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Below you will find a chronological list of current Council research projects. You can search by issue or region by selecting the appropriate category. In addition to this sorting control, you can search for specific subjects within the alphabetical, regional, and issue categories by choosing from the selections in the drop-down menu below.
Each project page contains the name of the project director, a description of the project, a list of meetings it has held, and any related publications, transcripts, or videos.
October 1, 1997—May 1, 1998
| Director: | Nicholas X. Rizopoulos, Senior Studies Editor, Council on Foreign Relations |
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February 1, 1997—June 1, 1998
| Staff: | Jerome A. Cohen, Adjunct Senior Fellow for Asia Studies |
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April 1, 1997—October 1, 1997
| Director: | Bruce Stokes |
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January 1, 1997—June 1, 2000
| Directors: | Barnett R. Rubin, New York University Nancy Lubin |
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| Chair: | Sam Nunn |
May 1, 1997—May 1, 1997
April 1, 1997—April 1, 1997
| Directors: | Jeffrey A. Reinke, Chief of Staff to the President Jacqui Selbst Schein Nancy Yao |
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| Staff: | Elizabeth C. Economy, C.V. Starr Senior Fellow and Director for Asia Studies |
February 1, 1997—February 1, 1997
| Director: | Ruth Wedgwood |
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March 1, 1997—March 1, 1997
| Director: | Kenneth R. Maxwell, Nelson and David Rockefeller Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations |
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September 1, 1997—Present
| Director: | Alton Frye, Presidential Senior Fellow Emeritus |
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| Chairs: | Thomas E. Donilon Kenneth M. Duberstein, Chairman and CEO, The Duberstein Group, Inc. |
While many able and dedicated public servants work in the legislative branch, their hectic schedules often deprive them of the chance to engage in reflective, nonpartisan discussion about essential policy issues outside their professional duties. An informed Congress is essential to an effective American foreign policy, and an informed congressional staff is essential to an effective Congress. The Council’s congressional staff roundtables provide a forum for discussion of essential issues under the Council tradition of nonattribution.
This Council project engages key congressional staff in a neutral setting outside the political arena to discuss international issues of concern to them. To date the program has enlisted some one hundred staff members of both parties and both houses in three roundtable discussion groups, focused respectively on Asian politics and security, national security, and international trade and economics. These groups are chaired by R. James Woolsey (Asian politics and security), Stephen J. Hadley (national security), and Thomas E. Donilon and Robert B. Zoellick (international trade and economics).
For topics and speakers, the project draws upon the Council’s ongoing studies in the general topic areas, as well as on proposals of legislative staffers participating in the program. A Congressional Staff Advisory Committee of senior staff members helps to guide the program and ensure the quality of its participants and programs. Four Council members with long experience as leaders in the House and Senate—Howard H. Baker Jr., Thomas S. Foley, George J. Mitchell, and Vin Weber—serve as conveners for the project.
September 1, 1997—December 31, 1998
| Director: | John Hillen |
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November 1, 1997—November 1, 1997
| Staff: | Henry Siegman, Former Senior Fellow and Director for the U.S./Middle East Project, Council on Foreign Relations |
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January 1, 1997—Present
Global Kids and CFR hold frequent roundtables on international affairs.
December 1, 1997—March 1, 1998
| Director: | Richard W. Murphy |
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February 1, 1997—August 31, 2002
| Staff: | Kenneth M. Pollack, Director of Research, Saban Center for Middle East Policy |
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December 1, 1997—December 1, 1997
November 1, 1997—Present
| Staff: | Charles A. Kupchan, Senior Fellow for Europe Studies |
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June 1, 1997—June 1, 1997
| Staff: | Henry Siegman, Former Senior Fellow and Director for the U.S./Middle East Project, Council on Foreign Relations |
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December 1, 1997—April 1, 1998
| Directors: | Hanya Marie Kim Albert Fishlow |
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November 1, 1997—June 30, 2004
| Director: | Robert P. DeVecchi |
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This roundtable brings together policymakers, practitioners, journalists, academics, and other concerned individuals for face-to-face dialogue on specific issues concerning refugees and the internally displaced. Recent subjects have included Sudan, Kosovo, Chechnya, the continuing refugee crisis in Africa, the internally displaced in Afghanistan, the problem of land mines as an impediment to refugee repatriation, the role of illicit diamond trade in perpetuating civil strife, and ways to improve collaboration among the governments, the United Nations, humanitarian relief organizations, and human rights groups.
Since September 11, 2001, refugees and displaced persons have become key issues in both the causes and effects of terrorism. Humanitarian assistance is already an integral part of the overall U.S. and international response to the terrorist attacks on the United States. This roundtable will examine the humanitarian consequences of military action; the impact of tightening borders on internal displacement and the refugee problem; the role of immigration policy in curbing terrorism; the impacts of the new anti-terrorism campaign on international refugee protection; and the relationship between military and relief operations.
April 1, 1997—January 1, 2000
| Directors: | Riordan Roett Kenneth R. Maxwell, Nelson and David Rockefeller Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations |
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Explore the international finance regime with a new interactive from CFR's program on International Institutions and Global Governance.
Identifying international threats and acting on them may be the most difficult job for U.S. policymakers. This report
provides an actionable road map for managing international threats before they erupt into crises and makes a strong case that preventive action is not a luxury but a necessity.
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
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
For more information on the David Rockefeller Studies Program, contact:
James M. Lindsay
Senior Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair
+1.212.434.9626 (NY); +1.202.509.8405 (DC)
jlindsay@cfr.org
Janine Hill
Deputy Director of Studies Administration
+1.212.434.9753
jhill@cfr.org
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