CFR Expands Its Expert Blog Offerings

The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) has launched several new blogs authored by CFR experts on U.S. foreign pol­icy, politics and security in Africa, energy and the environment, and the Middle East.

The new blogs include:

—"The Water’s Edge," a discussion of the politics shaping U.S. foreign policy, authored by Senior Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair James M. Lindsay. A weekly installment called the "Friday File" wraps up the week’s foreign policy news, and features other noteworthy resources.

—"Pressure Points," CFR’s newest blog, by Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies Elliott Abrams. If offers Abrams’s take on U.S. foreign policy, with special focus on the Middle East and democracy and human rights issues.

—"Africa in Transition," authored by Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies, and former ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell. On the blog, Campbell tracks the political and security developments in today’s Africa, such as Côte D’Ivoire’s recent election crisis, and Nigeria’s "polarizing politics." The blog also features a series of video interviews centered on Campbell’s new book, Nigeria: Dancing on the Brink. Follow Campbell on Twitter (@johncampbellcfr).

—"From the Potomac to the Euphrates," by Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies Steven A. Cook. The blog offers Cook’s observations and analyses of developments in the Middle East and their resonance in Washington. Read his recent take on the dangers of dismissing the potential for instability and political change in the Middle East. Cook is also active on Twitter (@stevenacook) and Facebook.

—"Michael A. Levi," by the director CFR’s program on energy security and climate change. The blog examines the science and foreign policy surrounding climate change, energy, and nuclear security. Read Michael Levi’s dispatches from the global climate summit in Cancun last month, his take on the five energy stories to watch in 2011, and his analysis of the challenges associated with the use of natural gas. Follow Levi on Twitter (@levi_m).

"Our aim is to make CFR.org an indispensable, authoritative resource on U.S. foreign policy and international affairs, as well as a hub of conversation on these issues," said Lisa Shields, CFR vice president for communications and marketing.

Other blogs on CFR.org include:

—"Asia Unbound," offering timely analysis of the issues and trends shaping the region from the experts in CFR’s Asia Program, including Elizabeth C. Economy, Adam Segal, Sheila A. Smith, Evan A. Feigenbaum, Joshua Kurlantzick, and Scott A. Snyder.

—"Geo-Graphics," published by CFR’s Center for Geoeconomic Studies, with in-depth analysis of global economic issues using easy-to-read graphs and charts. Recent entries demonstrate the weakness of the EU-IMF bailout of Ireland’s economy, why China should include currency revaluation in its five-year development plan, and whether the United States can afford continued global military supremacy.

Join the conversation, sign up for email updates, or subscribe to the blogs’ RSS feeds, at http://www.cfr.org/blogs.

CFR’s multimedia offerings also continue to expand. They include:

—Crisis Guides: CFR’s Emmy award–winning franchise, coproduced with the multimedia production studio MediaStorm, brings context and historical perspective to topics such as Pakistan, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, climate change, and the conflict on the Korean peninsula. In 2009, "Crisis Guide: The Global Economy" won an Emmy in the category of "New Approaches to Business and Financial Reporting." "Crisis Guide: Darfur" won the award in 2008 for "New Approaches to News & Documentary Programming: Current News Coverage."

—"Nuclear Energy Guide:" Explore the past, present, and future of nuclear energy with this recently updated and re-envisioned multimedia guide. Coproduced with MediaStorm, the guide uses maps, timelines, and video to survey nuclear power’s history, cost, safety, security, proliferation, and its environmental consequences.

—Global Governance Monitor: This interactive feature tracks, maps, and evaluates multilateral efforts to address today’s global challenges. Presented by the International Institutions and Global Governance program and MediaStorm, the monitor has five thematic components thus far: climate change, public health, oceans governance, nuclear nonproliferation, and global finance. New components on armed conflict, terrorism, and other transnational issues will be added over the next year.

—Video Introduction to CFR: A four-minute video features CFR members such as Erin Burnett, Chuck Hagel, Carla A. Hills,  Angelina Jolie, Robert E. Rubin, Brian D. Williams, and Fareed Zakaria, speaking about the organization’s nonpartisan mission, independence, impact, convening power, and policy-relevant scholarship.

—Meeting Videos: Get inside access to all of CFR’s on-the-record meetings, including video highlights for select meetings. This content can be found on iTunes and CFR’s YouTube channel.

—Podcasts: CFR.org regularly offers audio interviews with experts, in addition to its weekly preview of world events, "The World Next Week." All podcasts can also be found on iTunes.

—Timelines: Tracing the historical unfolding of political and financial events, CFR’s interactive timelines have covered the U.S. war in Afghanistan, the Iraq war, Venezuela under Chávez, and more.

Browse all of CFR.org’s features, subscribe to CFR’s numerous enewsletters and RSS feeds, access transcripts of on-the-record events, read daily news analysis, download publications, and much more at www.cfr.org.

The Council on Foreign Relations is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher dedicated to being a resource for its members, government officials, business executives, journalists, educators and students, civic and religious leaders, and other interested citizens in order to help them better understand the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries. CFR takes no institutional positions on matters of policy.