This Independent Task Force report encourages the Obama administration and Congress to adopt a "pro-America" trade policy that brings to more Americans the benefits of global engagement.

This Task Force report offers a strategy for maintaining America's political and economic leadership by attracting skilled immigrants, a program of legalization for those living in the United States illegally, and steps for securing the country's borders in an effective and humane way.

Edward Alden goes behind the scenes to tell the story of the Bush administration's struggle to balance security and openness in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

This module features teaching notes by CFR Senior Fellow Edward Alden, author of The Closing of the American Border: Terrorism, Immigration, and Security Since 9/11, along with other resources to supplement the text. In this book, Mr. Alden examines the complicated interplay between the United States' need for homeland security and economic openness in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Jeb Bush, Thomas F. McLarty III, and Edward Alden discuss the recent Independent Task Force on Immigration Policy and argue, "Getting immigration policy right is fundamental to [U.S.] national interests -- our economic vitality, our diplomacy and our national security."

Edward Alden argues, "the U.S. can't afford to keep turning away the best and the brightest."

Edward Alden writes that the quest for perfectly secure borders premised on plugging vulnerabilities poses special, and possibly insurmountable, problems. The United States needs some way to distinguish serious threats from minor ones, and to calculate the costs of trying to counter those threats.

The "buy American" provisions in the stimulus bill presented President Obama with the first test of his trade philosophy. In this Forbes article, Edward Alden and Jeremy Haft write that Obama has passed this test. The apparent compromise over these provisions is reassuring.

In this Vancouver Sun op-ed, Edward Alden says that while gridlock has been the norm in Washington, there are precedents for outbursts of creative and energetic government. Still, Americans' expectations for Obama face long odds.

In this excerpt from The Closing of the American Border, Edward Alden writes that George Bush came to office as the most pro-immigrant president in modern U.S. history. Yet he presided over a war on terrorism that has been waged through anti-immigrant measures.

Seven years after the 9/11 attacks, Canada is still trying to cope with the new border regime that has been an enduring legacy of the terrorist attacks. In this Ottawa Citizen article, Edward Alden urges President-elect Obama to begin rebuilding trust on border issues with Canada.

In this Washington Post op-ed, Edward Alden writes that current immigration policy "was built in the wake of 9/11, but it will have to be reformed in the shadow of the economic crisis."

Since 9/11 and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. immigration policy has been focused mostly on keeping out those we don't want. In this San Francisco Chronicle op-ed, Edward Alden argues that this single-mindedness has come with a high cost to our economy and reputation in the world.

"The war on terror has come home to America. But when did the war on terror morph into a war on illegal immigration? Today it is much harder for a terrorist to enter the United States than it used to be, but according to Edward Alden, it's also much harder for everyone else."

The next Canadian government must try to nudge the next U.S. administration back to the spirit of the 2001 Smart Border accords, which attempted to balance security and commerce concerns. Edward Alden writes that rebuilding trust between the U.S. and Canada over border issues will be critical for both countries.

In this Forbes.com op-ed, Edward Alden writes that there were many good reasons to strengthen U.S. border security after 9/11. However, maintaining this country's strength requires the relentless innovation that stems from keeping an open door to the most talented and ambitious people the world has to offer.

In this Globalist op-ed, Edward Alden warns that new regulations on immigration after 9/11 have come with the high price of keeping out the very people that the United States needs to maintain its position in the world.

Since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, travelling to the U.S. has become vastly more difficult and unpleasant. Edward Alden describes where the visa process has gone wrong and how this has impacted America's image abroad.

CFR's Edward Alden says a flawed U.S. approach to tightening its borders after the 9/11 terrorist attacks has harmed the country's once-admired immigration image.

Edward Alden goes behind the scenes to tell the story of the Bush administration's struggle to balance security and openness in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Edward Alden, a CFR trade and immigration expert, says it is wrong to pin blame on NAFTA for the ills of the U.S. economy. Most of the competition that has affected U.S. manufacturing has come from the rest of the world, he says.