Council on Foreign Relations

Lefteris Partsalis/Xinhua via Getty Images

Europe Needs a Response to China’s Belt and Road

China’s initiative could undermine European unity and jeopardize transatlantic cooperation. The European Union should provide alternatives for infrastructure investment.

Blog Post by Jennifer Hillman and Alex Tippett April 27, 2021 The Internationalist

China

China’s Massive Belt and Road Initiative

China’s colossal infrastructure investments may usher in a new era of trade and growth for economies in Asia and beyond. But skeptics worry that China is laying a debt trap for borrowing governments.

Backgrounder by Andrew Chatzky and James McBride January 28, 2020

China

Belt and Road’s Implications for the United States

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature foreign policy undertaking and the world’s largest infrastructure program, poses a significant challenge to U.S. economic, political, climate change, security, and global health interests.

Task Force Report by Jacob Lew, Gary Roughead, Jennifer Hillman and David Sacks March 23, 2021

Coronavirus

Adnan Abidi/Reuters

Coronavirus

India’s COVID-19 Crisis Is What the World Feared

The country is suffering the world’s largest COVID-19 surge, and the effects are reverberating globally. Images from New Delhi to Bengaluru show the tremendous toll.

Article by Claire Felter and Sabine Baumgartner April 27, 2021

A Country Gasping for Air

via Foreign Affairs April 28, 2021

Pharmaceuticals and Vaccines

A Guide to Global COVID-19 Vaccine Efforts

Only a year after the new coronavirus emerged, the first vaccines to protect against it are being administered. But production challenges, vaccine nationalism, and new virus strains are all presenting hurdles.

Backgrounder by Claire Felter April 27, 2021

Northern Ireland

Will Brexit Undermine Peace in Northern Ireland?

The Good Friday Agreement has dampened sectarian tensions and brought stability to Northern Ireland, but Brexit border arrangements and growing dissatisfaction are throwing the region’s hard-won gains into doubt.

Backgrounder by Charles Landow and James McBride April 23, 2021

What Is Behind the Violence in Northern Ireland?

via BBC April 14, 2021

European Union

What’s in the EU-UK Brexit Deal?

The European Union and the United Kingdom came to a last-minute trade deal on Christmas Eve, narrowly averting the hardest of all potential Brexits. But major uncertainty remains.

In Brief by Matthias Matthijs December 28, 2020

Food and Water Security

The Growing Global Challenge of Water Stress

Water scarcity threatens the health and development of communities around the globe. Climate change is intensifying the problem, pushing governments to find more innovative, collaborative ways to address water stress.

Backgrounder by Claire Felter and Kali Robinson April 22, 2021

Food and Water Security

Rising Hunger: Facing a Food-Insecure World

Global food insecurity has surged amid the coronavirus pandemic, threatening to worsen humanitarian crises and spur further mass migration.

Article by Amelia Cheatham, Claire Felter and Sabine Baumgartner September 21, 2020

Health

Let’s Talk About Toilets

Fifty-five percent of the global population lacks access to safe sanitation, a deadly global health disparity that rarely finds its way into the spotlight. In this episode, we examine the scope of the problem, and the cultural challenges that have made it surprisingly difficult to fix.

Podcast with Gabrielle Sierra, Tom Slaymaker, Sangita Vyas and Brooke Yamakoshi November 11, 2020 Why It Matters

Myanmar

Southeast Asia

How ASEAN’s Summit Could Impact the Crisis in Myanmar

Blog Post by Joshua Kurlantzick April 26, 2021 Asia Unbound

Southeast Asia

What Is ASEAN?

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is a regional organization that brings together disparate neighbors to address economic, security, and political issues, but the group’s impact remains limited.

Backgrounder by Lindsay Maizland and Eleanor Albert November 24, 2020

ASEAN Must Use Weekend Summit to Save Myanmar

via Nikkei April 23, 2021

Central Africa

Chad

The Unfolding Consequences of Deby’s Death

Blog Post by Michelle Gavin April 22, 2021 Africa in Transition

Chad

Deby’s Death Heightens Uncertainty in Chad

Blog Post by John Campbell April 21, 2021 Africa in Transition

Transition 2021

Event: How to Approach Sub-Saharan Africa

Panelists discuss U.S. policy priorities in Sub-Saharan Africa and what changes to expect from the Biden administration. The Transition 2021 series examines the major foreign policy issues confronting the Biden administration.

Webinar with Johnnie Carson, Michelle Gavin and Monde Muyangwa April 20, 2021 Transition 2021

Events
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Public Health Threats and Pandemics

C. Peter McColough Series on International Economics With Lawrence H. Summers

Lawrence H. Summers discusses the U.S. economic recovery, the Biden administration's stimulus and infrastructure plans, possible inflation risks, and the implications for the global economy. The C. Peter McColough Series on International Economics brings the world's foremost economic policymakers and scholars to address members on current topics in international economics and U.S. monetary policy. This meeting series is presented by the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies.

Virtual Event with Lawrence H. Summers April 21, 2021 C. Peter McColough Series on International Economics

Transition 2021

Event: How to Approach Sub-Saharan Africa

Webinar with Johnnie Carson, Michelle Gavin and Monde Muyangwa April 20, 2021 Transition 2021

Economics

What Future for Capitalism in America?

On behalf of the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies (CGS) at the Council on Foreign Relations, I am pleased to invite you to an upcoming meeting of the Roundtable Series on International Finance, “What Future for Capitalism in America? Anne Case, professor emeritus of economics and public affairs at Princeton University, and co-author, most recently, of Deaths of Despair and The Future of Capitalism, discuss the policy challenges America faces in maintaining a commitment to private enterprise and open global markets while improving living standards and opportunities for its less well-off.

Webinar with Anne C. Case April 16, 2021

China

A Conversation With State Councilor Wang Yi of China

State Councilor Wang Yi discusses China's foreign and domestic policies, including the impact of COVID-19 and the future of relations with the United States.

Virtual Event with Wang Yi April 23, 2021

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Alyssa Ayres

Adjunct Senior Fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia

Asia India Emerging Markets

Our Time Has Come

Book January 4, 2018

Steven A. Cook

Eni Enrico Mattei Senior Fellow for Middle East and Africa Studies and Director of the International Affairs Fellowship for Tenured International Relations Scholars

Middle East and North Africa Turkey Arab Spring

How Erdogan Got His Groove Back

Article April 15, 2021 Middle East Program

Joshua Kurlantzick

Senior Fellow for Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia Asia Democracy

How ASEAN’s Summit Could Impact the Crisis in Myanmar

Blog Post April 26, 2021 Asia Unbound

How the World Has Learned to Grieve in a Pandemic

Rising Hunger: Facing a Food-Insecure World

The Coronavirus Pandemic, With Tom Bollyky

China’s Repression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang

Health How the World Has Learned to Grieve in a Pandemic

This Webby-nominated feature takes a look at how grieving practices worldwide have been shaped by the pandemic.

Food and Water Security Rising Hunger: Facing a Food-Insecure World

Global food insecurity has surged amid the coronavirus pandemic, threatening to worsen humanitarian crises and spur further mass migration.

Public Health Threats and Pandemics The Coronavirus Pandemic, With Tom Bollyky

Thomas J. Bollyky, director of CFR’s Global Health program and senior fellow for global health, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the World Health Organization’s newly declared pandemic, COVID-19.

Conflict Prevention Conflicts to Watch in 2021

In CFR’s annual Preventive Priorities Survey, U.S. foreign policy experts assess the likelihood and impact of thirty potential conflicts that could emerge or escalate in the coming year.

China China’s Repression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang

More than a million Muslims have been arbitrarily detained in China’s Xinjiang region. The reeducation camps are just one part of the government’s crackdown on Uyghurs.

Experts in the News

Richard N. Haass

Haass: The Costs of Staying in Afghanistan Are Far Less Than the Costs of Leaving

Via MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Reports April 21, 2021

Daniel Kurtz-Phelan

Kurtz-Phelan: The U.S. Must Bring a More Competitive Edge to the Battle With China

Via Bloomberg Surveillance April 20, 2021

Gayle Tzemach Lemmon

Lemmon: Women’s Equality Was Launched on the Ashes of the Fight Against ISIS

Via FOX & Friends April 3, 2021

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Featured Publications

Wars and Conflict

Nonstate Warfare

Stephen Biddle explains how nonstate military strategies overturn traditional perspectives on warfare.

Book by Stephen Biddle April 6, 2021 National Security and Defense Program

China

The United States, China, and Taiwan: A Strategy to Prevent War

To preserve peace in the Taiwan Strait, Robert D. Blackwill and Philip Zelikow propose the United States make clear that it will not change Taiwan’s status, yet will work with allies to plan for Chinese aggression and help Taiwan defend itself.

Council Special Report by Robert D. Blackwill and Philip Zelikow February 11, 2021 U.S. Foreign Policy Program

Iran

The Last Shah

Ray Takeyh provides new interpretations of many key events—including the 1953 coup against Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadeq and the rise of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini—significantly revising our understanding of the United States’ and Iran’s complex and difficult history.

Book by Ray Takeyh January 26, 2021

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Explainers

Experts in the News

Featured Publications

Events
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