Council on Foreign Relations

Drawing on lessons learned from his distinguished diplomatic career, Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker discusses women's integral role in peacemaking and peacekeeping, with a focus on Afghanistan.

This session is part of the What's New in Women, Peace, and Security: From Theory to Practice Workshop.

Vittorio Grilli, Italy's minister of economy and finance, discusses recent economic developments in Italy and the eurozone.

Reza Aslan, CFR's adjunct senior fellow, leads a conversation on Iran and its role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Mike Duke, president and chief executive officer of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., discusses the role of business in sustainability, women's economic empowerment, food security, and the global middle class.

Director General Amano discusses challenges facing the IAEA, including action plans for global nuclear safeguards and security.

Astrid Pregel, Anabella Ruiz de Freeman, and Elizabeth Vazquez discuss the opportunities and challenges to integrating women-owned businesses into global supply chains.

Micah Zenko, CFR's Douglas Dillon fellow in the Center for Preventive Action, discusses U.S. drone strikes and their global implications.

Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University, and Derek Yach, senior vice president of the Vitality Group and member of PepsiCo's Scientific Advisory Board, debate the role of the food and beverage industry in the global fight on obesity.

Vivek Maru and Michael Woolcock evaluate efforts of nonprofits and global development institutions to help all people exercise their rights, increase government accountability, and participate in governance.

Fatih Birol, chief economist at the International Energy Agency (IEA), explains the findings in the IEA's flagship publication, World Energy Outlook 2012. The report presents authoritative projections of energy trends through 2035 and insights into what they mean for energy security, environmental sustainability, and economic development.

Chevron Chairman and CEO John Watson shares his views on how U.S.-based multinational corporations can help expand American influence abroad and be a positive force for progress. Watson also discusses recent global energy trends, including the rise in production of shale gas and other unconventional energy sources, that are being driven by advances in energy technology.

Listen to CFR Senior Fellow Shannon K. O'Neil and former foreign minister of Mexico Jorge G. Castañeda discuss President-elect Enrique Peña Nieto and the future of U.S.-Mexico relations.

In an op-ed that appeared this week in USA Today, O'Neil argued that the main obstacle to better relations between the two countries is Americans' perceptions of Mexico and its people:

"In Americans' psyches, drugs dominate. When advertising firm GSD&M and Vianovo strategic consultants asked Americans to come up with three words that describe Mexico, nearly every other person answered 'drugs,' followed by 'poor' and 'unsafe.' Other questions reveal Americans see Mexico as corrupt, unstable and violent, more problem than partner. Americans had more favorable views of Greece, El Salvador and Russia."

Read O'Neil's USA Today op-ed "Mexico Isn't a Gangland Gunbattle."

In the November/December issue of Foreign Affairs, Castañeda and historian Héctor Aguilar Camín claim that there is a political mandate in Mexico that calls for less corruption, greater rule of law, and improved economic justice:

"Mexicans' clamor for prosperity is no longer negotiable, and today, the country is less than a generation away from becoming the full-fledged middle-class society it aspires to be. But only if it gets to work now."

Read Camín and Castañeda's essay "Mexico's Age of Agreement."

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anne Applebaum discusses her highly acclaimed book, Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1944-1956, and the contemporary implications of Soviet policy in Eastern Europe.

Jean Edward Smith, senior scholar at Columbia University's history department, discusses his new book, Eisenhower in War and Peace.

Listen to CFR senior fellow Robert M. Danin discuss the conflict between Israel and Hamas and its implications for the U.S. and the region.

Julius Genachowski discusses the challenges and opportunities of the Federal Communications Commission's role in international telecommunications policy and its ongoing mission to promote Internet freedom, competition, innovation, and investment in broadband services around the globe.

Tim Weiner and film director Carl Colby discuss the film The Man Nobody Knew, which uncovers the secret world of a legendary CIA spymaster William Colby.

Claudio M. Loser and Antoine W. van Agtmael discuss perspectives on how Latin American countries have weathered the global financial crisis and assess what is at stake for the region's economies in the future.

In a conversation sponsored by CFR and the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, experts Ed Husain, Katrina Lantos Swett, and Monica Duffy Toft, examine the role that religion plays in shaping foreign policy.

As incoming president of China Xi Jinping assumes office and U.S. President Barack Obama prepares for next week's ASEAN Summit, listen to CFR Senior Fellow and Director for Asia Studies Elizabeth C. Economy and CFR Fellow Joshua Kurlantzick for a discussion about the future of U.S. foreign policy and economic interests in the region