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Richard Betts
Max Boot
Stephen Flynn
Stephen Biddle
John Bellinger III
Paul Lettow
Marisa Porges
Nicole LewisThe September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington have forever blurred the line between defense and homeland security. The Bush administration continues to stress the need for U.S. armed forces to “take the fight to the enemy,” to push the battlefield away from U.S. shores. At the same time, efforts are ongoing to better secure the U.S. homeland against new terrorist attacks on American soil.
Featured Projects
December 1, 1996—Present
| Staff: | Richard K. Betts, Adjunct Senior Fellow for National Security Studies, Council on Foreign Relations |
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November 1, 2002—Present
| Director: | Anne-Marie Slaughter, Dean, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University |
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Project Vice-Chair: Charlotte Ku Co-sponsered by ASIL
The Roundtable Series, “Old Rules, New Threats,” is a project on global governance that brings administration officials together with lawyers, professors and policymakers to look at areas in foreign policy and national security where the rules of the road, formal and informal, may or may not need to be adapted, amended, or replaced to address the challenges currently facing the nation.
The roundtable addresses a broad range of security issues, including threats related to force and war, as well as challenges requiring transnational cooperation. Past sessions have explored the administration’s announced doctrine of preemption; humanitarian intervention; military tribunals and unlawful combatants; use of force and the laws of war; and regulating the movement of black and gray market goods, technology, and people. Memos prepared by roundtable speakers and summary reports of the roundtable meetings are posted below. The roundtable, which met six times beginning in November 2002, will reconvene in the fall of 2003.
The Council and ASIL, with the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, will begin the 2003 season with a one-day conference on September 19. The conference will focus on four areas: intervention and weapons proliferation; global climate change; bringing war criminals to justice; and counterterrorism and transnational law enforcement.
March 1, 2003—Present
| Staff: | Max Boot, Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow for National Security Studies |
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This project has been made possible with the generous support from the following:
Smith Richardson Foundation
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Randolph Foundation
Roger and Susan Hertog
The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation
Carnegie Corporation
John M. Olin Foundation
January 2005—Present
| Staff: | Stephen E. Flynn, Ira A. Lipman Senior Fellow for Counterterrorism and National Security Studies |
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Prompted by the critical security challenges facing our country, and the growing need to fully engage the private sector in meeting these challenges, the Council is sponsoring the Roundtable Series on the Role of the Private Sector in Homeland Security. The series is directed by Dr. Stephen Flynn, the Council's Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow for National Security Studies. The aim of the Roundtable is to vigorously address some of the pressing issues highlighted in Flynn's recently released book, America the Vulnerable, How Our Government is Failing to Protect Us from Terrorism.
The design of the initiative is a sustained dialogue between homeland security experts and a small high-level group of decision makers from the private sector. Bringing these two groups together, the Council hopes to promote a forum for frank discussion leading to valuable insights into difficult security issues and the pursuit of solutions in the context of our present political and economic environment.
October 2006—Present
| Staff: | Stephen Biddle, Senior Fellow for Defense Policy |
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Featured Publications
August 28, 2009
Stephen Flynn, Frank J. Cilluffo, and Sharon L. Cardash remember Hurrican Katrina and discuss the risks from future natural disasters if infrastructure is ignored.
August 10, 2009
John B. Bellinger III discusses why the United States is unlikely to join the International Criminal Court anytime soon.
September-October 2009
Paul Lettow and Thomas Mahnken offer specific recommendations for avoiding debilities in the U.S. strategic planning process.
May 27, 2009
John B. Bellinger III argues, "New York isn't the right venue to sue for apartheid abuses."
May 22, 2009
Max Boot argues, "on the whole, President Obama is formulating sensible, centrist national-security policies."
May 13, 2009
Max Boot argues that "President Obama and his aides continue to impress with their handling of Afghanistan."
May 6, 2009
Max Boot provides an annotated Foreign Affairs syllabus on pirates.
May 5, 2009
Stephen E. Flynn and Irwin Redlener argue that the United States would fail a pandemic preparedness stress test.
May-June 2009
Stephen E. Flynn asks, "Is homeland security still on the nation's radar screen?"
April 24, 2009
Elliott Abrams argues that Congress should approve the United States' 123 Agreement with the United Arab Emirates.
May - June 2009
Max Boot discusses the stigmatization--and necessity--of mercenaries.
March 27, 2009
Max Boot argues that regardless of the political rhetoric involved, President Obama's strategy for Afghanistan is solid, centrist foreign policy.
March 19, 2009
Max Boot argues that the Obama administration's desire to reach a deal with Syria or Iran should not compromise a flourishing Lebanon's independence.
March 23, 2009; Volume 014, Issue 26
After visiting Afghanistan at the invitation of General David Petraeus, Max Boot, Frederick Kagan, and Kimberly Kagan discuss their observations of the conflict in the region and contend that while there is cause for concern, the situation is likely to improve.
March 14, 2009
Max Boot reviews The Accidental Guerilla, by David Kilcullen.
October 2006
A sweeping, epic history that ranges from the defeat of the Spanish Armada to the War on Terrorism, War Made New is a provocative new vision of the rise of the modern world through the lens of warfare.
March 2006
Council Special Report No. 13
The central finding of this report is that federal government has had a naïve view of what the market is able to do when left largely on its own to protect critical infrastructure.
June 2004
Three years after September 11, the United States is still dangerously unprepared to prevent or respond to another attack on its soil. Faced with this threat, the United States should be operating on a wartime footing at home. But despite the many new security precautions that have been proposed, America’s most serious vulnerabilities remain ominously exposed.
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
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