home > the cfr think tank > experts > walter russell mead
Henry A. Kissinger Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy
Contact Info:
Phone: +1-212-434-9548
E-mail: wmead@cfr.org
Location:
New York, NY
Media downloads:
High-resolution photo (JPG, 2.9 MB)
One-page bio (PDF, 37K)
Award-winning author of Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World. Author of God and Gold: Britain, America, and the Making of the Modern World, released in October 2007. Author of a blog at The American Interest.
Expertise:U.S. foreign policy; international political economy; domestic politics; religion and foreign policy.
Experience:Project Director, Religion and Foreign Policy, Pew Forum (2003-present); founding Board Member, New America Foundation (1999-present); Project Director, Study Group on History of U.S. Foreign Policy, Phase II (current); Senior Contributing Editor, Worth (current); Contributing Editor, Los Angeles Times (current); Project Director, Working Group on Development, Trade & International Finance, Phase II; President’s Fellow, World Policy Institute at the New School (1987-97); Contributing Editor, Harper’s Magazine (1986-91).
Honors:Lionel Gelber Award for the best book in English on international relations, Special Providence (2002); Premio Acqui Storia for most important historical book published in Italian, Italian translation of Special Providence (2002); Arthur Ross Book Award finalist, Special Providence (2002).
Selected Publications:God and Gold: Britain, America, and the Making of the Modern World (Knopf, 2007); Power, Terror, Peace, and War: America’s Grand Strategy in a World at Risk (Knopf, 2004); Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World (Knopf, 2001); Mortal Splendor: The American Empire in Transition (Houghton Mifflin, 1987); and articles in Esquire, Worth, New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Wall Street Journal, and The New Yorker.
Current Research Projects
Past Research Projects
November 2, 2009
Op-Ed
The Daily Beast
Walter Russell Mead says that it should come as no surprise that the U.S.'s work in Afghanistan has led to deals with "dark forces" and "unsavory" characters and the fact that many Americans are surprised by this revelation is a telling insight into the "American soul."
See more in Afghanistan, Society and Culture, U.S. Strategy and Politics
November 2, 2009
Op-Ed
American Interest
"There’s no doubt that Pakistan is the toughest and most dangerous problem in American foreign policy," writes Walter Russell Mead, adding that the crucial topic of India is often underestimated when the U.S.'s relationship with Pakistan is considered.
See more in India, Pakistan, U.S. Strategy and Politics
October 9, 2009
Podcast
CFR's Walter Russell Mead says the Nobel Peace Prize is a welcome sign of international recognition for U.S. President Barack Obama, but he says the president faces great global challenges ahead.
See more in United States, Presidency
October 7, 2009
Op-Ed
American Interest
Walter Russell Mead examines the book of Job in the Old Testament and its meaning in today's political and cultural stage.
See more in Society and Culture, Religion, Media and Foreign Policy
July/August 2009
Foreign Affairs Article — Summary
George Herring's well-written and lively book may turn out to be one of the last attempts by a leading scholar to compress a comprehensive and comprehensible account of the United States' foreign relations into a single volume.
See more in U.S. Strategy and Politics, Foreign Policy History
April 11, 2009
Op-Ed
Newsweek
Walter Russell Mead argues that an increasing number of developing countries are turning into the "pacesetters of liberal global capitalism."
See more in Brazil, Financial Crises, Geoeconomics
February 25, 2009
Audio
Listen to Foreign Affairs authors analyze policy options to bring peace to the Middle East and the role that the Obama administration can play in the region.
See more in Middle East, International Peace and Security, U.S. Strategy and Politics
February 25, 2009
Video
Watch Foreign Affairs authors analyze policy options to bring peace to the Middle East and the role that the Obama administration can play in the region.
See more in Middle East, International Peace and Security, U.S. Strategy and Politics
February 4, 2009
Article
The New Republic
Walter Russell Mead examines the implications of the financial crisis for both the world's greater and lesser powers. He writes, "financial crises on balance reinforce rather than undermine the world position of the leading capitalist countries."
See more in Economics, Financial Crises
February 3, 2009
Interview
Award-winning historian Walter Russell Mead says, "The key political question of the twenty-first century is, 'How does the U.S.-China relationship develop?'"
See more in United States, China, Financial Crises, Industrial Policy, International Organizations
January/February 2009
Foreign Affairs Article — Summary
If it hopes to bring peace to the Middle East, the Obama administration must put Palestinian politics and goals first.
See more in Israel, Palestinian Authority
December 17, 2008
Op-Ed
International Herald Tribune
Walter Russell Mead calls for the Obama administration to engage with both the Israelis and Palestinians more deeply than past U.S. administrations.
See more in Middle East, U.S. Strategy and Politics, U.S. Election 2008
January/February 2009
Podcast
This audio includes readings of selected articles from the January/February 2009 issue of Foreign Affairs.
See more in United States
January/February 2009
Podcast
From the January/February 2009 issue of Foreign Affairs: to make Israel safe, give Palestinians their due.
See more in Israel, Palestinian Authority
December 8, 2008
Academic Module
This module features teaching notes by Walter Russell Mead, author of God and Gold: Britain, America, and the Making of the Modern World, along with other resources to supplement the text. In his book, Mr. Mead recounts how the British and their American heirs built an unrivaled global system of politics, power, investment, and trade over the past three hundred years.
See more in United States, U.K.
December 5, 2008
Op-Ed
The Australian
Don't write off capitalism; it has thrived on crises for the past 300 years, contends Walter Russell Mead.
See more in Economics, U.S. Election 2008
July 27, 2008
Op-Ed
Los Angeles Times
Using Barack Obama’s recent trip to Europe and the Middle East as a backdrop, Walter Rusell Mead highlights the many paradoxes associated with US foreign policy.
See more in U.S. Strategy and Politics, Presidency
June 30, 2008
Op-Ed
Sydney Morning Herald
Australia and Canada don’t have particularly deep or close relations, but there are strong reasons to believe that closer Canberra-Ottawa ties would bring substantial benefits to both, writes Walter Russell Mead.
See more in Canada, Australasia and the Pacific
July/August 2008
Foreign Affairs Article — Summary
The real key to Washington’s pro-Israel policy is long-lasting and broad-based support for the Jewish state among the American public at large.
See more in Israel, Media and Foreign Policy
July/August 2008
Podcast
This audio includes readings of selected articles from the July/August 2008 issue of Foreign Affairs.
See more in United States, U.S. Strategy and Politics
Explore the international finance regime with a new interactive from CFR's program on International Institutions and Global Governance.
Identifying international threats and acting on them may be the most difficult job for U.S. policymakers. This report
provides an actionable road map for managing international threats before they erupt into crises and makes a strong case that preventive action is not a luxury but a necessity.
For more than a decade, the United States has mostly watched from the sidelines as Asian countries organize themselves into an alphabet soup of new multilateral groups. In this report, the authors review the relationship between pan-Asian and trans-Pacific institutions and suggest policy guidelines for a new U.S. approach to this new Asian landscape.
Complete list of Council Special Reports
Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion-dollar question: How is it that Israel—a country of 7.1 million, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies— produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the UK? With the insights of geopolitical experts and investors, the authors examine this nation’s adversity-driven culture to answer this question and offer prescriptions for a global economy on the rebound.
In Forces of Fortune, Vali Nasr presents a paradigm-changing revelation that will transform the understanding of the Muslim world at large. He reveals that there is a vital but unseen rising force in the Islamic world—a new business-minded middle class—that is building a vibrant new Muslim world economy and that holds the key to winning the cold war against Iran and extremists.
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.
Complete list of CFR Books
For more information on the David Rockefeller Studies Program, contact:
James M. Lindsay
Senior Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair
+1.212.434.9626 (NY); +1.202.509.8405 (DC)
jlindsay@cfr.org
Janine Hill
Deputy Director of Studies Administration
+1.212.434.9753
jhill@cfr.org
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