American diplomacy is in shambles under Trump, but beneath the daily chaos is an erosion of the postwar order that is even more dangerous.
About the Expert
Expert Bio
James M. Lindsay is senior vice president, director of studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg chair at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), where he oversees the work of the more than six dozen fellows in the David Rockefeller Studies Program. He is a leading authority on the American foreign policymaking process and the domestic politics of American foreign policy.
Before returning to CFR in 2009, Dr. Lindsay was the inaugural director of the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas at Austin, where he held the Tom Slick chair for international affairs at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. From 2003 to 2006, he was vice president, director of studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg chair at CFR. He previously served as deputy director and senior fellow in the foreign policy studies program at the Brookings Institution. From 1987 until 1999, he was a professor of political science at the University of Iowa.
From 1996 to 1997, Dr. Lindsay was director for global issues and multilateral affairs on the staff of the National Security Council. He has also served as a consultant to the United States Commission on National Security/21st Century (Hart-Rudman Commission) and as a staff expert for the United States Institute of Peace's congressionally mandated Task Force on the United Nations.
Dr. Lindsay has written widely on various aspects of American foreign policy and international relations. His latest book is The Empty Throne: America's Abdication of Global Leadership, co-authored with Ivo H. Daalder, released in October 2018. His previous book with Ivo H. Daalder, America Unbound: The Bush Revolution in Foreign Policy, was awarded the 2003 Lionel Gelber Prize, named a finalist for the Arthur S. Ross Book Award, and selected as a top book of 2003 by the Economist. His other books include Agenda for the Nation (with Henry J. Aaron and Pietro S. Nivola), which was named an "Outstanding Academic Book of 2004" by Choice magazine; and Congress and the Politics of U.S. Foreign Policy. He has also contributed articles to the op-ed pages of many major newspapers, including the New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times. He writes the blog The Water's Edge, which discusses the politics of American foreign policy and the domestic underpinnings of American global power.
Dr. Lindsay holds an AB in economics and political science from the University of Michigan and an MA, MPhil, and PhD from Yale University. He has been a fellow at the Center for International Affairs and the Center for Science and International Affairs, both at Harvard University. He is a recipient of the Pew Faculty Fellowship in International Affairs and CFR International Affairs Fellowship. He is a member of CFR.
Dr. Lindsay was born in Winchester, Massachusetts, in 1959 and lives in the Washington, DC, suburbs.
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Featured
A “blue wave” in November isn’t likely to provide an off-ramp for what is shaping up as a years-long struggle between the United States and China over trade policy.
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Ivo H. Daalder and James M. Lindsay present their new book, The Empty Throne: America’s Abdication of Global Leadership, which argues that the world order the United States created and led for seven decades was fraying when Donald J. Trump took office.
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This is the keynote session of the 2018 International Affairs Fellowship (IAF) Conference.
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As the opening plenary session of the 2018 College and University Educators Workshop, Tamar Gutner and Stewart M. Patrick discuss the current state of global governance and the Trump administration's approach to international organizations and multilateralism, with James M. Lindsay.
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Panelists discuss the fiftieth anniversary of the Tet Offensive, launched in late January 1968, and the lessons learned or forgotten from the Vietnam War for the United States today.
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Scott Snyder discusses his new book, South Korea at the Crossroads: Autonomy and Alliance in an Era of Rival Powers. Snyder examines the trajectory of fifty years of South Korean foreign policy and offers predictions—and a prescription—for the future.
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Experts discuss the state of the world.
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Ray Takeyh and Steven Simon discuss their new book.
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Robert D. Blackwill and Jennifer M. Harris discuss War by Other Means, their new book on why the United States must strategically integrate economic and financial instruments into its foreign policy or risk losing ground as a world power.
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Experts address current transformations of Asia’s strategic landscape, and how the return of geopolitics affects regional peace and security.
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Fred Kaplan discusses his new book, 'Dark Territory.'
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Micah Zenko discusses his new book, "Red Team: How to Succeed By Thinking Like the Enemy."
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CFR Senior Fellow Gayle Tzemach Lemmon launches her new book.