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Expert Bio
Steven A. Cook is Eni Enrico Mattei senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies and director of the International Affairs Fellowship for Tenured International Relations Scholars at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). He is an expert on Arab and Turkish politics as well as U.S.-Middle East policy. Cook is the author of False Dawn: Protest, Democracy, and Violence in the New Middle East; The Struggle for Egypt: From Nasser to Tahrir Square, which won the 2012 gold medal from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy; and Ruling but Not Governing: The Military and Political Development in Egypt, Algeria, and Turkey. Oxford University Press is publishing his next book, The End Of Ambition: America’s Past, Present, and Future in the Middle East in 2023.
Cook is a columnist at Foreign Policy magazine. He has also published widely in international affairs journals, opinion magazines, and newspapers, and is a frequent commentator on radio and television. His work can also be found on CFR.org.
Prior to joining CFR, Cook was a research fellow at the Brookings Institution (2001–02) and a Soref research fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (1995–96).
Cook holds a BA in international studies from Vassar College, an MA in international relations from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, and an MA and a PhD in political science from the University of Pennsylvania. He speaks Arabic and Turkish and reads French.
Affiliations:
- Foreign Policy, columnist
- International Capital Strategies, senior advisor
Featured
Current Projects
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The country can’t form a government, its peace process is permanently stalled—and things have never been better.
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Loving Dictators Is as American as Apple Pie
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It’s time to hold Egypt accountable for the U.S. citizens it has unjustly victimized.
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Is the Arab Spring back, as some protesters, activists, and analysts have declared? The uninspiring answer is a qualified maybe.
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The march to war against Iran is echoing the drumbeats of America's last major Middle Eastern invasion.
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What a late-night meal in Italy taught me about American Exceptionalism in the Arab world.
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The 7-foot center Enes Kanter has become a symbol of Turkey's never-ending purge—and a potential assassination target.
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Erdogan promises to finish America's fight against the Islamic State, but it's the Kurds that he's out to destroy.
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