Council on Foreign Relations
Abbreviation | CFR |
---|---|
Founded | 1921 |
Type | Think tank |
Headquarters | Harold Pratt House, 58 East 68th Street, Manhattan |
Location |
|
President | Michael Froman[1] |
Chairman | David Rubenstein |
Revenue (2022) | $102,605,000[2] |
Expenses (2022) | $79,073,100[2] |
Website | cfr.org |
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American
CFR meetings convene government officials, global business leaders and prominent members of the intelligence and foreign-policy communities to discuss international issues. CFR has published the bi-monthly journal Foreign Affairs since 1922. It also runs the David Rockefeller Studies Program, which makes recommendations to the presidential administration and diplomatic community, testifies before Congress, interacts with the media, and publishes research on foreign policy issues.
Richard N. Haass stepped down as company president in June 2023, with Michael Froman replacing him.[3]
History
Origins, 1918 to 1945
In September 1917, near the end of
As a result of discussions at the Peace Conference, a small group of British and American diplomats and scholars met on May 30, 1919, at the
The members were proponents of Wilson's
In 1922, Gay, who was a former dean of the
In the late 1930s, the
During the
Cold War era, 1945 to 1979
A critical study found that of 502 government officials surveyed from 1945 to 1972, more than half were members of the Council.
In an anonymous piece called "The Sources of Soviet Conduct" that appeared in Foreign Affairs in 1947, CFR study group member George Kennan coined the term "containment". The essay would prove to be highly influential in US foreign policy for seven upcoming presidential administrations. Forty years later, Kennan explained that he had never suspected the Russians of any desire to launch an attack on America; he thought that it was obvious enough and he did not need to explain it in his essay. William Bundy credited CFR's study groups with helping to lay the framework of thinking that led to the Marshall Plan and NATO. Due to new interest in the group, membership grew towards 1,000.[6]: 35–39
Dwight D. Eisenhower chaired a CFR study group while he served as President of Columbia University. One member later said, "whatever General Eisenhower knows about economics, he has learned at the study group meetings."[6]: 35–44 The CFR study group devised an expanded study group called "Americans for Eisenhower" to increase his chances for the presidency. Eisenhower would later draw many Cabinet members from CFR ranks and become a CFR member himself. His primary CFR appointment was Secretary of State John Foster Dulles. Dulles gave a public address at the Harold Pratt House in New York City in which he announced a new direction for Eisenhower's foreign policy: "There is no local defense which alone will contain the mighty land power of the communist world. Local defenses must be reinforced by the further deterrent of massive retaliatory power." After this speech, the council convened a session on "Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy" and chose Henry Kissinger to head it. Kissinger spent the following academic year working on the project at Council headquarters. The book of the same name that he published from his research in 1957 gave him national recognition, topping the national bestseller lists.[6]: 39–41
CFR played an important role in the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community.[9] CFR promoted a blueprint of the ECSC and helped Jean Monnet promote the ESCS.[9]
On November 24, 1953, a study group heard a report from political scientist William Henderson regarding the ongoing conflict between France and Vietnamese Communist leader Ho Chi Minh's Viet Minh forces, a struggle that would later become known as the First Indochina War. Henderson argued that Ho's cause was primarily nationalist in nature and that Marxism had "little to do with the current revolution." Further, the report said, the United States could work with Ho to guide his movement away from Communism. State Department officials, however, expressed skepticism about direct American intervention in Vietnam and the idea was tabled. Over the next twenty years, the United States would find itself allied with anti-Communist South Vietnam and against Ho and his supporters in the Vietnam War.[6]: 40, 49–67
The Council served as a "breeding ground" for important American policies such as
In 1962 the group began a program of bringing select Air Force officers to the Harold Pratt House to study alongside its scholars. The Army, Navy and Marine Corps requested they start similar programs for their own officers.[6]: 46
A four-year-long study of relations between America and China was conducted by the Council between 1964 and 1968. One study published in 1966 concluded that American citizens were more open to talks with China than their elected leaders. Henry Kissinger had continued to publish in Foreign Affairs and was appointed by President Richard Nixon to serve as National Security Adviser in 1969. In 1971, he embarked on a secret trip to Beijing to broach talks with Chinese leaders. Nixon went to China in 1972, and diplomatic relations were completely normalized by President Carter's Secretary of State, another Council member, Cyrus Vance.[6]: 42–44
The Vietnam War created a rift within the organization. When
In November 1979, while chairman of CFR, David Rockefeller became embroiled in an international incident when he and Henry Kissinger, along with John J. McCloy and Rockefeller aides, persuaded President Jimmy Carter through the State Department to admit the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, into the US for hospital treatment for lymphoma. This action directly precipitated what is known as the Iran hostage crisis and placed Rockefeller under intense media scrutiny (particularly from The New York Times) for the first time in his public life.[10][11]
In his book, White House Diary, Carter wrote of the affair, "April 9 [1979] David Rockefeller came in, apparently to induce me to let the shah come to the United States. Rockefeller, Kissinger, and Brzezinski seem to be adopting this as a joint project".[12]
Membership
The CFR has two types of membership: life membership; and term membership, which lasts for 5 years and is available only to those between the ages of 30 and 36. Only U.S. citizens (native born or naturalized) and permanent residents who have applied for U.S. citizenship are eligible. A candidate for life membership must be nominated in writing by one Council member and seconded by a minimum of three others. Visiting fellows are prohibited from applying for membership until they have completed their fellowship tenure.[13]
Corporate membership (250 in total) is divided into "Associates", "Affiliates", "President's Circle", and "Founders". All corporate executive members have opportunities to hear speakers, including foreign heads of state, chairmen and CEOs of multinational corporations, and U.S. officials and Congressmen. President and premium members are also entitled to attend small, private dinners or receptions with senior American officials and world leaders.[14]
The CFR has a Young Professionals Briefing Series designed for young leaders interested in international relations to be eligible for term membership.[15]
Women were excluded from membership until the 1960s.[16]
Board members
Members of CFR's board of directors include:[17]
- David M. Rubenstein (Chairman) – Cofounder and Co-Chief Executive Officer, The Carlyle Group. Regent of the Smithsonian Institution, chairman of the board for Duke University, co-chair of the board at the Brookings Institution, and president of the Economic Club of Washington
- Blair Effron (Vice Chairman) – Cofounder, Centerview Partners
- Barclays Capital. She currently serves on the boards of EMC Corporation, In-Q-Tel and the American Ditchley Foundation, and is a member of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board. Before entering the private sector, she had a twenty-year career as an intelligence officer, including a stint as the Central Intelligence Agency's Deputy Director for Intelligence (2002–2005), and as the Director for Intelligence Programs at the National Security Council(1995–1996)
- Richard N. Haass (President) – Former State Department director of policy planning and lead U.S. official on Afghanistan and Northern Ireland (2001–2003), and principal Middle East adviser to President George H.W. Bush (1989–1993)
- Thad W. Allen − Chair, National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Advisory Board, NASA
- Sylvia Mathews Burwell – President, American University. Former United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (2014–2017) under President Barack Obama
- Kenneth I. Chenault − Chairman and Managing Director, General Catalyst
- NBCUniversal News Group
- Nathaniel Fick – General Manager, Elastic Security
- James P. Gorman – Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Morgan Stanley
- Stephen Hadley – Principal, RiceHadley Gates. He was the 21st National Security Advisor
- Margaret (Peggy) Hamburg − Foreign Secretary, National Academy of Medicine
- Laurene Powell Jobs – Founder and President, Emerson Collective
- Jeh Charles Johnson − Partner, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. Former Homeland Security Secretary (2013–2017) under President Barack Obama
- William H. McRaven – Professor of National Security, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, The University of Texas at Austin
- (2009–2013)
- Harvard Kennedy School
- Deven J. Parekh – Managing Director, Insight Partners
- Charles Phillips − Managing Partner and Cofounder, Recognize
- Richard L. Plepler – Chief Executive Officer, Eden Productions
- Ruth Porat – Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Alphabet and Google
- Frances Fragos Townsend − Executive Vice President, Corporate Affairs, Activision Blizzard
- Tracey T. Travis – Executive Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer, Estée Lauder Companies
- Daniel Yergin – Vice Chairman, IHS Markit
- Newsweek International, and managing editor of Foreign Affairs from 1992 to 2000
As a charity
The council received a three star rating (out of four stars) from Charity Navigator in fiscal year 2016, as measured by their analysis of the council's financial data and "accountability and transparency".[18]
Reception
In an article for the
In 2019, CFR was criticized for accepting a donation from Len Blavatnik, a Ukrainian-born billionaire with close links to Vladimir Putin.[20] It was reported to be under fire from its own members and dozens of international affairs experts over its acceptance of a $12 million gift to fund an internship program. Fifty-five international relations scholars and Russia experts wrote a letter to the organization's board and CFR's president, Richard N. Haass.
"It is our considered view that Blavatnik uses his 'philanthropy'—funds obtained by and with the consent of the Kremlin, at the expense of the state budget and the Russian people—at leading western academic and cultural institutions to advance his access to political circles. We regard this as another step in the longstanding effort of Mr. Blavatnik—who ... has close ties to the Kremlin and its kleptocratic network—to launder his image in the West."[21]
Publications
Periodicals
Foreign Affairs
- The council publishes the international affairs magazine Foreign Affairs. It also establishes independent task forces, which bring together various experts to produce reports offering both findings and policy prescriptions on foreign policy topics. CFR has sponsored more than fifty reports, including the Independent Task Force on the Future of North America that published report No. 53, entitled Building a North American Community, in May 2005.[22]
- The United States in World Affairs (annual)[23]
- Political Handbook of the World (annual)[23]
Books
- Tobin, Harold J. & Bidwell, Percy W. Mobilizing Civilian America. New York: Council on Foreign Relations, 1940.
- Savord, Ruth. American Agencies Interested in International Affairs. Council on Foreign Relations, 1942.
- LCCN 60-5956
- Bundy, William P. (ed.). Two Hundred Years of American Foreign Policy. ISBN 978-0814709900
- Clough, Michael. Free at Last? U.S. Policy Toward Africa and the End of the Cold War. New York: Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1991. ISBN 0876091001
- Mandelbaum, Michael. The Rise of Nations in the Soviet Union: American Foreign Policy and the Disintegration of the USSR. New York: Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1991. ISBN 978-0876091005
- Gottlieb, Gidon. Nation Against State: A New Approach to Ethnic Conflicts and the Decline of Sovereignty. New York: Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1993. ISBN 0876091591
Reports
- "Confronting Reality in Cyberspace: Foreign Policy for a Fragmented Internet"[24][25] recommends reconsideration of U.S. cyber, digital trade and online freedom policies which champion a free and open internet, as having failed.[26]
- US-Taiwan Relations in a New Era - Responding to a More Assertive China, Independent Task Force Report No. 81, co-chaired by Susan M. Gordon and Michael G. Mullen, directed by David Sacks.
See also
Citations
- ^ "Michael Froman".
- ^ a b Council On Foreign Relations Inc — 2022. projects.propublica.org.
- ^ "Council on Foreign Relations Announces Michael Froman Will Serve as New President". Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
- ^ a b c "Directors and Officers" Archived December 9, 2021, at the Wayback Machine cfr.org. Retrieved November 29, 2021.
- ^ ISBN 0-85345-393-4.
- ^ ISBN 0876091923.
- ^ "The Council on Foreign Relations A Short History" by George Gavrilis, Council on Foreign Relations, 2021, page 10. Retrieved November 29, 2021. Archived November 30, 2021, at the Wayback Machine.
- ISBN 9780826319968.
- ^ S2CID 262030757.
- ^ Rothbard, Murray, Why the War? The Kuwait Connection Archived February 5, 2016, at the Wayback Machine (May 1991)
- ^ Scrutiny by NYT over the Shah of Iran – David Rockefeller, Memoirs (pp. 356–75)
- ISBN 978-1-4299-9065-3.
- ^ "Individual Membership" Archived September 17, 2020, at the Wayback Machine CFR.org
- ^ "Corporate Program" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on June 16, 2007. Retrieved February 25, 2007. (330 KB) CFR.org
- ^ "Young Professionals Briefing Series". Archived from the original on November 29, 2023. Retrieved February 7, 2024. (330 KB) CFR.org
- ISSN 0145-2096.
- ^ "Board of Directors". Council on Foreign Relations. Archived from the original on November 13, 2019. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
- ^ Harwood, Richard (October 30, 1993). "Ruling Class Journalists". Washington Post. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
- ^ Haldevang, Max de (October 16, 2019). "Top US think tank criticized for taking $12 million from a Russia-tied oligarch". Quartz. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
- ^ Friedman, Dan. "A Soviet-born billionaire is buying influence at US institutions. Anti-corruption activists are worried". Mother Jones. Archived from the original on September 20, 2021. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
- ^ "President's Welcome". Council on Foreign Relations. Archived from the original on July 17, 2006. Retrieved February 24, 2007.
- ^ Tobin, Harold J. & Bidwell, Percy W. "Publications of the Council on Foreign Relations." Mobilizing Civilian America. Council on Foreign Relations, 1940.
- ^ "Confronting Reality in Cyberspace: Foreign Policy for a Fragmented Internet" Archived August 8, 2022, at the Wayback Machine Council on Foreign Relations, May 2022. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
- ^ "How Should U.S. Cybersecurity Policy Develop?" Archived August 14, 2022, at the Wayback Machine Adam Segal, Council on Foreign Relations, July 14, 2022. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
- ^ "Council on Foreign Relations says U.S. internet policy has failed, urges new approach" Archived August 8, 2022, at the Wayback Machine Ryan Lovelace,The Washington Times, July 15, 2022. Retrieved August 7, 2022. (No. 80 updated: July 2022.)
General and cited sources
- Parmar, Inderjeet (2004). Think Tanks and Power in Foreign Policy: A Comparative Study of the Role and Influence of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1939−1945. London: Palgrave.
- Schulzinger, Robert D. (1984). The Wise Men of Foreign Affairs. New York: ISBN 0231055285.
- Wala, Michael (1994). The Council on Foreign Relations and American Foreign Policy in the Early Cold War. Providence, RI: Berghann Books. ISBN 157181003X.
External links
- Official website
- Archived website at Library of Congress (2001–2018)
- Council on Foreign Relations at Curlie
- Council on Foreign Relations Papers at the Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library, Princeton University
- "Council on Foreign Relations". File. FBI. August 27, 1931. 62-5256.