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United States

U.S. lawmakers are racing to negotiate an increase to the debt limit before the Treasury Department runs out of money to pay the nation’s bills. This Backgrounder explains what’s at stake.

United States

A U.S. default would send a shock through the global economy and risk the credibility of the U.S. dollar.  It would also alarm U.S. allies while presenting a gift to its adversaries.

Budget, Debt, and Deficits

After years of steadily increasing debt, emergency spending in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has taken U.S. debt to levels not seen since World War II.   
United States

United States

Here are the stories of five Americans who were awarded the Medal of Honor.

 

2022 in Review

As 2022 comes to a close, here are ten Americans we lost this year who made a mark in foreign policy.  
G7 (Group of Seven)

 

Japan

Prime Minister Kishida Fumio hosts the G7 summit as an outspoken champion of the rules-based international order. Japan hopes to galvanize support and recognition of its own security concerns in the Indo-Pacific as well.

Diplomacy and International Institutions

The Group of Seven (G7) serves as a forum to coordinate global policy, but experts are increasingly questioning the group’s relevance.
Sudan

Sudan

As armed conflict rages on, Sudan’s devastating humanitarian crisis continues to worsen. More than one million people could flee to neighboring countries, threatening regional upheaval.

Sudan

Amid protracted conflict in Sudan, the United States should work to lower the temperature amongst external actors, and support Sudanese citizens, who remain steadfast in their aspirations for a civilian-led government.  

 

National Security

Diamonstein-Spielvogel Project on the Future of Democracy

United States

Gun violence has become integral to the American childhood. With an estimated three million U.S. children exposed to shootings every year, the physical, psychological, and societal toll of gun violence on the youngest generations continues to grow. Analyzing this crisis through the lens of public health could shed light on novel ways to alleviate and eliminate the burden of gun violence. Our speakers, Arne Duncan, former secretary of education, and Megan Ranney, academic dean at Brown University School of Public Health, discuss this ongoing epidemic of violence.

United States

The United States is witnessing another year of record gun violence, raising domestic and international scrutiny of its comparatively loose gun laws and placing pressure on lawmakers to enact meaningful reforms.
KISSINGER AND THE COUNCIL
As the former secretary of state marks his one hundredth birthday, Richard Haass looks back at his long, substantive relationship with CFR.

Events

United States

White House Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall discusses how the Biden Administration prepares for and responds to a broad range of threats to the Homeland. The Kenneth A. Moskow Memorial Lecture on Homeland Security and Counterterrorism honors the memory of longtime Council member Kenneth A. Moskow, who made this event possible through a generous bequest. His intent was to establish an annual event to bring together the leaders of the intelligence community and promote discussion on critical issues in counterterrorism.

United States

The U.S. military service chiefs discuss U.S. defense priorities around the world and the state of the American armed forces. The Robert B. McKeon Endowed Series on Military Strategy and Leadership features prominent individuals from the military and intelligence communities.

United States

Dan Schulman discusses the future of the digital economy, the evolving role of business in society, and leadership lessons learned as president and CEO of PayPal. The CEO Speaker Series is a unique forum for leading global CEOs to share their insights on issues at the center of commerce and foreign policy, and to discuss the changing role of business globally.  

Economics

Martin Wolf discusses the relationship between capitalism and democracy, the origins of the “democratic recession” of the last decade and a half, and ways to strengthen democratic capitalism against its enemies. 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. This meeting is part of the Diamonstein-Spielvogel Project on the Future of Democracy.

Expert Spotlight

Ray Takeyh
Ray Takeyh

Hasib J. Sabbagh Senior Fellow for Middle East Studies

Iran Iran Nuclear Agreement Persian Gulf

Takeyh: China and Russia Encourage Iran to Go Nuclear

Thomas J. Bollyky
Thomas J. Bollyky

Senior Fellow for Global Health, Economics, and Development and Director of the Global Health Program

Health Trade Development

Did We Predict the Pandemic?

Manjari Chatterjee Miller
Manjari Chatterjee Miller

Senior Fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia

India Asia China

The Past and Future of Health Cooperation in the Quad

Sheila A. Smith
Sheila A. Smith

John E. Merow Senior Fellow for Asia-Pacific Studies

Japan Defense and Security Asia

Japan’s G7 Moment

Daniel Kurtz-Phelan
Daniel Kurtz-Phelan

Editor, Foreign Affairs; Peter G. Peterson Chair

China U.S. Foreign Policy

Immigration Before Automation

Carl Minzner
Carl Minzner

Senior Fellow For China Studies

China Asia Rule of Law

Xi Jinping Can’t Handle an Aging China

Roger W. Ferguson Jr.
Roger W. Ferguson Jr.

Steven A. Tananbaum Distinguished Fellow for International Economics

Monetary Policy Fiscal Policy Regulation and Deregulation

Jennifer Hillman
Jennifer Hillman

Senior Fellow for Trade and International Political Economy

Trade World Trade Organization (WTO) NAFTA

How to Use Trade Policy to Meet the Climate Challenge

Max Boot
Max Boot

Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow for National Security Studies

U.S. Foreign Policy Defense and Security Military History

Boot: Why Ukraine Can Win

Scott A. Snyder
Scott A. Snyder

Senior Fellow for Korea Studies and Director of the Program on U.S.-Korea Policy

North Korea South Korea Asia

Steven A. Cook
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

Turkey Set for Runoff Election Sunday

Shannon K. O'Neil
Shannon K. O'Neil

Vice President, Deputy Director of Studies, and Nelson and David Rockefeller Senior Fellow for Latin America Studies

Trade Supply Chains Democracy

Carla Anne Robbins

Where's the Strategy?

Sebastian Mallaby
Sebastian Mallaby

Paul A. Volcker Senior Fellow for International Economics

Monetary Policy International Finance Globalization

Esther Brimmer

What’s Cracking in the Arctic?

Alice C. Hill
Alice C. Hill

David M. Rubenstein Senior Fellow for Energy and the Environment

Climate Change Infrastructure Food and Water Security

Climate expert Alice Hill on UN climate report

Yanzhong Huang
Yanzhong Huang

Senior Fellow for Global Health

China Health Asia

Can China Recover From Zero COVID?

James M. Lindsay
James M. Lindsay

Senior Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair

United States Politics and Government Polls and Public Opinion

Will Freeman
Will Freeman

Fellow for Latin America Studies

Americas Latin America Democracy

Ecuador’s Democratic Breakdown

A. Michael Spence

In Defense of Industrial Policy

Kenneth S. Rogoff

The Age of Inflation

Michelle Gavin
Michelle Gavin

Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies

Botswana South Africa Zimbabwe

Henri J. Barkey
Henri J. Barkey

Adjunct Senior Fellow for Middle East Studies

Middle East and North Africa Turkey Kurds

Yascha Mounk

The System Held

Explainers

The Complicated U.S.-China Relationship
The United States and China have an important and complex relationships marked by periods of both tension and cooperation over issues including trade, climate change, and Taiwan.

Featured Publications

Democracy

A provocative guide to how we must reenvision citizenship if American democracy is to survive.

Americas

Shannon K. O’Neil offers a powerful case for why regionalization, not globalization, has been the biggest economic trend of the last forty years.

China

Joshua Kurlantzick analyzes China's attempts to become a media, information, and influence superpower, seeking for the first time to shape the domestic politics, local media, and information environments of the United States, East Asia, parts of Europe, and the broader world.