The United States is faced with an array of serious challenges in the Middle East, perhaps unprecedented in the past fifty years. An attempt to provoke a revolutionary change in the Middle East has collapsed with a large U.S. land army lodged in the heart of the region. The United States now confronts a Middle East that features an imploding Iraqi state, an aggressive Islamic Republic about to cross the nuclear threshold and a Palestinian state broken into two failed entities.

The Roundtable on the U.S. and Middle East will seek to develop strategies for the next administration. Should the United States attempt to recoup its position by pressing forward, albeit more prudently and with international cooperation, or should the United States go "back to the future," and place "stability over freedom," to use President Bush's phrase? Is it time to create an alliance with Sunnis to stave off the immediate threat of Iranian encroachment? What should the United States' grand strategy be in the Middle East? These and other questions will be the focus of monthly discussions.

This roundtable series brings together policymakers, scholars, and journalists to explore current policy challenges that have both economic and national security dimensions.

Made possible by the generosity of the Henry Luce Foundation. Areas to be addressed in roundtables would, depending to some degree on events, include topics such as the role of religion in U.S.-Iranian relations, religion and identity in the Caucasus, Turkey and the West, trends in Hindu nationalism, Islam and democracy in Indonesia, and a look at the activities of American evangelicals in Africa.

This roundtable series focuses on issues that influence U.S. defense policy, such as the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, civil-military relations, and debates about the transformation of the U.S. military and the future of warfare. It is made possible by the generous support of Roger Hertog.

This series hosts ministers of education from developing countries, who come to speak about the current state of their education sectors, the reforms they are enacting, and their progress in achieving the Education for All goals. Recent speakers have included Ministers of Education from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Kenya.

Exploring the future expansion of nuclear energy in the United States and internationally, the Nuclear Energy Project runs a roundtable series devoted to global nuclear power, with emphasis on economics, climate change, and nonproliferation. The roundtables support research for a Council Special Report on Nuclear Energy Policy.

Part of CFR's Renewing America initiative and made possible by the generosity of the Bernard and Irene Schwartz Foundation, this roundtable series brings high-level attention to issues that affect the competitiveness of the U.S. economy. Meetings have addressed issues such as reform of the U.S. corporate tax system, the effectiveness of the WTO dispute settlement process, and the U.S. approach to inward and outbound foreign investment.

This meeting series is designed to bring Council members together in a small seminar environment to discuss new and innovative thinking at the intersection of economics and foreign policy.

The advisory council has been instrumental in establishing the endowed chair for Women and Foreign Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). Founded by Jewelle Bickford, senior managing director at Rothschild North America Inc., its members include leaders from the business, nonprofit, and philanthropic sectors throughout the country who have a keen interest in issues related to U.S. foreign policy toward women in developing countries. If you would like more information about the advisory council, please contact Dr. Coleman at icoleman@cfr.org or Ms. Ashley Harden, at aharden@cfr.org.

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.