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May 7, 2004
Council on Foreign Relations
May 5, 2004 - The Age of Sacred Terror (Random House), by Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon, former director and senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security Council, has won the Council’s third annual Arthur Ross Book Award, the largest U.S. award for a book on international affairs. The authors will receive $10,000 and be honored at the Council on Foreign Relations this June.
The award was given to Benjamin and Simon for their comprehensive analysis of the growth of radical Islam from its medieval origins to today, and for providing essential insights into the philosophical underpinnings of al-Qaeda and its growing appeal in the Islamic world. The authors, drawing on their years of counterterrorism work at the NSC, describe America’s efforts to combat the most innovative and dangerous terrorist group ever, explore why America was unable to defend itself against it, and what the United States must do to stop this new threat.
The silver medal and a prize of $5000 has been awarded to British senior diplomat Robert Cooper for The Breaking of Nations (Atlantic Monthly Press), a thought-provoking examination of the transition of the traditional nation to a “post-modern” state and its implications on security and foreign policy. The jury also awarded an honorable mention to Brookings Senior Fellow Ivo Daalder and Council Director of Studies James Lindsay for America Unbound (Brookings Institution Press), a sweeping analysis of U.S. foreign policy during the first years of the Bush administration.
“It was an unusually strong year for books on foreign policy, and the jury considered a number of truly excellent books,” said jury chairman Morton Janklow. “We feel the books we selected are outstanding examples of intelligent, thought-provoking and insightful writing on the key foreign policy issues of today.”
The winners were selected by a prestigious jury chaired by renowned literary figure Morton Janklow (a full listing of the jury is at www.cfr.org.)
The Council on Foreign Relations’ Arthur Ross Book Award was endowed by Arthur Ross in 2001 to honor non-fiction works, in English or translation, that merit special attention for: bringing forth new information that can change our understanding of events or problems; developing analytical approaches that allow new and different insights into a key issue; or providing new ideas that help resolve foreign policy problems.
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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.
Complete list of CFR Books
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