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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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U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan discusses Iran with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; China grapples with a sharp influx of COVID-19 cases amid Lunar New Year travels; and NATO concerns rise over tensions between Greece and Turkey.
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In 2022, several colossal events dominated the headlines, most prominently the war in Ukraine and the worldwide inflation that it helped spark. But beyond Ukraine, events with global implications continued to unfold. In this episode, Why It Matters checks in with three CFR fellows and CFR President Richard Haass to understand the least-covered stories of 2022 and to take a peek at what could await the world in 2023.
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Steven A. Cook, CFR’s Eni Enrico Mattei senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies and director of the International Affairs Fellowship for Tenured International Relations Scholars, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss how countries throughout the Middle East are responding to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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Diplomacy and International Institutions
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) leaders meet in Brussels as Russia’s attacks in Ukraine continue, and ministers from Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries discuss the ongoing crisis in Afghanistan. -
Steven A. Cook, Eni Enrico Mattei senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies and director of the International Affairs Fellowship for Tenured International Relations Scholars at CFR, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss what's happening across the Middle East as 2021 comes to a close.
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Steven A. Cook, CFR’s Eni Enrico Mattei senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies and director of the International Affairs Fellowship for Tenured International Relations Scholars, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the rising tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.
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Steven A. Cook, CFR’s Eni Enrico Mattei senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies, and Martin S. Indyk, distinguished fellow at CFR, sit down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the incoming Biden administration’s likely approach to the Middle East.
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