Arthur Ross Book Award
The annual Arthur Ross Book Award recognizes books that make an outstanding contribution to the understanding of foreign policy or international relations. The prize, endowed by the late Arthur Ross in 2001, is for nonfiction works from the past year, in English or translation, that merit special attention for:
- bringing forth new information that changes the understanding of events or problems;
- developing analytical approaches that offer insights into critical issues; or
- introducing ideas that help resolve foreign policy problems.
2020 Award Winners
Gold Medal
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland
Patrick Radden Keefe
Silver Medal
Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century
George Packer
Bronze Medal
The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire
William Dalrymple
Arthur Ross Book Award Events
You can view past Arthur Ross Book Award events and read the transcripts here.
The Past Winners
Here is the list of past winners of the Arthur Ross Book Award, 2005 through 2019.
Procedures
We are no longer accepting nominations for the 2020 award cycle. The deadline to submit nominations for the 2021 Arthur Ross Book Award is Sunday, February 21, 2021. If you would like to nominate a book published in 2020 for the 2021 award, please email ARBA@cfr.org with the following in the text of the email.
- Book title
- Book author
- Publication date, including year
- Publisher name
For any other inquiries, please call 212.434.9600.
Jury
Gideon Rose (Chair)
Peter G. Peterson Chair and Editor, Foreign Affairs
Lisa Anderson
President Emerita, American University in Cairo
Nicholas Eberstadt
Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research
Jose W. Fernandez
Partner, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP
Sumit Ganguly
Rabindranath Tagore Chair in Indian Cultures and Civilizations, Indiana University at Bloomington
Michelle D. Gavin
Senior Fellow for Africa Studies, Council on Foreign Relations; Former U.S. Ambassador to Botswana
Walter Russell Mead
James Clarke Chace Professor in Foreign Affairs and Humanities, Bard College
Susan L. Shirk
Research Professor and Chair, 21st Century China Center, University of California at San Diego
Calvin G. Sims
President and Chief Executive Officer, International House
Andrew Ross Sorkin
Columnist and Assistant Business Editor, New York Times
News Releases
News Releases
- Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland Wins Arthur Ross Book Award
- Jill Lepore's “These Truths: A History of the United States” Wins 2019 CFR Arthur Ross Book Award
- Stephen Kotkin's “Stalin: Waiting for Hitler, 1929-1941” Wins 2018 CFR Arthur Ross Book Award
- John Pomfret’s “The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom” Wins 2017 CFR Arthur Ross Book Award
- Niall Ferguson’s “Kissinger: 1923-1968: The Idealist” Wins 2016 CFR Arthur Ross Book Award
- Piketty’s “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” Wins 2015 CFR Arthur Ross Book Award
- Gary Bass Wins CFR’s 2014 Arthur Ross Book Award for “The Blood Telegram”
- Fredrik Logevall Wins CFR’s 2013 Arthur Ross Book Award for “Embers of War”
- John Lewis Gaddis Wins CFR’s 2012 Arthur Ross Book Award for “George F. Kennan: An American Life”
- Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff Win CFR’s 2011 Arthur Ross Book Award for “This Time is Different”
- Liaquat Ahamed Wins CFR’s 2010 Arthur Ross Book Award for “Lords of Finance”
- Philip Pan Wins CFR’s 2009 Arthur Ross Book Award for “Out of Mao’s Shadow”
- Paul Collier Wins CFR’s 2008 Arthur Ross Book Award for “Bottom Billion”
- Kwame Anthony Appiah Wins CFR’s 2007 Arthur Ross Book Award for “Cosmopolitanism”
- Tony Judt Wins CFR’s 2006 Arthur Ross Book Award for “Postwar”
- CFR’s 2006 Arthur Ross Book Award Shortlist Announced
- Steve Coll Wins the Council’s 2005 Arthur Ross Book Award for “Ghost Wars”
- CFR’s 2005 Arthur Ross Book Award Shortlist Announced
- Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon Win CFR’s 2004 Arthur Ross Book Award for “The Age of Sacred Terror”
- Samantha Power Wins CFR’s Second Annual Arthur Ross Book Award for “A Problem from Hell”
- Robert Skidelsky Wins CFR’s First Arthur Ross Book Award
- 2002 Arthur Ross Book Award Short List Announced