home > the cfr think tank > experts > julia e. sweig
Nelson and David Rockefeller Senior Fellow for Latin America Studies and Director for Latin America Studies
Contact Info:
Phone: +1.202.509.8410
E-mail: jsweig@cfr.org
Location:
Washington, DC
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Award-winning author of Inside the Cuban Revolution and director of numerous Council-sponsored Task Forces on Latin America. Her latest book Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know was released in June 2009.
Expertise:Latin America; U.S.-Latin America policy; Anti-Americanism.
Experience:Board of Directors, Foreign Affairs en Español (current); consultant on Latin American affairs, Congressional Program, The Aspen Institute (1999-present); Project Director, Center for Preventive Action Commission, Andes 2020: A New Strategy for the Challenges of Colombia and the Region (2004); Director, Independent Task Force, U.S.-Cuban Relations in the 21st Century, A Follow-On Chairman’s Report (2001).
Languages:Spanish (fluent); Italian and Portuguese (familiar).
Honors:Herbert Feis Award for Inside the Cuban Revolution: Fidel Castro and the Urban Underground, American Historical Association (2003).
Selected Publications:Friendly Fire: Losing Friends and Making Enemies in the Anti-American Century (PublicAffairs, 2006); Andes 2020: A New Strategy for the Challenges of Colombia and the Region, A Center for Preventive Action Report (Council on Foreign Relations Press, 2004); U.S.-Cuban Relations in the 21st Century, A Follow-On Chairman’s Report, Report of an Independent Task Force (Council on Foreign Relations Press, 2001); Inside the Cuban Revolution: Fidel Castro and the Urban Underground (Harvard University Press, 2002).
Television Interviews:
Business News Network: Cuba-U.S. Relations (July 17, 2009)
Comedy Central, The Colbert Report: Cuba/U.S. Trade Relations (May 12, 2009)
Current Research Projects
Past Research Projects
June 2009
Book
In this compact reference guide, 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.
See more in Cuba, Society and Culture
May 3, 2009
Op-Ed
Washington Post
Julia E. Sweig argues that the costs of maintaining the base at Guantanamo Bay outweigh the benefits.
See more in Cuba, U.S. Strategy and Politics
April 9, 2009
Video
Watch experts separate reality from rhetoric and discuss the goals of the upcoming Fifth Summit of the Americas, which is themed "Securing Our Citizens' Future by Promoting Human Prosperity, Energy Security and Environmental Sustainability."
See more in Americas, Economic Development, Energy/Environment
April 9, 2009
Audio
Listen to experts separate reality from rhetoric and discuss the goals of the upcoming Fifth Summit of the Americas, which is themed "Securing Our Citizens’ Future by Promoting Human Prosperity, Energy Security and Environmental Sustainability."
See more in Americas, Economic Development, Energy/Environment, Society and Culture
January/February 2009
Article
Cigar Aficionado
Julia E. Sweig provides a road map for President Obama to improve relations between the United States and Cuba.
See more in Cuba, United States
March 9, 2009
Interview
Julia E. Sweig, CFR's director of Latin American studies, says ties between Washington and Havana may change, but the United States has been downplaying expectations of a breakthrough.
See more in Cuba, United States, U.S. Strategy and Politics
March 2, 2009
Op-Ed
National Interest Online
Julia E. Sweig explains that U.S, relations with Latin America will be drastically different. She argues that the Obama administration "must endeavor to see the hemisphere as it is and not through the lazy filters of "best-friendism," wishful thinking or demonization."
See more in Central America, Mexico, South America
November 17, 2008
Expert Brief
CFR's Latin America Studies Program outlines the implications of the global financial crisis for Latin America.
See more in Americas, Central America, South America, Economics, Emerging Markets, International Finance
September 12, 2008
Audio
Listen to experts discuss U.S.-Latin America trade policies including CAFTA-DR, NAFTA, and farm subsidies.
This symposium was made possible by the generous support of the Ford Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
See more in Americas, NAFTA, Trade
July 2, 2008
Op-Ed
Washington Independent
Colombia’s role in the War on Drugs and its potential as a free trade partner makes it a lucrative part of John McCain’s foreign policy, writes Julia Sweig.
See more in Colombia
May 2008
Task Force Report No. 60
Task Force Report
This report recommends reframing U.S. policy around four critical areas—poverty and inequality, public security, migration, and energy security—that are of immediate concern to Latin America’s governments and citizens. This report is also available in Spanish.
See more in Caribbean, Central America, Mexico, South America, U.S. Strategy and Politics
April 10, 2008
Testimony
See more in Andean Region, Congress, U.S. Election 2008
January 24, 2008
Podcast
Julia E. Sweig, CFR's director for Latin America Studies, says a new U.S. president offers a chance to improve Washington’s relations with Cuba.
See more in Cuba, U.S. Strategy and Politics
February 19, 2008
Audio
Listen to experts discuss the implications of Fidel Castro's announcement that he will step down as the president of Cuba.
February 19, 2008
Transcript
The panelists discuss what the resignation of Fidel Castro means for Cuba and the future for U.S.-Cuba relations.
See more in Cuba, United States
November 5, 2007
Transcript
As part of the Council's Latin American Studies Program, the panels discuss globalization and trade in Latin America and Asia.
See more in South America, Asia, Economics, Trade
June 12, 2007
Video
Watch David Rothkopf, president and chief executive officer of Garten Rothkopf, and C. Ford Runge, distinguished McKnight university professor of applied economics at the University of Minnesota, discuss the potential impact of the increasing demand for biofuels on global energy and food security.
See more in Cuba, Energy Security, Biotechnology
June 12, 2007
Audio
Listen to David Rothkopf, president and chief executive officer of Garten Rothkopf, and C. Ford Runge, distinguished McKnight university professor of applied economics at the University of Minnesota, discuss the potential impact of the increasing demand for biofuels on global energy and food security.
See more in Cuba, Energy Security, Biotechnology
June 12, 2007
Transcript
See more in United States, Brazil, Energy
May 14, 2007
Article
The Nation
See more in Cuba, 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
Copyright 2009 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.
