Culture and Foreign Policy Roundtable

Director: Michael J. Sandel
March 1, 1996 - December 1, 1996

Some of the most important developments in world politics today are neither military nor economic but more broadly cultural. This roundtable sought to redress the balance among these imperatives by examining the way in which civic, moral, and political culture--including currents in religion, civil society, literature, the arts, and the media--shape the forces with which foreign policy contends. Highlights included discussions on modernity in the Middle East and the evolving nature of citizenship and political and social identity.

Meetings

Roundtable Meeting

Disintegrating Democracy: New Models of Citizenship, Civil Society, and Political Identity—Session II

Presiders: Alberta Arthurs
Michael J. Sandel
Speakers: Kwame Anthony Appiah, Author, Harvard University
Jean Franco, Columbia University
Shirley V. T. Brittain Williams, Harvard University/House of Lords, United Kingdom
Charles Taylor, Professor of Philosophy, McGill University
December 5, 1996

General Meeting

How Western Is Modernity in the Middle East?

Presider: Fouad Ajami
Speaker: Bernard Lewis, Cleveland E. Dodge Professor of Near East Studies Emeritus, Princeton University
October 24, 1996

New Books

Saudi Arabia on the Edge by Thomas Lippman
A leading Middle East scholar pens this "good introduction to the Saudi paradox of social change and political stability and an invaluable guide to the challenges the country faces." More
American Force by Richard K. Betts
An investigation of the use of American force since the end of the Cold War. More
The Struggle for Egypt by Steven A. Cook
A sweeping account of Egypt in the modern era: what Egypt is, what it stands for, and its relation to the world. More

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Campaign 2012

The campaign project examines the foreign policy dimensions of the presidential race, tracking candidates' positions and offering insight on the top issues.

CFR Experts Guide

The Council on Foreign Relations' David Rockefeller Studies Program—CFR's "think tank"—is home to more than seventy full-time, adjunct, and visiting scholars and practitioners (called "fellows"). Their expertise covers the world's major regions as well as the critical issues shaping today's global agenda. Download the printable CFR Experts Guide.

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