Council Senior Fellow and Director of Middle East Studies Rachel Bronson Named 2003 Carnegie Scholar

Recognized for Innovative Work on U.S.-Saudi Arabia Relations

May 9, 2003 - Rachel Bronson, a senior fellow and director of Middle East Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, has been named a 2003 Carnegie Scholar for her work on U.S.-Saudi Arabia relations. Bronson is one of 13 new scholars named this year by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and joins other emerging and recognized scholars at American universities and research institutions. “Carnegie is reinforcing what we at the Council know so well. Rachel is one of the top, young thinkers on the U.S. and the Middle East,” says Council president Leslie H. Gelb.

Each scholar, chosen in a highly competitive process, will receive up to $100,000 over the next two years to pursue path-breaking research that expands the intellectual margins of the Corporation’s program areas.

Bronson’s research asks why, in light of September 11th, the debate over U.S.-Saudi relations has become stale and why a restructuring of the relationship has not occurred. Her hypothesis is that critical information about the relationship is missing. To address and analyze this gap, Bronson will be writing a book to provide data to guide U.S. policymakers and help the wider, interested public better understand U.S.-Saudi relations and determine if and how to redefine this troubled relationship.

"As the Carnegie Scholars program approaches its fourth year, the announcement of the new class of Carnegie Scholars underscores the importance of the role the creative intellectual plays in a democratic society," said Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation of New York. "The Scholars program each year helps men and women of vision to examine some of the most significant and critical questions facing the world today.”

For a list of recipients and more information, visit the Carnegie Corporation of New York web site: http://www.carnegie.org/sub/news/03scholarsannounced.html

Established in 1921, the Council on Foreign Relations is a nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank, dedicated to increasing America’s understanding of the world and contributing ideas to U.S. foreign policy. The Council accomplishes this mainly by promoting constructive debates and discussions, clarifying world issues, and publishing Foreign Affairs, the leading journal on global issues.

Contact: Lisa Shields, Vice President, Communications, (212) 434-9888