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, 64K)
CV (PDF, 15K)
Author of the forthcoming book Paradise Beneath Her Feet: Women and Reform in the Middle East (Random House). Recently coauthored Strategic Foreign Assistance: Civil Society in International Security. Director of CFR’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 Projects
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
April 8, 2009
Podcast
A senior USAID official and CFR's Isobel Coleman discuss aid priorities in Pakistan and how development programs can be made more effective.
See more in Pakistan, Foreign Aid
March 12, 2009
Audio
Listen to Isobel Coleman, senior fellow at CFR, and Tamara Cofman Wittes, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, discuss economic and political development in the Middle East as part of CFR's Religion and Foreign Policy Conference Call series.
See more in Middle East, Religion
January 22, 2009
Transcript
A panel discussion on how American foreign aid will be affected by the global economic crisis.
See more in Foreign Aid
June 17, 2008
Transcript
See more in Health, Science, and Technology, Global Health, Public Health Threats, U.S. Strategy and Politics
June 12, 2008
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
Transcript
See more in Health, Science, and Technology, Global Health, Public Health Threats
June 9, 2008
Audio
Listen to experts discuss the development and impact of microfinance in as a tool for reducing poverty.
See more in Economic Development, International Finance
![Microfinance: Business or Charity? [Transcript; Federal News Service]](/content/publications/images/MicrofinanceTranscript.jpg)
June 9, 2008
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
June 9, 2008
Video
Watch experts discuss the development and impact of microfinance in as a tool for reducing poverty.
See more in Economic Development, International Finance
May 21, 2008
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
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
Transcript
See more in International Organizations, International Peace and Security
March 11, 2008
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
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
November 16, 2006
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
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
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
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
For more information on the David Rockefeller Studies Program, contact:
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
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