A sweeping narrative account of the last five years in the Middle East and a timely argument of how and why the Arab uprisings failed.
About the Expert
Expert Bio
Steven A. Cook is Eni Enrico Mattei senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies 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 Washington Institute for Near East Policy's gold medal in 2012; and Ruling But Not Governing: The Military and Political Development in Egypt, Algeria, and Turkey.
Cook is a columnist at Foreign Policy magazine. He has also published widely in international affairs journals, opinion magazines, and newspapers, and he is a frequent commentator on radio and television. His work can be found on CFR.org.
Prior to joining CFR, Cook was a research fellow at the Brookings Institution (2001–2002) and a Soref research fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (1995–1996).
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 both 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
Institute of Turkish Studies, board member
Current Projects
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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at the ASEAN summit, Congress begins its August recess, and Muslims from around the world travel to Mecca for the hajj.
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Congress attempts to strike a deal to raise the debt ceiling, Cyprus observes the anniversary of the 1974 Turkish invasion, and the fiftieth anniversary of the moon landing is commemorated.
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Tensions between Iran and the United States persist, Osaka holds this year’s Group of Twenty summit, and U.S. President Donald J. Trump travels to South Korea.
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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang opens the annual session of the National People’s Congress, and White House senior advisor Jared Kushner travels to the Middle East ahead of Israel’s general election.
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Henri Barkey, senior fellow for Middle East studies at CFR and former member of the State Department Policy Planning Staff, and Steven Cook, the Eni Enrico Mattei senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies at CFR, join James Lindsay to discuss Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the result of Turkey’s recent election.
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CFR's Steven A. Cook joins Robert McMahon to examine the Kurdish movement for independence.
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CFR's Steven A. Cook joins James M. Lindsay and Robert McMahon in examining the causes and consequences of Qatar's diplomatic crisis with its neighbors in the region.
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Zenko is joined by Steven A. Cook, CFR's Eni Enrico Mattei senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies. They discuss Cook's latest book, False Dawn: Protest, Democracy, and Violence in the New Middle East, and U.S. policy in the Middle East and North Africa.
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CFR's James M. Lindsay, Robert McMahon, and Steven Cook examine the consequences of the Turkish referendum on U.S. foreign policy.
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CFR's James M. Lindsay, Robert McMahon, and Steven A. Cook examine President-Elect Donald J. Trump's priorities in the Middle East.