Experts

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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Elliott Abrams

Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies

Former senior director for democracy and human rights, senior director for the Near East, and deputy national security adviser handling Middle East affairs in the George W. Bush administration. Former assistant secretary of state for UN affairs, human rights, and Latin America in the Reagan administration.

Daniel P. Ahn

Adjunct Fellow for Energy

Chief commodities economist at Citigroup and adjunct associate professor at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs.

Edward Alden

Bernard L. Schwartz Senior Fellow

Former Washington bureau chief at the Financial Times. Recently co-directed the Independent Task Force on U.S. Trade and Investment Policy and was the project director for the Independent Task Force on U.S. Immigration Policy. Latest book, The Closing of the American Border, examines U.S. visa and border policies in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Colonel Julian Dale Alford, USMC

Military Fellow, U.S. Marine Corps

Infantry officer and former commander of the Basic School in Quantico, VA, and director of strategic effects ISAF, HQ, in Kabul, Afghanistan. Commanded the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines in eastern Afghanistan and western Iraq and was executive officer of the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines in OIF I, the March to Baghdad. Operational experience in Operation Just Cause, Panama; Operation Desert Storm, Kuwait; and Operation Assured Response, Liberia.

Reza Aslan

Adjunct Senior Fellow

Scholar of religions and expert on the Middle East. Author of the international bestseller No god but God.

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Mohamad Bazzi

Adjunct Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies

Journalism professor at New York University. Former Middle East bureau chief at Newsday. Currently working on a project about sectarian politics in the Middle East.

John B. Bellinger III

Adjunct Senior Fellow for International and National Security Law

Partner at Arnold & Porter, LLP. Former legal adviser for the U.S. Department of State and National Security Council. Currently directing a roundtable series on international and national security law.

Robert D. Blackwill

Henry A. Kissinger Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy

Former deputy assistant to the president, deputy national security adviser for strategic planning, and presidential envoy to Iraq under George W. Bush. U.S. Ambassador to India from 2001 to 2003. Current work focuses on American foreign policy writ large as well as China, Russia, the Middle East, South Asia, and geoeconomics. Editor of Iran: The Nuclear Challenge.

Thomas Bollyky

Senior Fellow for Global Health, Economics, and Development

Expert on legal and regulatory issues in global health, technological innovation and delivery, and international trade. Adjunct professor of law, former U.S. trade negotiator. Currently directing a roundtable series on Global Health, Economics, and Development.

Max Boot

Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow for National Security Studies

Award-winning author, historian, and military strategist. Author of The Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power and War Made New: Technology, Warfare, and the Course of History, 1500 to Today. Finishing Invisible Armies: An Epic History of Guerrilla Warfare from Ancient Times to the Present, which will be released by W.W. Norton & Co. in January 2013.

Paula Briscoe

National Intelligence Fellow

Senior executive serving in the U.S. intelligence community; previous work included regional analysis related to U.S. national security issues. Currently working on China and Southeast Asia issues.

Karen Brooks

Adjunct Senior Fellow for Asia

Former director for Asian affairs on the staff of the National Security Council. Leading architect of U.S. policy toward Indonesia during the administrations of Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Currently directing a roundtable series that focuses on Asia.

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John Campbell

Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies

Career Foreign Service officer and former ambassador to Nigeria. Political counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria during South Africa's first non-racial elections. His book Nigeria: Dancing on the Brink was published by Rowman & Littlefield in November 2010. The second edition is coming soon. He writes the blog "Africa in Transition" and edits the Nigeria Security Tracker.

Blake Clayton

Fellow for Energy and National Security

Former private sector oil analyst and instructor in finance and economics at Oxford University. Current research focuses on energy security and policy, global commodities markets, and natural resource economics.

Andrew Coe

Stanton Nuclear Security Fellow

Assistant professor of international relations at University of Southern California and adjunct member of research staff at Institute for Defense Analyses. Currently working on game-theoretic analyses of nuclear proliferation and the non-proliferation regime.

Jared Cohen

Adjunct Senior Fellow

Director of Google Ideas, Google Inc. Former member of the policy planning staff under both Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton.

Jerome A. Cohen

Adjunct Senior Fellow for Asia Studies

Internationally renowned expert on the Chinese legal system and professor at NYU School of Law. Current work examines the rule of law in Asian countries.