Research Projects
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.
March 11, 1999—March 12, 1999
February 17, 1999—November 12, 1999
February 1, 1999—November 1, 1999
October 1, 1999—April 1, 2000
The purpose of the roundtable is to identify the most salient issues that might be suitable for in-depth examination by a Council task force on this subject. This series addresses a range of issues, including security, economic, environmental and social issues, affecting individual states in the region, the region as a whole, and major extraregional actors such as China and Japan, as well as American policy concerns, relating to those issues. Each meeting addresses its theme against the backdrop of U.S. policy and highlight current and prospective issues and challenges for American policymakers.
June 17, 1999—June 17, 1999
| Director: | Jonathan S. Paris, St. Antony's College, Oxford |
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| Staff: | Henry Siegman, Former Senior Fellow and Director for the U.S./Middle East Project, Council on Foreign Relations |
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On June 17–18, 1999, the U.S./Middle East Project and Corporate Program hosted the fourth annual Council on Foreign Relations conference on private-sector investment in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), including Turkey and Iran. In past years, this conference series has been organized around the MENA Summits, of which the Council was a founding organizer and convener. This year, the conference, held at the Council’s headquarters in New York, was the only major event of its kind in 1999. It was a practical, business-oriented meeting for approximately two hundred executives from the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and elsewhere to showcase investment opportunities and discuss the key obstacles to doing business in the region. Hosni Mubarak, President of Egypt, James D. Wolfenson, President of the World Bank, William Daley, Secretary of Commerce, and Bill Richardson, Secretary of Energy, were the keynote speakers.
February 1, 1999—December 1, 1999
This online roundtable, the first Council project of its kind, fostered a dialogue among individuals around the country on the issues surrounding the emergence of the Caspian Sea region as a major new supplier of oil. Participants first established the facts underlying Caspian issues, and then systematically evaluated Caspian development and appropriate U.S. policies. While preserving the confidentiality of the discussion, the facts established by the group also formed the core of a website on the Caspian that will be eventually linked to the Council’s home page (www.foreignrelations.org).
September 1, 1999—June 30, 2001
| Staff: | Roger M. Kubarych, Henry Kaufman Adjunct Senior Fellow for International Economics and Finance |
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The objective of this project is to develop research findings and expert advice that policymakers can use to help prepare for an unexpected financial mishap, and perhaps take steps to mitigate its adverse consequences, both at the domestic and international level. A four-part series of Council events will provide the means to examine the links between the financial markets and broader economic, foreign policy, and national security concerns: (1) A roundtable at which the participants, including market practitioners, scholars, and former senior officials review the lessons learned from past stock market disturbances and the policy responses to them and identify the economic and financial vulnerabilities in the current environment; (2) a scenario-building roundtable; (3) a policy simulation in which a small number of experienced policy thinkers and former policymakers will work through the options and constraints facing the U.S. government in the aftermath of a sudden and significant stock market decline; (4) a conference to disseminate the findings of the roundtable and simulation. The conference will provide a forum to raise the broadest possible perspective on the intersection of financial markets, the global economy, foreign policy, and national security.
September 1, 1999—June 30, 2001
| Staff: | Roger M. Kubarych, Henry Kaufman Adjunct Senior Fellow for International Economics and Finance |
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The objective of this project was to develop research findings and expert advice that policymakers can use to help prepare for an unexpected financial mishap, and perhaps take steps to mitigate its adverse consequences, both at the domestic and international level. A four-part series of Council events provided the means to examine the links between the financial markets and broader economic, foreign policy, and national security concerns: (1) A roundtable at which the participants, including market practitioners, scholars, and former senior officials review the lessons learned from past stock market disturbances and the policy responses to them and identify the economic and financial vulnerabilities in the current environment; (2) a scenario-building roundtable; (3) a policy simulation in which a small number of experienced policy thinkers and former policymakers will work through the options and constraints facing the U.S. government in the aftermath of a sudden and significant stock market decline; (4) a conference to disseminate the findings of the roundtable and simulation. The conference held on July 12-13, provided a forum to raise the broadest possible perspective on the intersection of financial markets, the global economy, foreign policy, and national security.
June 1, 1999—April 26, 2000
An in-depth look with leading scholars and practitioners at the ability of U.S. policy to meet objectives and respond to changing conditions in critical regions.
September 1, 1999—June 30, 2000
| Director: | Barbara Samuels |
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The roundtable’s objective was to set forth recommendations for improving the quality of country risk analysis used by creditors, lenders, and policymakers, thereby reducing the economic and social costs of financial volatility and crisis. Participants included leading country risk practitioners from rating agencies, commercial banks, and the investor community, in addition to multilateral organizations and government officials. After the first round of discussions in the fall of 1999, roundtable participants provided recommendations around three principal categories: analytical country risk methods; structure of the country risk profession; and use of country risk analysis in decisionmaking, detailed in the International Monetary Fund's 1999 publication of International Capital Markets. During this fiscal year, the roundtable further redefined these initial recommendations, focusing on how better to define principles and processes for sovereign bond restructurings, and improve the availability and quality of necessary data and analysis for the investor community.
October 1, 1999—March 1, 2001
| Chairs: | Bernard W. Aronson William D. Rogers |
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| Staff: | Julia E. Sweig, Nelson and David Rockefeller Senior Fellow for Latin America Studies and Director for Latin America Studies |
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This roundtable, held in Washington D.C., addresses a range of issues such as the resolution of outstanding property claims; bilateral and regional security interests; the status of the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay; the implications for the Western Hemisphere of the restoration of a Cuban sugar quota; the impact on the Caribbean economy of resuming normal bilateral trade relations; Cuban participation in the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) and the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA); prospects for Cuba’s reentry into the Organization of American States (OAS); and the integration of Cuba into the international financial system. In addition, the roundtable highlights an examination of history, culture, race, and religion as these elements pertain to current conditions on the island and to policy implications for the United States.
January 1, 1999—June 30, 2000
While the post-Cold War world has seen a decrease in military conflict between countries, ethnic and communal conflict within states is on the rise. This latter trend has led scholars to focus on the causes and consequences of nationalism, while policymakers and the public have grappled with more immediate questions regarding U.S. intervention in Somalia, Bosnia, and elsewhere. Today as never before, understanding the nature of ethnic and communal conflict is important for both intellectual and practical reasons. This roundtable will allow Council members to discuss these topics and hear presentations by leading researchers in the field.
February 1, 1999—April 1, 1999
| Director: | Elizabeth Neuffer, 1998-99 Edward R. Murrow Press Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations |
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This roundtable examined what the aims of post-war justice should be and how the institutions set up to deliver justice have succeeded or failed in meeting those expectations. Participants and speakers drew on victims’ accounts, the work of legal scholars, aid workers and the military to help explore what post-war justice can accomplish. Questions included: is ‘justice’ better delivered by a local court than by an international court?; does it have more impact if it is delivered in the form of truth-telling, rather than a court of law?; and how do other forces involved in post-war reconciliation, like business investment, play a role in spurring justice along? Speakers included Alexander L. Boraine, Aryeh Neier, William L. Nash, USA (Ret.), Diane Paul, and Gabrielle Kirk McDonald. Elizabeth Neuffer is writing a book on post-war justice issues in Bosnia and Rwanda.
June 1, 1999—June 30, 2001
The Indian nuclear tests in 1998 underscored the deep rift in the relationship between the United States and India. As a new century of America’s economic and strategic interests in Asia begins, it is difficult to see how the United States can pursue its ambitions in the region without involving India. In an effort to examine the potential for improving U.S.-India relations, the Council on Foreign Relations and the Asia Society have convened a set of participants from various fields, bringing fresh perspectives on U.S. goals and strategies for future relations with India. Three fundamental questions were examined during the roundtable series. What are the basic assumptions, both U.S. and Indian, underlying the relationship? Where do these assumptions converge and diverge? How can leaders formulate better policies to address the areas of divergence and to build on the areas of convergence? The roundtable produced a detailed memorandum of policy for President Clinton for his March visit to India, and its co-chairs participated in the president's briefing by experts. Op-eds were published in the Los Angeles Times and India Today. The co-chairs also took charge of or participated in a range of briefings for the press and academic and business audiences. It will continue to work on developing policy advice for the next administration.
October 1, 1999—August 1, 2000
| Director: | Marine Lieut. Gen. (ret.) Bernard E. Trainor |
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This roundtable examined the military and political lessons drawn from the recent air war over former Yugoslavia. The sudden end of the Kosovo crisis hampered serious analysis about the use of force as an element of diplomacy and foreign policy in future crises, leaving crucial questions about the nature of military intervention and coercive diplomacy unanswered.
The roundtable focused on four major issues surrounding the air war: the role of air power as the new American way of war; the true effectiveness of the air campaign; collateral damage and effects of force protection on strategy and tactics; and the future of coalition warfare and the use of force for coercive diplomacy. The roundtable brought together members and experts in Washington, D.C., to discuss these issues.
October 1, 1999—July 1, 2002
| Director: | Mahesh K. Kotecha |
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| Chair: | Maurice Tempelsman |
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December 1, 1999—June 1, 2000
| Director: | Astrid S. Tuminez |
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This roundtable focuses on the evolution of Russian nationalism, especially in the context of the 1999 Duma elections and the June 2000 presidential elections. What definitions of Russian national identity and national mission will dominate Russian political discourse, and how will this discourse define the role of the United States or the collective "West" in Russia’s further evolution? To what extent do Russian nationalist ideas influence, and to what extent are they influenced by, the relationship between ethnic Russians and non-Russians in the Russian Federation? Is nationalism ehlping to stabilize or destabilize center-periphery relations in Rusia? Finally, the roundtable assesses the impact of nationalism on specific areas of U.S.-Russian relations and explores the influence of western policies on the empowerment of benign or more aggressive strands of nationalism in Russia.
Contact: Leonardo Arriola, 212-434-9683, larriola@cfr.org
October 1, 1999—June 1, 2000
This roundtable is examining the relationship between domestic considerations and U.S. foreign policy during the upcoming presidential election year. The goal of the roundtable is to provide a systematic set of policy lessons about
how to interpret and manage the domestic political terrain of U.S. foreign policy. Topics for discussion include the policy implications of democratic peace theory, the identification of foreign policy leadership in the United States, and the perception of domestic-international connections in the United States by other countries. The end product of this roundtable will be a written piece by the project director.
Contact: Leonardo Arriola, 212-434-9683 or larriola@cfr.org
February 1, 1999—April 1, 1999
This series of three roundtable meetings was designed to explore competitive impulses and mutual perceptions between China and Japan, and the resulting implications for the United States -- particularly in the fields of U.S. national security and diplomacy in Asia. The first two sessions looked separately at Chinese and Japanese perspectives on these issues. The third session explored the results of and prospects for a bilateral Chinese-Japanese security dialogue and trilateral dialogue including the United States. Speakers and commentators in this series included Bonnie Glaser, Mike Mochizuki, Patrick Cronin, Bates Gill, James Przystup, and Ronald Montaperto. Discussions provided background for a paper written by Neil Silver.
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.
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 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.