home > the think tank > tanusmes > publications
November 5, 2009
Op-Ed
Washington Post
Ray Takeyh writes that the Iranian administration is diverting attention to its nuclear program as a way to avoid scrutiny of its attempts to squash democratic dissent within Iran.
See more in Iran, Democracy and Human Rights, Proliferation
November 3, 2009
Op-Ed
Financial Times
"General Stanley McChrystal's plan to pursue counterinsurgency in the countryside is a bridge too far," write Steve Simon and Charles Kupchan, arguing, instead, that Afghanistan policy should be focused on establishing control in strategic locations.
See more in Afghanistan, Wars and Warfare, Conflict Assessment, U.S. Strategy and Politics
October 20, 2009
Article
The New Republic
Stephen Biddle argues that "there is no magic middle way between the McChrystal recommendation and total withdrawal that offers comparable odds at lower cost" in Afghanistan.
See more in Afghanistan, Wars and Warfare
October 14, 2009
Testimony
Stephen Biddle testifies before the U.S. House Committee on Armed Services on the options before the U.S. in Afghanistan.
See more in United States, Afghanistan, Defense Strategy, National Security and Defense
October 7, 2009
Op-Ed
The Boston Globe
Ray Takeyh writes that although the Obama administration's diplomacy has not always yielded the desired results, it is crucial to building international support for American policies.
See more in International Peace and Security, Diplomacy, U.S. Strategy and Politics
October-November 2009
Article
International Institute for Strategic Studies
Steven Cook discusses the political instability in Turkey and its implications for peace in the Middle East.
See more in Turkey, Middle East, International Peace and Security
September 27, 2009
Op-Ed
Washington Post
Ray Takeyh writes "for the Obama administration, which has made engaging with adversarial states a principle of its foreign policy, one of the biggest challenges will not be a belligerent Iran, but a disingenuous one."
See more in Iran, Proliferation
September 16, 2009
Testimony
Stephen Biddle testifies before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on the case for war in Afghanistan.
See more in United States, Afghanistan, Defense Strategy, National Security and Defense
August 2009
Other Report
Egypt is now entering a period of political transition with the expectation that President Hosni Mubarak's almost twenty-eight-year tenure will shortly come to an end. This Center for Preventive Action Contingency Planning Memorandum assesses the possibility of a troubled leadership succession or an Islamist push for political power, the implications for the United States, and policy steps the U.S. government might take depending on what it determines as its broader policy objectives in Egypt.
See more in Egypt
July 13, 2009
Op-Ed
Huffington Post
Isobel Coleman and Congressman Steve Israel discuss solar villages.
See more in Energy/Environment
July 13, 2009
Op-Ed
New York Times
Steven Simon discusses the investigation into twenty Americans who are believed to have joined a militant Islamist group in Somalia.
See more in Somalia, United States, Havens for Terrorism
July/August 2009
Foreign Affairs Article — Summary
Two new books offer insightful analyses of how to succeed in Afghanistan.
See more in Afghanistan, Wars and Warfare
June 19, 2009
Expert Brief
In the next military budget Congress must provide funding for a wholesale shift toward counterinsurgency to win two wars. At the same time, policymakers must be mindful of the need for another transformation to anticipate future wars.
See more in United States, Defense Policy & Budget, Counterterrorism
July - August 2009
Article
American Interest
Stephen Biddle writes that the war in Afghanistan "is now poised to become perhaps the most controversial and divisive issue in U.S. defense policy."
See more in Afghanistan, Wars and Warfare, U.S. Strategy and Politics
June 9, 2009
Op-Ed
Foreign Policy
Steven A. Cook explores the question, "Why haven't the Israelis attacked Iran's nuclear facilities?"
See more in Iran, Israel, U.S. Strategy and Politics
May 31, 2009
Op-Ed
Washington Post
Steven A. Cook discusses President Obama's speech in Cairo.
See more in Middle East, Egypt, U.S. Strategy and Politics
May 2009
Other Report
Iraq is currently in the early stages of a negotiated end to an intense ethnosectarian war. As such, there are several contingencies in which recent, mostly positive trends in Iraq could be reversed, threatening U.S. national interests. This Center for Preventive Action Contingency Planning Memorandum by Stephen Biddle assesses four interrelated scenarios in Iraq that could derail the prospects for peace and stability in the short to medium term and posits concrete policy options to limit U.S. vulnerability to the possibility of such reversals.
See more in Iraq, U.S. Strategy and Politics
May 2009
Book
For over a quarter-century, Iran has been one of America's chief nemeses. But as Ray Takeyh shows in this accessible and authoritative history of Iran's relations with the world since the revolution, behind the famous personalities and extremist slogans is a nation that is far more pragmatic—and complex—than many in the West have been led to believe.
See more in Iran, U.S. Strategy and Politics
April 2, 2009
Op-Ed
Middle East Bulletin
Steven A. Cook examines the decline in popular support for Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan's Justice and Development Party.
Updated: April 7, 2009
Expert Brief
CFR Senior Fellow Steven A. Cook argues that in an era of diminished resources for the United States, Turkey can play a critical and constructive role in the Middle East.
See more in Turkey, Middle East, International Peace and Security
The David Rockefeller Studies Program is CFR’s “think tank.” Its work is integral to achieving CFR’s goal of contributing to the foreign policy debate. Fellows in the Studies Program do this by researching, writing, and commenting on the most important challenges facing the United States and the world.
The diplomatic storm over Iran's nuclear program continues to build. While experts say an Iranian bomb is years off, the program itself raises concern over the prospect of nuclear terrorism.
CFR.org tracks foreign policy, national and homeland security, immigration, and international economics in the presidential race on its Campaign 2008 site.
Hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah may have ended, but the Middle Eastern conflict continues to fester.
Read More:
Copyright 2009 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.