home > the cfr think tank > experts > charles a. kupchan
Senior Fellow for Europe Studies
Contact Info:
Phone: +1-202-509-8402
E-mail: ckupchan@cfr.org
Location:
Washington, DC
Media downloads:
One-page bio (PDF, 49K)
CV (PDF, 118K)
Video clip (MP4, 1.3 MB)
Video clip (WMV, 747K)
Professor of international affairs at Georgetown University and former director for European affairs at the National Security Council. Currently writing a book on the international order and how to preserve transatlantic peace.
Expertise:NATO; European Union; U.S. national security; nationalism; the Balkans.
Experience:Professor of International Relations, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University (current); Director for European Affairs, National Security Council (1993-94); Assistant Professor of Politics, Princeton University (1986-92).
Selected Publications:The End of the American Era: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Geopolitics of the Twenty-first Century (Knopf, 2002); Power in Transition: The Peaceful Change of International Order (coauthor, United Nations University Press, 2001); Civic Engagement in the Atlantic Community (coeditor, Bertelsmann Foundation Publishers, 1999); Atlantic Security: Contending Visions (editor, Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1998); Nationalism and Nationalities in the New Europe (coeditor, Cornell University Press, 1995); The Vulnerability of Empire (Cornell University Press, 1994); The Persian Gulf and the West: The Dilemma of Security (Unwin Hyman, 1987).
Charles Kupchan on AmericaAbroad.com (blog)
Related Links:
Charles Kupchan discusses Hillary Clinton as secretary of state on NPR's "On Point" (radio; January 13, 2009)
CFR's International Institutions and Global Governance Program
Current Research Projects
Past Research Projects
November 3, 2009
Op-Ed
Financial Times
"General Stanley McChrystal's plan to pursue counterinsurgency in the countryside is a bridge too far," write Steve Simon and Charles Kupchan, arguing, instead, that Afghanistan policy should be focused on establishing control in strategic locations.
See more in Afghanistan, Wars and Warfare, Conflict Assessment, U.S. Strategy and Politics
October 22, 2009
Testimony
Charles A. Kupchan testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
See more in United States, Europe/Russia, National Security and Defense, NATO
October 5, 2009
Interview
Moves toward the approval of the Lisbon Treaty could create a stronger European partner for Washington in global affairs, says CFR's Charles Kupchan. But he cites a competing trend toward stronger nation-states in Europe.
See more in EU, International Organizations
July 10, 2009
Interview
CFR's Charles A. Kupchan says President Obama's summit meetings have advanced relations with Russia and consensus with industrialized states on climate change but that difficult work is ahead on both fronts.
See more in United States, Climate Change, Missile Defense, U.S. Strategy and Politics
June 12, 2009
Op-Ed
Newsday
Charles A. Kupchan writes about three lessons that President Obama can learn from President Wilson.
See more in United States, U.S. Strategy and Politics, Congress
April 6, 2009
Interview
Europe expert Charles A. Kupchan says that President Barack Obama's trip to Europe "went as well as could be expected" in light of some of the policy differences that became clear ahead of his departure.
See more in Europe/Russia, U.S. Strategy and Politics
March 31, 2009
Op-Ed
New York Times
Charles A. Kupchan writes on NATO's upcoming 60th anniversary summit. He predicts the summit will, "surely be dominated by its mission in Afghanistan."
See more in Afghanistan, Russian Fed., NATO
March 25, 2009, Washington DC
Transcript
This is a Council on Foreign Relations media call on the upcoming NATO 60th anniversary Summit. The meetings on April 3rd and 4th come right after the Group of 20 summit in London on the global financial crisis and that could suck some of the oxygen from the summitry in Strasburg and Kehl, but at the same time there are existential questions building for the alliance -- in particular, what is its role going to be in Afghanistan?
See more in Europe/Russia, NATO
March 26, 2009
Audio
Listen to CFR experts Charles A. Kupchan and Jeffrey Mankoff discuss the April 3 NATO summit and its significance for the United States' relationship with Russia and the European Union.
See more in Europe/Russia, NATO, International Organizations
Issue 12, Spring 2009
Article
Democracy: A Journal of Ideas
Charles Kupchan and Adam Mount argue that the end of Western dominance means a new foreign policy principle is needed to advance international order.
See more in United States, U.S. Strategy and Politics
February 25, 2009
Audio
Listen to experts discuss the role of NATO in the international system as part of the Council on Foreign Relations "NATO at 60" Symposium.
See more in NATO, International Organizations, International Peace and Security
February 25, 2009
Video
Watch experts discuss the role of NATO in the international system as part of the Council on Foreign Relations "NATO at 60" Symposium.
See more in International Organizations, International Peace and Security
February 25, 2009
Video
Watch former NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson offer his views on the 60th anniversary of the NATO alliance, as part of the Council on Foreign Relations "NATO at 60" Symposium.
See more in Europe/Russia, NATO, International Organizations
February 25, 2009
Audio
Listen to former NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson as he offers his views on the 60th anniversary of the NATO alliance, as part of the Council on Foreign Relations "NATO at 60" Symposium.
See more in Europe/Russia, NATO, International Organizations
February 25, 2009
Transcript
International relations experts Charles Kupchan, Steven Walt, and Ole Waever discuss the role of NATO in the international system as part of the Council on Foreign Relations' NATO at 60 Symposium.
See more in NATO, Global Governance, International Organizations
February 25, 2009
Transcript
A transcription of the opening remarks made by Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski at the Council on Foreign Relations "Nato At 60" Symposium
See more in Central/Eastern Europe, NATO
January 23, 2009
Interview
Charles A. Kupchan, CFR senior fellow for Europe studies, says Obama's "popularity and the departure of President Bush" create a "window of opportunity to improve relations between the United States and Russia and between the United States and the European Union."
See more in United States, Defense Strategy, NATO, Missile Defense, U.S. Strategy and Politics
January 15, 2009
Op-Ed
International Herald Tribune
Federiga Bindi, Charles Kupchan, Justin Vaisse write that, "Sarkozy offered a brand of EU leadership that works, reviving the Union...the Obama administration should recognize this for what it is - the stirrings of the more capable and collective European partner that the United States so sorely needs."
See more in EU, Diplomacy, U.S. Election 2008
November 14, 2008
Expert Brief
CFR's James Goldgeier and Charles Kupchan discuss the effect of the global financial crisis on Europe.
See more in Europe/Russia, Financial Crises
November/December 2008
Foreign Affairs Article — Summary
A league of democracies would not secure cooperation among democracies and would expose the limits of the West's power and legitimacy. The next president should not embrace this disastrous idea.
See more in Democracy Promotion, Presidency
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:
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