Model Diplomacy
World101
CFR Centennial
Council of Councils
Think Global Health
President Trump sent U.S. troops to the border with Mexico to supplement the work of authorities there. President Biden pledges a new approach as pressures mount along the boundary.
Center for Preventive Action
Managing Global Disorder
Project Expert
General John W. Vessey Senior Fellow for Conflict Prevention and Director of the Center for Preventive Action
About the Project
Increasing geopolitical friction between the United States and other major powers—including China, the European Union, India, and Russia—not only increases the risk of major war but also lessens the likelihood that other sources of instability and conflict can be effectively managed. The Center for Preventive Action convenes international workshops and publishes discussion papers on how the United States can best manage the growing risk of a more disorderly world.
This project is made possible by the generous support of Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Publications
In an era of intensifying U.S.-China friction and volatility, the risks of conflict are real and growing in East Asia, and U.S. policymakers should revitalize existing tools and build new ones to manage an increasingly militarized competition.
Great power competition is altering the prospects for managing conflicts in the Middle East. As policymakers rethink the United States’ role in the region, they should avoid the kind of strategic errors that have provided opportunities for other major powers, notably China and Russia, to undermine U.S. policy.
Although the world seems destined to grow more competitive, congested, and contested in the coming years, the logic of major power cooperation remains inescapable. Any effort to shape a new international order that is stable, inclusive, and beneficial to all must be a collaborative undertaking.
Although deep disconnects plague current transatlantic cooperation in the Middle East, the United States and Europe still share a common interest in stabilizing this volatile region.
Despite a rift in the relationship, the United States could work with Europe to help African states achieve their peace and security goals.
Relations between the United States and Russia have recently declined, but U.S., European, and Russian experts identify possible areas of cooperation for the two to work together to foster global stability.
Events
In this video of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Center for Preventive Action Roundtable Series on Managing Global Disorder, Qingguo Jia, Peking University, and Dhruva Jaishankar, Observer Research Foundation, discuss what the post-pandemic world may look like.
The COVID-19 pandemic has already sparked considerable debate over how the present international order could change as a consequence. Some commentators see the world growing more fragmented and disorderly while others believe this moment will give new impetus to international cooperation on a variety of global challenges. Speakers Andrey Kortunov, Russian International Affairs Council, and Nathalie Tocci, Istituto di Affari Internazionali, discuss what the post-pandemic world may look like.
For further reading, please see the CFR discussion paper, "Perspectives on a Changing World Order," by Dhruva Jaishankar, Qingguo Jia, Andrey Kortunov, Paul Stares, and Nathalie Tocci.