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December 8, 2008
| Author: | Walter Russell Mead, Henry A. Kissinger Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy |
|---|
This module features teaching notes by Walter Russell Mead, author of God and Gold: Britain, America, and the Making of the Modern World, along with other resources to supplement the text. In his book, Mr. Mead recounts how the British and their American heirs built an unrivaled global system of politics, power, investment, and trade over the past three hundred years.
What is a CFR Academic Module?
Academic Modules—featuring teaching notes by the authors of CFR publications—are designed to assist educators in creating or supplementing a course syllabus. The modules are customized packages built around a primary CFR text, such as a book or report, and include teaching notes; additional readings; video, audio, and transcripts of CFR meetings; Foreign Affairs articles; and other online resources. Use of these modules is free of charge. They may be used in part or in their entirety.
October 2007
An illuminating account by Walter Russell Mead of the birth and rise of the global political and economic system that, sustained first by Britain and now by America, created the modern world.
CFR.org Backgrounders are succinct explanations of current political and economic issues.
August 23, 2006
Evangelical Christians have been a force in U.S. society dating back to the nineteenth century. But experts say in recent years their influence on U.S. foreign policy has grown, from humanitarian activity in Africa to human rights in Asia.
June 2008
The authors weave a compelling narrative of how the decisions and debates of the years between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Twin Towers shaped the events, arguments, and politics of the world we live in today.
June 2005
This is a book that describes an unprecedented moment in which the United States has a chance to bring about a world where most people are safe, free, and can enjoy a decent standard of living.
September 2002
At the dawn of the twenty-first century, three ideas dominate the world: peace as the preferred basis for relations between countries, democracy as the optimal way to organize political life, and free markets as the indispensable vehicle for the creation of wealth. While not practiced everywhere, these ideas have—for the first time in history—no serious rivals as methods for organizing the world’s politics, economics, and international relations.
December 2001
The United States has had a more successful foreign policy than any other great power in history. Council Senior Fellow Walter Russell Mead argues that the United States is successful because its strategy is rooted in Americans’ concrete interests, which value trade and commerce as much as military security.
May/June 2008
Summary
The United States' unipolar moment is over. International relations in the twenty-first century will be defined by nonpolarity.
May/June 2008
Summary
Despite some eerie parallels between the position of the United States today and that of the British Empire a century ago, there are key differences. Britain's decline was driven by bad economics. The United States, in contrast, has the strength and dynamism to continue shaping the world -- but only if it can overcome its political dysfunction and reorient U.S. policy for a world defined by the rise of other powers.
March/April 2008
Summary
The United States should recognize that religious freedom is vital not only to liberty and stability abroad but also to U.S. national security.
July/August 2007
Summary
Liberal democracy, led by the United States, may have emerged triumphant from the great struggles of the twentieth century. But the post-Cold War rise of economically successful -- and nondemocratic -- China and Russia may represent a viable alternative path to modernity that leaves liberal democracy's ultimate victory and future dominance in doubt.
September/October 2005
Summary
U.S. policymakers debate how to wield American power; foreigners debate how to deal with it. Some make their peace with Washington and try to manipulate it; others try to oppose and undercut U.S. interests. The challenge for the United States is how to turn its material dominance into legitimate authority.
Summer 2008
Charles A. Kupchan and Peter L. Trubowitz respond to Joseph M. Parent and Joseph Bafumi’s criticism of their article “Dead Center: The Demise of Liberal Internationalism in the United States”
January 27, 2008
Parag Khanna predicts a continued decline of the U.S. standing in the world under the next administration. He says the United States is losing to the European Union and China in the geopolitical marketplace.
December 23, 2007
Walter Russell Mead writes that “Britain, the country that did more than any other to shape the world system in which we still live, is warming up for an encore.”
March 14, 2006
Bernard-Henri Lévy dukes it out with Francis Fukuyama over American virtues and vices, neoconservatives, religion, the future of American muscular internationalism, and the role of intellectuals in a free society.
October 17, 2007
Listen to Walter Russell Mead, CFR Henry A. Kissinger senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy, lead a conversation on his new book, God and Gold: Britain, America, and the Making of the Modern World, as part of CFR's Religion and Foreign Policy Conference Call Series.
Updated: April 18, 2008
Two experts discuss how the United States should confront shifts in global political power in the 21st century.
Updated: June 2, 2006
Paul J. Saunders and Morton H. Halperin debate the wisdom of the U.S. policy of promoting democracy.
October 2002
Book
Author: Warren Zimmerman
January 2002
Book
Author: Reinhold Niebuhr
November 2000
Book
Author: Adam Smith
September 1999
Book
Author: Edmund Burke
May 1999
Book
Author: David Landes
June 1997
Book
Authors: Walter Isaacson and Evan Thomas
November 1987
Book
Author: A.T. Mahan
December 1980
Book
Author: A.J.P. Taylor
April 1979
Book
Author: Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay
A Conversation with David Miliband
| Speaker: | David Miliband, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Member of Parliament for South Shields, United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Presider: | Fareed Zakaria, Editor, Newsweek International |
Related Material:
Building a New Atlantic Alliance
Transcript: A Conversation with David Miliband
Audio: A Conversation with David Miliband (Audio)
Video: A Conversation with David Miliband (Video)
2008 Foreign Policy Symposium: Democracy and America’s Role in the World
Related Project: 2008 Foreign Policy Symposium
| Speakers: | Lorne W. Craner, President, International Republican Institute |
|---|---|
| Michael J. Gerson, Roger Hertog Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations | |
| Richard N. Haass, President, Council on Foreign Relations | |
| Henry A. Kissinger, Chairman, Kissinger Associates, Inc. | |
| Vin Weber, CEO, Clark & Weinstock | |
| Ken Wollack, President, National Democratic Institute for International Affairs | |
| Presider: | J. Brian Atwood, Dean, Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota |
This session was part of a three-day symposium during the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis, cosponsored with the University of Minnesota's Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs.
Transcript: 2008 Foreign Policy Symposium: Democracy and America’s Role in the World
Audio: 2008 Foreign Policy Symposium: Democracy and America’s Role in the World (Audio)
Video: 2008 Foreign Policy Symposium: Democracy and America’s Role in the World (Video)
This meeting is on the record.
A Conversation with Condoleezza Rice
| Speaker: | Condoleezza Rice, U.S. Secretary of State |
|---|---|
| Presider: | Richard E. Salomon, Chairman, Mecox Ventures, Inc.; Vice Chairman, Council on Foreign Relations |
The live webcast has ended. Please return to this page for an archived video of the event. Recordings are usually posted two to three days after the conclusion of the meeting.
Transcript: A Conversation with Condoleezza Rice [Rush Transcript; Federal News Service]
Video: A Conversation with Condoleezza Rice (Video)
Religion and the Open Society
This symposium will examine how the different forms of Christianity and Islam may have helped, and sometimes hindered, the development of free and open societies - not just in the narrow sense of democratic government but in the broader sense of openness to progress, innovation, an entrepreneurial spirit in economics, and a competitive marketplace of ideas.
Session One: Religion, Pluralism, and Freedom of Inquiry
Peter L. Berger, Professor Emeritus of Religion, Sociology and Theology, and Director,
The Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs, Boston University
Mustafa Akyol, Deputy Editor, Turkish Daily News
Dalia Mogahed, Senior Analyst and Executive Director, The Center for Muslim Studies,
The Gallup Organization
Presider: George E. Rupp, President, International Rescue Committee
8:30 to 9:00 a.m. Breakfast Reception
9:00 to 10:15 a.m. Meeting
Session Two: Religion-State Relations
Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im, Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law, Emory University Law School
Noah Feldman, Professor of Law, Harvard Law School; Adjunct Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations
Philip Hamburger, Maurice and Hilda Friedman Professor of Law, Columbia University Law School
Presider: Walter Russell Mead, Henry A. Kissinger Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy, Council on Foreign Relations
10:30 to 11:45 a.m. Meeting
Session Three: Religion, Innovation, and Economic Progress
Timur Kuran, Professor of Economics and Political Science, and Gorter Family Professor in Islam
and the Social Sciences, Duke University
Robert D. Woodberry, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Texas at Austin
Third Speaker to be Announced
Presider: Peter Steinfels, Co-Director, Fordham Center on Religion and Culture
12:00 to 12:45 p.m. Buffet Lunch
12:45 to 2:00 p.m. Meeting
Transcripts: Religion and the Open Society Symposium: Session One: Religion, Pluralism, and Freedom of Inquiry [Rush Transcript; Federal News Service], Religion and the Open Society Symposium: Session Two: Religion-State Relations [Rush Transcript; Federal News Service], Religion and the Open Society Symposium: Session Three: Religion, Innovation And Economic Progress [Rush Transcript; Federal News Service]
Audios: Religion and the Open Society Symposium: Session One: Religion, Pluralism, and Freedom of Inquiry (Audio), Religion and the Open Society Symposium: Session Two: Religion-State Relations (Audio), Religion and the Open Society Symposium: Session Three: Religion, Innovation, and Economic Progress (Audio)
Videos: Religion and the Open Society Symposium: Session One: Religion, Pluralism, and Freedom of Inquiry (Video), Religion and the Open Society Symposium: Session Two: Religion-State Relations (Video), Religion and the Open Society Symposium: Session Three: Religion, Innovation, and Economic Progress (Video)
This meeting is on the record.
Evangelicals and U.S. Foreign Policy Symposium: Historical Trajectories - Session I
Related Project: Evangelicals and U.S. Foreign Policy Symposium
| Presider: | Walter Russell Mead, Henry A. Kissinger Senior Fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy, Council on Foreign Relations |
|---|---|
| Speakers: | William F. Martin, Harry and Hazel Chavanne Senior Fellow for Religion and Public Policy, Rice University |
| Andrew Preston, Professor of History, Clare College, Cambridge University | |
| Leo P. Ribuffo, Society of the Cincinnati George Washington Distinguished Professor of History, George Washington University |
9:00 to 10:15 a.m. Meeting
Transcript: Symposium on Evangelicals and U.S. Foreign Policy Session I [Rush Transcript; Federal News Service]
Audio: Symposium on Evangelicals and U.S. Foreign Policy: Session 1: Evangelicals in Foreign Policy: Historical Trajectories (Audio)
Video: Symposium on Evangelicals and U.S. Foreign Policy: Session 1: Evangelicals in Foreign Policy: Historical Trajectories (Video)
This meeting is on the record.
Evangelicals and U.S. Foreign Policy Symposium: Evangelicals and Foreign Policy Today - Session II
Related Project: Evangelicals and U.S. Foreign Policy Symposium
| Presider: | Adrian Wooldridge, Washington Bureau Chief, Economist |
|---|---|
| Speakers: | Richard Cizik, Vice President for Governmental Affairs, National Association of Evangelicals |
| Eugene F. Rivers, Special Assistant to Presiding Bishop for Government and Policy; President, Church of God and Christ; National Ten Point Leadership Foundation | |
| Clyde Wilcox, Professor of Government, Georgetown University |
10:30 to 11:45 a.m. Meeting
Transcript: Symposium on Evangelicals and U.S. Foreign Policy Session II [Rush Transcript; Federal News Service]
Audio: Symposium on Evangelicals and U.S. Foreign Policy: Session 2: Evangelicals and Foreign Policy Today (Audio)
Video: Symposium on Evangelicals and U.S. Foreign Policy: Session 2: Evangelicals and Foreign Policy Today (Video)
This meeting is on the record.
American Values and U.S. Foreign Policy
| Speaker: | Anne-Marie Slaughter, Dean, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University; Board Director, Council on Foreign Relations |
|---|---|
| Presider: | Irina A. Faskianos, Vice President, National Program & Outreach, Council on Foreign Relations |
12:00 to 1:00 p.m. (ET)
Audio: Academic Conference Call: American Values and U.S. Foreign Policy (Audio)
This meeting is on the record.
God and Gold: Britain, America, and the Making of the Modern World
| Speaker: | Walter Russell Mead, Henry A. Kissinger Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy, Council on Foreign Relations, Author, "God and Gold: Britain, America and the Making of the Modern World" |
|---|---|
| Presider: | Richard N. Haass, President, Council on Foreign Relations |
Audio: God and Gold: Britain, America, and the Making of the Modern World (Audio)
Video: God and Gold: Britain, America, and the Making of the Modern World (Video)
This meeting is on the record.
The Mighty and the Almighty: Reflections on America, God, and World Affairs
| Speaker: | Madeleine K. Albright, Principal, The Albright Group LLC; former United States Secretary of State; and author, "The Mighty and the Almighty: Reflections on America, God, and World Affairs" |
|---|---|
| Presider: | George E. Rupp, President, International Rescue Committee |
6:00 - 6:30 p.m. Cocktail Reception
6:30 - 7:30 p.m. Meeting
Please note special time.
This meeting is part of the Religion and Foreign Policy Series.
Transcript: The Mighty and the Almighty [Rush Transcript; Federal News Service, Inc.]
Audio: The Mighty and the Almighty: Reflections on America, God, and World Affairs (audio)
Video: The Mighty and the Almighty: Reflections on America, God, and World Affairs (video)
This meeting is on the record.
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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.
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The report of this bipartisan Task Force of distinguished leaders and experts represents a strong consensus on the importance of repairing America's immigration policy. It makes the case that maintaining America's political and economic leadership depends on attracting talented and hard-working immigrants, and on securing the country's borders in a smart, effective, and humane way.
This report finds that nuclear weapons will remain a fundamental element of U.S. national security in the near term, and makes recommendations on how to ensure the safety, security, and reliability of the U.S. deterrent nuclear force, prevent nuclear terrorism, and strengthen the nuclear nonproliferation regime.
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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
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