Research Projects
Below you will find a chronological list of research projects in the Studies Program. 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.
Asia (continued)
Director: Bénédicte Callan
November 1, 1996—December 1, 1997
Rising wages, attempts to enter higher value-added industries, and pressures to open and deregulate markets have created new political and economic tensions in Asia that led to, and continue in the wake of, the 1997 financial crisis. For example, Japan is mired in recession, South Korea is attempting to restructure its largest corporations in the face of high labor costs, and Southeast Asian countries are slowly recovering from financial collapse. This roundtable consisted of a series of meetings on the current economic challenges facing East Asian economies. Meetings focused generally on domestic economic problems and the progress of integration in Asian markets and regional organizations. Sessions targeted younger scholars and practitioners.
Director: Bruce Stokes
April 1, 1997—October 1, 1997
The Asia-Capitol Hill Roundtable, launched in conjunction with several congressional offices, facilitated interaction between experts in the field and Hill staff aides responsible for framing legislation on Asia issues. The roundtable sessions dealt with a range of Asia-related concerns on the Washington policy agenda, including the U.S.-Japan alliance and China's bid to join the World Trade Organization. These roundtables have been folded into the Council's broader Congress and U.S. Foreign Policy program.
Director: James J. Shinn
Chairs: Robert B. Zoellick, and Jeffrey E. Garten
November 1, 1996—June 1, 1997
Commercial diplomacy--especially toward Asia, where the governments of the United States, Japan, and Europe are competing for their share of Asia's roughly $1 trillion in imports--is in the political spotlight. A bipartisan study group on American Commercial Diplomacy in Asia tackled questions such as: Should the U.S. government engage in commercial diplomacy? What is the national interest rationale? Does commercial diplomacy get in the way of other American foreign policy goals in Asia? How much money and effort does the Federal government actually spend on commercial diplomacy? What works well, and what is a waste? And what do the Japanese and the Europeans do on the commercial diplomacy front? A series of papers by experts was commissioned to inform the discussions, including: J. David Richardson of the Institute for International Economics, "Why Exports Are Worth Promoting"; David J. Rothkopf of Kissinger Associates, "On the Short Life and Impending Decline of Commercial Diplomacy"; and former U.S. Ambassadors Robert L. Barry, Donald P. Gregg, and John Wolf who shared the country-level view in Asia of ort in the summer of 1997.
Directors: Jeffrey A. Reinke, Chief of Staff to the President, Jacqui Selbst Schein, and Nancy Yao
Staff: Elizabeth C. Economy, C.V. Starr Senior Fellow and Director for Asia Studies
April 1, 1997
One of the most salient characteristics of China today is the transitional nature of its economy. Its operations in many areas of business relations suffer from the incomplete nature of its legal system, the vagaries of domestic politics, and the complex interrelationship between Chinese business and political entities. "From Bicycles to Beepers" explored issues such as: What are the recent changes in legal reform, banking, and securities? How is Beijing molding Shanghai to be China's financial center in 2000? How do investments differ from province to province? U.S. Secretary for Agriculture Daniel R. Glickman delivered the keynote address, and seminar and workshop topics were led by U.S. and Chinese experts from the business, law and government sectors on topics including the future of U.S.-China trade relations, legal reform, joint ventures and strategic alliances, pharmaceuticals, textiles and manufacturing, telecommunications, and aviation.
Director: Bruce Stokes
Chairs: Harold Brown, and Richard L. Armitage, President, Armitage International, L.C.
October 1, 1996—December 1, 1996
Events such as the rape incident in Okinawa and subsequent demands for a reduction in the U.S. military presence in Japan have called into question the long-term stability of the security alliance between the two nations. This study group examined what combination of external threats and internal politics could result in major changes in the security relationship. This group, composed of U.S. and Japanese specialists, studied a set of papers on regional threats to the alliance -- including problems on the Korean peninsula or in the Taiwan Straits and problems internal to the United States and Japan, such as congressional demands for greater Japanese burden-sharing and shifts in political power in Japan -- to assess their impact on the security relationship. In addition to the four formal study group meetings, a dinner meeting was held with Masahide Ota, Governor of Okinawa, to discuss the future of U.S. bases on that island, and a special meeting of the study group was held in Los Angeles to include West Coast Council members with a Pacific orientation. The group's report, The Tests of War and the Strains of Peace, was published in 1998.
Chair: Michel Oksenberg
Staff: Elizabeth C. Economy, C.V. Starr Senior Fellow and Director for Asia Studies
November 1, 1995—October 1, 1996
This study group evaluated Chinese participation in a range of international regimes and assessed the implications of its behavior for U.S. policy interests, focusing on ten issue areas of critical importance to the United States: human rights, telecommunications, environment, energy, security, the United Nations, civil aviation, legal reform, trade and investment, and banking and finance. The study group report, Shaping U.S.-China Relations: A Long-Term Strategy, sheds light both on the continuity in Chinese leaders' overarching foreign policy goals, strategies, and tactics and on the changes China has made in adapting its domestic institutions and policies to the demands of the international community. It articulates the ways in which the U.S. administration's policy of constructive engagement has influenced Chinese behavior at the domestic and international levels, and provides a set of recommendations as to whether the United States and its allies should continue to pursue this policy, how it might be modified to better serve U.S. interests, and whether an alternative policy altogether would be more effective. An edited volume with all ten case studies will be published in fall 1997.
Fellows: Daniel Markey, Senior Fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia, and Joshua Kurlantzick, Fellow for Southeast Asia
Director: Elizabeth C. Economy, C.V. Starr Senior Fellow and Director for Asia Studies
Fellows: Adam Segal, Maurice R. Greenberg Senior Fellow for China Studies, Sheila A. Smith, Senior Fellow for Japan Studies, Jerome A. Cohen, Adjunct Senior Fellow for Asia Studies, and Yanzhong Huang, Senior Fellow for Global Health
Asia will play an increasingly leading role on the international stage in this century. Some of the most pressing issues in East, South, and Central Asia--the rapid economic rise of China and India, North Korea's nuclear program, slowly warming relations between nuclear-armed rivals Pakistan and India, the potential for conflict between China and Taiwan, Japan's adjustments to its changing economic fortunes, and the ongoing attempts to rebuild Afghanistan--will significantly affect the course of global events.
Director: Stephen Sestanovich, George F. Kennan Senior Fellow for Russian and Eurasian Studies
October 1, 2001—Present
The Kennan Roundtable is an on-going series of meetings that focus on the major policy questions posed by changing U.S. relationships with Russia and the former Soviet states of Eurasia. Whether measured by the near-alliance between Presidents Bush and Putin, the establishment of bases in Central Asia, or Ukraine's decision to seek NATO membership, there has been significant enhancement of these relationships since September 11. Understanding their durability and direction is the principal aim.
Meetings examine areas of expanding cooperation, such as Moscow's unfolding energy strategy and the security of sensitive nuclear materials. We will also look at emerging areas of discord. In the case of Russia, these include the tensions associated with its recurrent pressures on Georgia; in the case of Ukraine and Central Asia, the continuing emphasis placed by U.S. policy on democratization and human rights.
Over the last two decades, democratization and liberal economic reform have swept Northeast Asia. The impact on regional foreign policies and international relations, however, may not be entirely what American policymakers hoped for as they pressed for these changes. In Taiwan and South Korea, democracy has opened new opportunities for American diplomacy, but it has also introduced new and sometimes dangerous variables. Taiwan’s “identity politics” have complicated U.S. relations with China. And the rise of a new generation in South Korea, with very different views of North Korea and represented by a more assertive government, has limited Washington’s room for maneuver in dealing with Pyongyang. China has not “democratized,” but the government finds it increasingly difficult to control and contain popular nationalist sentiments. And although political reform in Japan has enabled a closer alliance with the United States, there too, popular politics is facilitating the reemergence of nationalist forces. Dealing effectively with the new governments of East Asia will require a new understanding of the opportunities and challenges posed by the political and economic transformations underway there.
This project will result in a book that will assess the region’s new political, economic, and social geography and the implications for the American policy.
Director: Adam Segal, Maurice R. Greenberg Senior Fellow for China Studies
May 1, 2005—July 31, 2010
This series assesses innovation and technological entrepreneurship in Asia, evaluates the impact of emerging technological capabilities on American economic, political, and military power, and recommends policies designed to ensure continued U.S. technological superiority.
Staff: Elizabeth C. Economy, C.V. Starr Senior Fellow and Director for Asia Studies
September 1, 2002—December 31, 2004
China’s diplomatic offensive in Southeast Asia is a source of growing concern within the U.S. policy community. While advocates of a China threat scenario have long argued that China desires regional hegemony, even more sanguine policy analysts are now taking notice of China’s recent advances in the region. This study group will address several important questions:
What is the nature of China’s economic, security, and political diplomacy in the region?
What issues outside security and trade and investment shape China’s relations with Southeast Asian countries (e.g. drugs, environment, health, migration and the overseas Chinese communities)?
How has China’s more proactive policy been received by the various Southeast Asian states?
What are the potential areas for cooperation and conflict between the United States and China in the region?
What role does Japan play? And how do U.S. relations with Japan affect U.S.-China relations?
How is the U.S. war against terrorism changing the political dynamics in the region, offering greater or lesser opportunities for each of the three powers—China, Japan, and the U.S.—to strengthen its position?
After two study group meetings and a two-week trip to Southeast Asia, the project director will produce an article for publication addressing these issues.
Chair: Kenneth Lieberthal
Staff: Adam Segal, Maurice R. Greenberg Senior Fellow for China Studies
January 1, 2003—June 30, 2004
This study group drew attention to the unraveling of the bipartisan consensus that Chinese economic development is good for U.S. security; provided a framework for assessing what security benefits and risks the United States can expect from its future economic relations with China; and described what the end of this consensus means for U.S. policy toward China, and Asia in general.
With the resulting analysis the project director wrote a policy article, which provided brief descriptions of the security benefits that Chinese economic growth was expected to bring to the United States, outlined the security critique of U.S.-China economic relations, and addressed the integration and interaction of economic and security issues in the Sino-U.S. relationship.
Staff: Elizabeth C. Economy, C.V. Starr Senior Fellow and Director for Asia Studies
November 1, 1994—June 1, 2000
This series provided an opportunity for Council members to hear prominent speakers and to discuss the full range of issues that define the U.S. relationship with China. speakers in the 1999-2000 program year included: Stephen E. Flynn, Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations, and Commander, U.S. Coast Guard; Bikhim Hsiao, Director of the Department of International Affairs, Democratic Progressive Party of Taiwan; Peter Kwong, Director, Asian American Studies, and Professor of Sociology, Hunter College; Sheri Xiaoyi Liao, President, Global Village of Beijing, and Producer, "Time for Environment," China Central Television; Ma Ying-Jeou, Mayor, Taipei City; Michel Oksenberg, Senior Fellow, Asia-Pacific Research Center, Stanford University; Michael Pillsbury, Visiting Fellow, National Defense University; James Stapleton Roy, Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research; and Song Yongyi, Librarian, Dickinson College.
Staff: James M. Goldgeier, Dean, School of International Service, American University
July 1, 2004—June 30, 2005
This series provides a forum for policy experts, U.S. and foreign government officials, and journalists to discuss specific items on the G8 agenda and to assess the progress being made in achieving the goals set forth at the June 2004 summit meeting.
September 1, 2002—Present
This series invites scholars, policymakers, and leaders to discuss a wide range of issues related to social, political, and economic development, women's empowerment, and education.
Staff: Elizabeth C. Economy, C.V. Starr Senior Fellow and Director for Asia Studies
September 1, 2002—December 31, 2004
China’s diplomatic offensive in Southeast Asia is a source of growing concern within the U.S. policy community. While advocates of a China threat scenario have long argued that China desires regional hegemony, even more sanguine policy analysts are now taking notice of China’s recent advances in the region. This study group will address several important questions:
What is the nature of China’s economic, security, and political diplomacy in the region?
What issues outside security and trade and investment shape China’s relations with Southeast Asian countries (e.g. drugs, environment, health, migration and the overseas Chinese communities)?
How has China’s more proactive policy been received by the various Southeast Asian states?
What are the potential areas for cooperation and conflict between the United States and China in the region?
What role does Japan play? And how do U.S. relations with Japan affect U.S.-China relations?
How is the U.S. war against terrorism changing the political dynamics in the region, offering greater or lesser opportunities for each of the three powers—China, Japan, and the U.S.—to strengthen its position?
After two study group meetings and a two-week trip to Southeast Asia, the project director will produce an article for publication addressing these issues.
Director: David L. Phillips, Executive Director, The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity
Chair: Dennis C. Blair, Former Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Command
August 1, 2002—May 1, 2003
There is only one way to avoid further conflict in the remote and impoverished, yet resource-rich, Indonesian province of Papua: Give it greater self-governance and a stake in the development of its vast natural wealth. Failure to prevent conflict in Papua would likely cause a spiral of deadly violence destabilizing Indonesia. This is the central conclusion of the Council’s Indonesia Commission: Peace and Progress in Papua.
Chaired by Admiral Dennis C. Blair, former Commander-in-Chief of the United States Pacific Command, the Commission recommends concrete steps international stakeholders can take to encourage full and effective implementation of the Special Autonomy Law, which promises substantial portions of the province’s wealth to Papuans.
Enacted by the Indonesian authorities, it was never put into force. The Commission argues that power-sharing represents a win-win situation: Special Autonomy preserves Indonesia’s territorial integrity while advancing the needs of Papuans. The report also identifies a pro-active role for the international community via new mechanisms for donor and policy coordination.
Director: Calvin Sims
Chair: Stanley Roth, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, U.S. Department of State
July 1, 2002—February 28, 2003
The recent rise in radical Islamic movements in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim country, has caused grave concern in the United States, which claims that some of Indonesia’s religious militants have ties to al Qaeda. Indonesia, a vast archipelago of rampant poverty, porous borders, and little rule of law, is considered a fertile breeding ground for radical Islamic movements. This research project will examine the roots and the causes of expansion of Islamic extremism in Indonesia and its impact on Indonesia’s democratization and economic recovery. No government can begin to address extremism without first understanding where it comes from and what feeds it. Comprehending the political, social, and economic underpinnings of Indonesia’s religious militants is crucial to formulating effective policies to deal with them and avoiding potentially costly mistakes.
This analysis will serve as a basis to formulate appropriate policy measures that the United States can take to counter these radical groups. The main sources of research and information for this project will come from extensive reporting in Indonesia and the United States. There will be one or two trips to Indonesia to conduct in-depth interviews with religious scholars, government and military officials, and leaders and disciples of several radical Islamic groups.
A study group will be convened to guide the project director in his research goals, serve as a “sounding board” of ideas, and critique and comment on draft sections as they are being written. The project director will write a major article to be published in a policy journal. Research from this project may also appear in op-eds in the mass media.
Director: Bruce Stokes
Chairs: Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), and Rep. Amory Houghton (R-N.Y.)
July 1, 1998—July 31, 2000
U.S.–Japan economic relations face growing friction. Japan’s trade surplus with the United States, always a political problem, is at record levels. Yet these two economic colossi are becoming ever more integrated, creating systemic friction because of differing regulatory systems and philosophies about markets. Based on the experience of the Bush Administration’s Strategic Impediment Initiative and the Clinton Administration’s Framework talks, this study group sought to develop a new paradigm for U.S.–Japan economic negotiation, focusing on macroeconomic issues, regulatory reform, sector-specific problems, and a political dialogue. Bruce Stokes published a short paper informed by the group’s deliberations.
Director: Steven A. Cook, Hasib J. Sabbagh Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies
July 1, 2004—Present
Since September 11, 2001, U.S.-Middle East policy has sought to promote reform in the Arab and Islamic World as a U.S. national security priority. This roundtable series sheds light on the complex issues that the countries of the Middle East present and explores the different avenues available to U.S. policymakers seeking to promote change in that region. By drawing on the experience of a variety of speakers with particular expertise on social, political, and economic reform, women's issues, education, and the media, this roundtable series intends to enrich the current debate on reform promotion in the Arab world with a range of top-tier perspectives and policy recommendations in an informal discussion setting.
CFR Experts Guide
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.
