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Expert Bio
Shannon K. O'Neil is the vice president, deputy director of studies, and Nelson and David Rockefeller senior fellow for Latin America studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. She is an expert on global trade, supply chains, Mexico, Latin America, and democracy.
Dr. O’Neil is the author of The Globalization Myth: Why Regions Matter (Yale University Press, October 2022), which chronicles the rise of three main global manufacturing and supply chain hubs and what they mean for U.S. economic competitiveness. She also wrote Two Nations Indivisible: Mexico, the United States, and the Road Ahead (Oxford University Press, 2013), which analyzes the political, economic, and social transformations Mexico has undergone over the last three decades and why they matter for the United States. She is a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion, and a frequent guest on national broadcast news and radio programs. Dr. O’Neil has often testified before Congress, and regularly speaks at global academic, business, and policy conferences.
Dr. O’Neil has lived and worked in Mexico and Argentina. She was a Fulbright scholar and a Justice, Welfare, and Economics fellow at Harvard University, and has taught Latin American politics at Columbia University. Before turning to policy, Dr. O'Neil worked in the private sector as an equity analyst at Indosuez Capital and Credit Lyonnais Securities. She holds a BA from Yale University, an MA in international relations from Yale University, and a PhD in government from Harvard University. She is a member of the board of directors of the Tinker Foundation.
Affiliations:
- Bloomberg Opinion, columnist
- MacroAdvisory Partners, senior advisor
- Tinker Foundation, board of directors, member
Featured
Shannon K. O’Neil offers a powerful case for why regionalization, not globalization, has been the biggest economic trend of the last forty years.
Diplomacy and International Institutions
Through an in-depth analysis of modern Mexico, Shannon O'Neil provides a roadmap for the United States' greatest overlooked foreign policy challenge of our time: relations with its southern neighbor.
To curb violence and drug trafficking, Mexico needs functioning civilian police forces and court systems, not US military strikes and boots on the ground.
Shannon K. O’Neil, vice president, deputy director of Studies, and Nelson and David Rockefeller senior fellow for Latin America Studies at CFR, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss Mexico’s new electoral law and other developments that may be eroding the country’s democratic governance.
Fully implementing and funding its 2008 constitutional reform of the justice system would reduce impunity, boost public confidence and uphold the basic rule of law.
Nearshoring beats reshoring and is the best way for American companies and workers to compete with the biggest economic challenge they face.
Shannon K. O’Neil, vice president, deputy director of Studies, and Nelson and David Rockefeller senior fellow for Latin America Studies at CFR, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss how regionalization, not globalization, has been the biggest trend of the past forty years—and why that matters.
A successful reform of the system is essential not only to reducing poverty, but also to restoring public faith in the country’s democracy.
A case for greater intraregional trade in today’s changing world
Nationalizing Mexico’s lithium reserves and extending state control over electricity and energy will undermine the region’s prosperity and security.
Halfway through his term, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is moving from bending democratic norms and laws to breaking them—a slide that the U.S. cannot afford to ignore.
Forget all the talk about the region’s “pink tide” and focus on which candidate is most likely to lift the greatest number of boats.
Current Projects
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Ian Johnson discusses his new book, Sparks: China’s Underground Historians and Their Battle for the Future, which describes how some of China’s best-known writers, filmmakers, and artists have overcome crackdowns and censorship to forge a nationwide movement that challenges the Communist Party on its most hallowed ground: its control of history.
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One of the keys to China’s global rise has been its strategy of deploying sovereign wealth on behalf of state power. Since President Xi Jinping took office in 2013, China has doubled down on financial statecraft, making shrewd investments with the sovereign funds it has built up by leveraging its foreign exchange reserves. Sovereign Funds tells the story of how the Communist Party of China became a global financier of surpassing ambition. In Sovereign Funds, Zongyuan Zoe Liu offers the first in-depth account of the evolution of China’s sovereign funds, and shows how these institutions have become mechanisms not only for transforming low-reward foreign exchange reserves into investment capital but also for power projection. The CFR Fellows’ Book Launch series highlights new books by CFR fellows.
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After two decades as president of the Council on Foreign Relations, Richard Haass discusses his experience with leadership both inside and outside of government, lessons learned along the way, as well as his ideas on the obligations of citizenship and the foreign policy challenges facing the United States. Members are encouraged to include their high school- or college-age children or grandchildren in this event. All members are welcome to attend. Both Richard Haass and Shannon O'Neil will be speaking from CFR's headquarters in New York.
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The conventional wisdom about globalization is wrong. When companies, money, people, and ideas went abroad more often than not they went regional. The Globalization Myth details the rise of three main regional manufacturing and supply chain hubs in Europe, Asia, and North America and lays out why it matters for the United States. The CFR Fellows’ Book Launch series highlights new books by CFR fellows.
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In Pastoral Power, Clerical State: Pentecostalism, Gender, and Sexuality in Nigeria, Ebenezer Obadare examines the overriding impact of Nigerian Pentecostal pastors on their churches, and how they have shaped the dynamics of state-society relations. The CFR Fellows’ Book Launch series highlights new books by CFR fellows.
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Please join CFR fellows as they discuss recent developments around the world, including the ongoing war in Ukraine, tensions with China over Taiwan, the future of U.S. relations with the Middle East and Latin America, and issues concerning climate change, global supply chains, and polarization in the United States. The town hall meeting format gives members a unique opportunity to engage with CFR experts on a wide range of topics in a setting designed to promote candor.ZOOM LOG-IN INFORMATION:https://cfr.zoom.us/j/83654988598Zoom Meeting ID: 836 5498 8598Zoom Password: 104081Back-up Dial-in: +1.646.558.8656
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Speakers discuss the new book, Awakening: #MeToo and the Global Fight for Women’s Rights. Since 2017, millions have joined the global movement known as #MeToo, catalyzing an unprecedented wave of women’s activism powered by technology that reaches across borders, races, religions, and economic divides. Awakening is the first book to capture the global impact of this breakthrough movement. Bringing together political analysis and inspiring personal stories from women in seven countries—Brazil, China, Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sweden, and Tunisia—Awakening takes readers to the front lines of a networked movement that’s fundamentally shifting how women organize for their own equality. The CFR Fellows’ Book Launch series highlights new books by CFR fellows.
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CFR’s Home and Abroad Series Public Forum explores migration trends and the many questions confronting U.S. immigration policy, including but not limited to our southern border.
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Panelists discuss the potential for escalation in the Taiwan Strait, the state of cross-Strait relations, and the outlook for U.S. policy toward Taiwan. For more information about the International Affairs Fellowship (IAF), please visit CFR’s Fellowship Affairs Page.
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Panelists discuss the immigration crisis developing at the U.S.-Mexico border due to a surge of individual migrants, families, and unaccompanied children seeking entry to the United States, and the challenges of formulating a government response. The Silberstein Family Annual Lecture on Refugee and Migration Policy was established in 2019 through a generous gift from Alan M. Silberstein and the Silberstein family. The lecture provides CFR with an annual forum to explore emerging challenges in refugee and migration policy in the United States and around the world.
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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 Council on Foreign Relations and the Whitney Museum of American Art invite you to join our panelists for a discussion of Vida Americana: Mexican Muralists Remake American Art, currently on view at the Whitney. Vida Americana explores how Mexican artists like Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco, and David Alfaro Siqueiros used murals and artwork to depict the fight for economic and social reforms in the country and the influence their work had on U.S. artists at the time. Panelists discuss the social role of art, particularly how these artists introduced visual art as a way to address societal abuses and injustices, and how this transformation has influenced culture, politics, and the relationship between the United States and Mexico.
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Adam Segal discusses the evolution of China's technology policy and how it has changed the U.S.-China relationship. The CFR Master Class Series is a biweekly 45-minute session hosted by Vice President and Deputy Director for Studies Shannon O’Neil in which a CFR fellow will take a step back from the news and discuss the fundamentals essential to understanding a given country, region of the world, or issue pertaining to U.S. foreign policy or international relations.
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Sheila Smith discusses the importance of the U.S.-Japan alliance in today's global political environment, including insight into shifts in Japanese defense capability since the security pact was signed, as well as changes in Japan’s position as a regional and global power. The CFR Master Class Series is a biweekly 45-minute session hosted by Vice President and Deputy Director for Studies Shannon O’Neil in which a CFR fellow will take a step back from the news and discuss the fundamentals essential to understanding a given country, region of the world, or issue pertaining to U.S. foreign policy or international relations.
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Please join Paul Stares for a discussion of how the United States prepares for potential foreign policy crises, including how the U.S. has historically tried to avoid being blindsided by threatening developments and what it should do to be better prepared in the future. The CFR Master Class Series is a biweekly 45-minute session hosted by Vice President and Deputy Director for Studies Shannon O’Neil in which a CFR fellow will take a step back from the news and discuss the fundamentals essential to understanding a given country, region of the world, or issue pertaining to U.S. foreign policy or international relations.
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Please join Alyssa Ayres for a discussion on the relationship between the United States and India–where things are, where they have been, and what's ahead. The CFR Master Class Series is a biweekly 45-minute session hosted by Vice President and Deputy Director for Studies Shannon O’Neil in which a CFR fellow will take a step back from the news and discuss the fundamentals essential to understanding a given country, region of the world, or issue pertaining to U.S. foreign policy or international relations.
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For the first time in recorded history, bacteria, viruses, and other infectious agents do not cause the majority of deaths or disabilities in any region of the world. However, humankind's progress against infectious diseases has outstripped the pace of investment in good health-care systems, responsive governance, dependable infrastructure, and other more reliable guarantors of health. Thomas Bollyky will discuss how this unbalanced progress has made the world uniquely vulnerable to noncommunicable diseases and novel infections, even as humans grow healthier. The CFR Master Class Series is a biweekly 45-minute session hosted by Vice President and Deputy Director for Studies Shannon O’Neil in which a CFR fellow will take a step back from the news and discuss the fundamentals essential to understanding a given country, region of the world, or issue pertaining to U.S. foreign policy or international relations.
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Please join Philip Gordon for a discussion on the history of regime change in U.S. foreign policy from the 1950s to present day. The CFR Master Class Series is a weekly 45-minute session hosted by Vice President and Deputy Director for Studies Shannon O’Neil in which a CFR fellow will take a step back from the news and discuss the fundamentals essential to understanding a given country, region of the world, or issue pertaining to U.S. foreign policy or international relations.
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Please join Sebastian Mallaby for a discussion on the importance of venture capital. Venture capital has been shown to speed the commercialization of science, creating wealth, jobs, and new products for consumers. How important is this contribution? What is the special sauce in venture capital that causes it to work? Does the rise of China's innovation hub indicate that venture capital is not a necessary ingredient? The CFR Master Class Series is a weekly 45-minute session hosted by Vice President and Deputy Director for Studies Shannon O’Neil in which a CFR fellow will take a step back from the news and discuss the fundamentals essential to understanding a given country, region of the world, or issue pertaining to U.S. foreign policy or international relations.
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Please join John Campbell for a discussion on Nigeria, its history, colonial legacy, and strategic importance to the United States. Ambassador Campbell argues that Nigeria is the African country of greatest strategic importance to the United States, but it remains poorly understood. Unlike a conventional nation-state, Nigeria is run by a small cartel of self-serving elites who cooperate just enough to divvy up state oil revenue among themselves and their clients, but otherwise do little to improve the lot of the vast majority of Nigerians. How did it get this way? The answer lies in British indirect rule, a half-baked independence movement, a deadly civil war, and a generation of rapacious military rule that coincided with the oil boom. The CFR Master Class Series is a weekly 45-minute session hosted by Vice President and Deputy Director for Studies Shannon O’Neil in which a CFR fellow will take a step back from the news and discuss the fundamentals essential to understanding a given country, region of the world, or issue pertaining to U.S. foreign policy or international relations.