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home > the cfr think tank > experts > isobel coleman
Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy
Contact Info:
Phone: +1-212-434-9771
E-mail: icoleman@cfr.org
Location:
New York, NY
Media downloads:
High-resolution photo (JPG, 467K)
One-page bio (PDF, 42K)
CV (PDF, 15K)
Author of the forthcoming book Paradise Beneath Her Feet: Women and Reform in the Middle East (Random House, 2008). Recently coauthored Strategic Foreign Assistance: Civil Society in International Security. Director of the Council’s Women and Foreign Policy program.
Expertise:Economic development; gender issues in the Middle East and Southwest Asia; foreign aid; microfinance; education reform in the Middle East.
Experience:Former CEO and Chairman of a healthcare services company (2000-2002); Partner, McKinsey & Company (1992-2000); Research Fellow, Brookings Institution (1990-91); Adjunct Professor, American University (1991).
Languages:Japanese and Spanish (familiar).
Honors:Marshall Scholar, Oxford University (1987-90); Brookings Research Fellow (1990-91).
Selected Publications:“The Kingdom’s Clock,” Foreign Policy (coauthor, September/October 2006); Strategic Foreign Assistance: Civil Society in International Security (coauthor, Hoover Institution Press, 2006); “Women, Islam, and the New Iraq,” Foreign Affairs (January/February 2006); “The Arab World is Experiencing the First Tremors of a Youthquake,” Dallas Morning News (2006); “Iran’s Bitter Lessons for Iraq,” International Herald Tribune (coauthor, 2005); “Defending Microcredit,” Fletcher Forum of World Affairs (Winter 2005); “The Pay-Off From Women’s Rights,” Foreign Affairs (May/June 2004); “Beyond the Burqa: The Future Of Afghan Women’s Rights,” Georgetown Journal of International Affairs (Summer 2004).
Current Research Projects
Past Research Project
June 17, 2008
| Presider: | Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations |
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Transcript
See more in Health, Science, and Technology, Global Health, Public Health Threats, U.S. Strategy and Politics
June 12, 2008
| Presider: | Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy, Council on Foreign Relations |
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Audio
Listen to a discussion of maternal health issues and how central they should be to the global health agenda.
This event was made possible by the generosity of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
See more in Global Health, Women
June 11, 2008
| Speakers: | Nils Daulaire, President and CEO, Global Health Council Paul Fife, Director of the Global Health and AIDS Department, Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation Sheila Tlou, Botswana Parliament Member, Former Minister of Health of Botswana Representative Nita Lowey (D-NY), Recipient of the Global Health Council's 2008 Congressional Award for Global Health |
|---|---|
| Presiders: | Laurie Garrett, Senior Fellow for Global Health, Council on Foreign Relations Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy, Director of Women and Foreign Policy Program, Council on Foreign Relations |
Transcript
See more in Health, Science, and Technology, Global Health, Public Health Threats
![Microfinance: Business or Charity? [Transcript; Federal News Service]](/content/publications/images/MicrofinanceTranscript.jpg)
June 9, 2008
| Speakers: | Maria Otero, President and Chief Executive Officer, Accion Robert Annibale, Global Director of Microfinance, Citigroup Elizabeth Littlefield, CEO, Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, The World Bank |
|---|---|
| Presider: | Isobel Coleman, CFR Fellow |
Transcript
Maria Otero, Robert Annibale, and Elizabeth Littlefield discuss the changing context of microfinance, a sector in transition.
See more in Economic Development, Emerging Markets, International Finance
May 21, 2008
| Authors: | Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy Laurie Garrett, Senior Fellow for Global Health |
|---|
Op-Ed
The Hill
Every year, 536,000 women die during childbirth, and an additional 8 million become severely disabled. The death toll doesn’t end with the mothers: 5 percent of all newborns die after their mother’s death, and millions of other children are left orphaned. Isobel Coleman and Laurie Garrett argue that the way to reduce this staggering level of maternal mortality is to “pass legislation that shows real resolve, with money and legislated programs behind it.”
See more in Health, Science, and Technology, Women
April 17, 2008
| Authors: | Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy Tamara Cofman Wittes, Senior Fellow, Saban Center for Middle East Policy, Brookings Institution |
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Other Report
In February, Tamara Cofman Wittes and Isobel Coleman met with business leaders, academics, journalists, and civic activists in Riyadh and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Among Wittes and Coleman's key findings are that many Saudis welcomed the emergence of a more open atmosphere, pointing to King Abdullah's ascension to the throne, dynamism in neighboring Gulf states, and a new "post-post-9/11" environment as key catalysts for the change. Yet, there was frustration at the unpredictability and arbitrariness of the newly expanded social and political space. The next U.S. administration may have a new, but narrow, window of opportunity to reintroduce itself to Saudi Arabia. Many Saudis argued for the creation of a deeper, multi-dimensional relationship between both countries that engages civil society, not just the government and business sectors.
See more in Middle East, Economic Development, Society and Culture, U.S. Strategy and Politics
March 11, 2008
| Speaker: | Asha-Rose Migiro, Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations |
|---|---|
| Presider: | Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy, Council on Foreign Relations |
Transcript
See more in International Organizations, International Peace and Security
March 11, 2008
| Speaker: | Asha-Rose Migiro, Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations |
|---|---|
| Presider: | Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy, Council on Foreign Relations |
Audio
Listen to UN deputy secretary-general Asha-Rose Migiro discuss priorities for the United Nations, with particular regard to international development. This event was made possible by the generosity of ExxonMobil.
See more in Human Rights, International Organizations, Poverty
March 11, 2008
| Speaker: | Asha-Rose Migiro, Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations |
|---|---|
| Presider: | Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy, Council on Foreign Relations |
Video
Watch UN deputy secretary-general Asha-Rose Migiro discuss priorities for the United Nations, with particular regard to international development. This event was made possible by the generosity of ExxonMobil.
See more in Human Rights, International Organizations, Poverty
June 18, 2007
| Authors: | Craig Charney, President, Charney Research Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy |
|---|
Op-Ed
Globe and Mail
November 16, 2006
| Speaker: | Muhammad Yunus, Founder and Managing Director, Grameen Bank; 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate |
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| Presider: | Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy, Council on Foreign Relations |
Audio
Listen to Muhammad Yunus, founder and managing director of the Grameen Bank and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, discuss the role of microcredit in fighting poverty.
See more in Economic Development, Poverty
November 16, 2006
| Speaker: | Muhammad Yunus, Founder and Managing Director, Grameen Bank; 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate |
|---|---|
| Presider: | Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy, Council on Foreign Relations |
Video
Watch Muhammad Yunus, founder and managing director of the Grameen Bank and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, discuss the role of microcredit in fighting poverty.
See more in Economic Development, Poverty
November 16, 2006
| Speaker: | Muhammad Yunus, Founder and Managing Director, Grameen Bank; 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate |
|---|---|
| Presider: | Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy, Council on Foreign Relations |
Transcript
Professor Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, discusses his work at Grameen Bank in ending global poverty through microcredit.
See more in Economic Development, Women
September/October 2006
| Authors: | Rachel Bronson, Former Adjunct Senior Fellow for Middle East Studies Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy |
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Article
Foreign Policy
See more in Middle East
August 8, 2006
| Authors: | Laurie Garrett, Senior Fellow for Global Health Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy |
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Op-Ed
Toronto Star
See more in Global Health, Foreign Aid
June 30, 2006
Podcast
CFR senior fellow Isobel Coleman talks to CFR.org's Esther Pan about the impact of women voting in Kuwait for the first time.
June 27, 2006
| Speakers: | Lynn Freedman, Associate Professor of Clinical Population and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University Geeta Rao Gupta, Executive Director, International Center for Research on Women |
|---|---|
| Presider: | Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy, Council on Foreign Relations |
Audio
Listen to panelists present the issues surrounding maternal health as a foreign policy objective
See more in Society and Culture, Health, Women
June 27, 2006
| Speakers: | Lynn Freedman, Associate Professor of Clinical Population and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University Geeta Rao Gupta, Executive Director, International Center for Research on Women |
|---|---|
| Presider: | Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy, Council on Foreign Relations |
Video
Watch panelists present the issues surrounding maternal health as a foreign policy objective
See more in Society and Culture, Health, Women
June 27, 2006
| Speakers: | Lynn Freedman, Director, Averting Maternal Death and Disability Program; Director, Law and Policy Project; and Professor of Clinical Population and Family Health, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University Geeta Rao Gupta, President, International Center for Research on Women |
|---|---|
| Presider: | Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy and Director, U.S. Foreign Policy and Women Program, Council on Foreign Relations |
Transcript
This half-day symposium explored the issue of maternal mortality—defined as the death of a pregnant woman during her pregnancy or within forty-two days of delivery—remains shockingly high in most of the world. The first panel explained the magnitude of the problem and factors driving it.
See more in Society and Culture, Health, Women
May 10, 2006
| Speaker: | Karen P. Hughes, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs |
|---|---|
| Presider: | Isobel Coleman, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy and Director, U.S. Foreign Policy and Women Program, Council on Foreign Relations |
Transcript
Karen Hughes discusses her role as chief U.S. public diplomat and explains her strategy based on three strategic objectives and six key areas.
See more in United States, Public Diplomacy
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.
After two decades of liberalization, many countries around the world are adopting new restrictions on foreign direct investment (FDI) that could retard continued progress. The authors make recommendations for correcting this protectionist drift by proposing guidelines for how countries can better regulate FDI yet still reap its economic benefits.
In this Council Special Report, the authors make a strong case that the Bush administration’s policy of diplomatic isolation of Syria is not serving U.S. interests, and offer informed history and thoughtful analysis of the country and its external behavior.
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 the Council’s “think tank.” Its work is integral to achieving the Council’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.
Copyright 2008 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.
