a leading expert on women's issues, says that if Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's victory stands, "you'll see a much more restricted Iran." This will "fall heavily on women, but it won't stop them," she says.
See more in Iran, Elections, Women
June 22, 2009
Interview
Farideh Farhi, an Iran expert, says powerful forces are arrayed on both sides of Iran's electoral dispute and that a resounding victory by either side is unlikely.
Updated: June 18, 2009
Interview
Following massive protests over Iran's presidential election results, Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran expert, says Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei may have to sacrifice President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to save himself.
June 16, 2009
Interview
Arang Keshavarzian, an expert on Iranian politics at New York University, says the decision by the Iranian leadership to peremptorily announce President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's election victory has alienated many Iranians and will greatly complicate U.S. plans to engage the Iranian government.
June 15, 2009
Interview
Aaron David Miller, a former senior U.S. negotiator in the Mideast, says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's closely watched speech on June 14 "was less about pursuing Arab-Israeli peace and much more about pursuing the U.S.-Israeli relationship."
See more in Israel, International Peace and Security
June 14, 2009
Interview
Gary G. Sick, an expert on Iranian affairs, says the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad amounted to an internal coup. The prospect of U.S. talks with Iran is now "infinitely more complicated," he says.
June 8, 2009
Interview
Following the Lebanon's parliamentary elections, CFR's Mohamad Bazzi says a crucial question for the new government is whether it can operate without allowing Hezbollah and its allies to retain their veto power in the cabinet.
See more in Lebanon, Elections
June 4, 2009
Interview
Veteran Mideast diplomat Edward P. Djerejian sees President Obama's speech to the Muslim world as a "powerful public diplomacy statement." But the task now, he says, will be crafting the policies that help undercut terrorism and extremism.
See more in Middle East, Diplomacy
June 2, 2009
Interview
Reflecting on the twentieth anniversary of the Chinese government crackdown on pro-reform protests in Tiananmen Square, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof says China is likely to evolve toward more political freedom, following Asian models such as South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, or Indonesia.
See more in China, Democracy and Human Rights
June 2, 2009
Interview
CFR Middle East expert Steven A. Cook says President Obama's trip to Saudi Arabia and Egypt will attempt to bring new energy to resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and is likely to deliver a message on democracy in the Muslim world.
See more in Middle East, Diplomacy
May 28, 2009
Interview
Michael Young, opinion editor for Beirut's Daily Star, says the Obama administration has indicated it does not favor a victory for the Hezbollah-led opposition in the 2009 parliamentary elections. Should they win, Lebanon would likely lose economic support from the United States and key Arab states in the region.
See more in Lebanon, Elections
May 27, 2009
Interview
Farideh Farhi, a prominent expert on Iranian politics, says Iran's presidential race highlights very clear differences on how Iran's foreign policy should be conducted and the debate has major implications for U.S.-Iran relations.
See more in United States, Iran, Proliferation
May 25, 2009
Interview
CFR's Northeast Asia expert Sheila A. Smith says it is imperative for the United States to make it clear that it will not accept a nuclear North Korea. The UN's nonproliferation regime is also facing a moment of truth, she says.
See more in United States, North Korea, Proliferation
May 20, 2009
Interview
Thomas W. Lippman, an expert on Gulf security, says the latest Iranian missile test won't have any military impact, because it is just an incremental step forward. But he says the timing of the announcement, made at a campaign stop by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was not accidental.
See more in Middle East, Iran
May 19, 2009
Interview
CFR Middle East expert Steven A. Cook says President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu wanted to project "a friendly partnership" in their White House meeting, but remain divided on a two-state solution and how to confront Iran.
Explore international efforts to curb nuclear proliferation with a new interactive from CFR's program on International Institutions and Global Governance.
The Canadian oil sands present an important challenge to policymakers: they promise energy security benefits but present climate change problems. Michael A. Levi assesses the energy security and climate change effects of the oil sands and makes recommendations for U.S. policymakers within the context of broader bilateral relations with Canada.
This report explores an important element of the maritime policy regime: the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Author Scott G. Borgerson examines the international negotiations that led to the convention, the history of debates in the United States over whether to join it, and the strategic importance of the oceans for U.S. foreign policy today.
Complete list of Council Special Reports
In War of Necessity, War of Choice, Richard N. Haass contrasts the decisions that shaped the conduct of two wars between the United States and Iraq involving the two presidents Bush and Saddam Hussein, and writes an authoritative, personal account of how U.S. foreign policy is made, what it should seek, and how it should be pursued.
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.
As Ray Takeyh shows in Guardians of the Revolution, behind the famous personalities and extremist slogans of Iran is a nation that is far more pragmatic—and complex—than many in the West have been led to believe.
Complete list of CFR Books
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