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Expert Bio
Edward Alden is Bernard L. Schwartz senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), specializing in U.S. economic competitiveness, trade, and immigration policy. He is the author of the book Failure to Adjust: How Americans Got Left Behind in the Global Economy, which focuses on the federal government’s failure to respond effectively to competitive challenges on issues such as trade, currency, worker retraining, education, and infrastructure.
Alden recently served as the project director of a CFR-sponsored Independent Task Force, co-chaired by former Michigan Governor John Engler and former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, which produced the report The Work Ahead: Machines, Skills, and U.S. Leadership in the Twenty-First Century. In 2011, he was the project codirector of the Independent Task Force that produced U.S. Trade and Investment Policy. In 2009, he was the project director of the Independent Task Force that produced U.S. Immigration Policy.
Alden’s previous book, The Closing of the American Border: Terrorism, Immigration, and Security Since 9/11, was a finalist for the Lukas Book Prize, for narrative nonfiction in 2009. The jury called Alden’s book “a masterful job of comprehensive reporting, fair-minded analysis, and structurally sound argumentation.”
Alden was previously the Washington bureau chief for the Financial Times, and prior to that was the newspaper’s Canada bureau chief, based in Toronto. He worked as a reporter at the Vancouver Sun and was the managing editor of the newsletter Inside U.S. Trade, widely recognized as a leading source of reporting on U.S. trade policies. Alden has won several national and international awards for his reporting. He has made numerous TV and radio appearances as an analyst on political and economic issues, including on the BBC, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, NPR, and PBS NewsHour. His work has been published in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Fortune, the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Toronto Globe and Mail, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post.
Alden has a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of British Columbia and a master’s degree in international relations from the University of California, Berkeley. He pursued doctoral studies before returning to a journalism career. Alden is the winner of numerous academic awards, including a Mellon fellowship in the humanities and a MacArthur Foundation graduate fellowship.
Affiliations
- Clayton Yeutter Institute of International Trade, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, advisory council member
- Foreign Policy, monthly columnist
- Journal on Migration and Human Security, editorial board
- Washington Campus, faculty
- Western Washington University, Ross distinguished visiting professor
Current Projects
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Our panelists examine the vulnerabilities in global supply chains exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, resiliency options such as supplier diversification, reshoring critical industries, and stockpiling vital supplies, and the effect of such steps on international trade.
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The 2021 Virtual College and University Educators Workshop convened professors from across the country for substantive expert briefings and group discussions on foreign policy issues, to learn about the wide variety of CFR and Foreign Affairs academic resources available, and to share best practices and educational tools for bringing international affairs into the classroom.
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The Trump administration has expanded immigration restrictions to suspend until the end of 2020 the issuance of most visas for foreign workers, including those for high-skilled employees and for intra-company transfers. Our panelists discuss the ramifications for business and U.S. competitiveness.
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Please join our panelists for a discussion on the future of work after the COVID-19 pandemic, including how workers and businesses will have to adapt to the post-pandemic economic landscape and workplace environments.
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Speakers discuss what to expect from President Trump’s upcoming trip to India, including the latest on negotiations toward a modest trade deal.
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Robots and Artificial Intelligence
The world is in the midst of a transformation in the nature of work, as smart machines, artificial intelligence, new technologies, and global competition remake how people do their jobs and pursue their careers. -
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Experts discuss the economic and political challenges facing U.S. trade policy, how to proceed in the current political climate, and policy options for the future direction of U.S. trade.
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Edward Alden discusses Failure to Adjust: How Americans Got Left Behind in the Global Economy.
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Policy experts and scholars of religion discuss immigration and demographic trends in the United States.
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CFR Senior Fellow Edward Alden and EXIM Bank Chairman and President Fred Hochberg discuss EXIM’s new global competitiveness report and the challenges facing the United States in global economic competition.
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Experts discuss the future of immigration policy in the United States, focusing on immigrants from Central and South America.