A year after the emergence of the new coronavirus, the first COVID-19 vaccines are being distributed, spurring hope that the pandemic’s end is in sight. This Backgrounder traces the global effort.
Craig F. Walker/Reuters
Panelists discuss COVID-19 vaccine misinformation and disinformation campaigns and tactics to disrupt and disarm them.
2020 in Review
Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters
Experts from around the globe recommend the most important actions policymakers should take in 2021 to address threats to health, security, and economic livelihood.
Extreme natural occurrences. Police brutality and racism. A global pandemic. CFR breaks down 2020’s biggest news with graphics.
Transition 2021
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.
Panelists discuss the 12th Annual Arab Youth Survey and the public opinion trends among Arab youth, including religion, perceptions of economic opportunities, and post-COVID-19 governance.
Each Friday, I look at what is happening in President-Elect Joe Biden’s transition to the White House. This week: Iran will likely provide an early test for Biden and his national security team.
China
This year, tensions between Washington and Beijing flared over many issues. As the Biden administration prepares to take over, what lies ahead for one of the world’s most important bilateral relationships?
Elizabeth C. Economy, senior fellow for China studies at CFR and senior fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, and Adam Segal, CFR’s Ira A. Lipman chair in emerging technologies and national security, sit down with James M. Lindsay to discuss a Biden administration’s approach to U.S.-China relations.
When it comes to crafting policy, an all-consuming focus on bipolarity could be utterly disastrous. The Biden administration should junk the concept.
Brexit
The United Kingdom and the European Union have been unable to reach a deal to define their post-Brexit relationship after nearly a year of talks. A severe disruption to trade between them looks increasingly likely.
Supply Chains
Supply chains will need to be rethought for a post-pandemic world, with more emphasis on diversification, domestic production, and stockpiling.
Shannon K. O’Neil, CFR vice president, deputy director of studies, and Nelson and David Rockefeller senior fellow for Latin America Studies, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss what the coronavirus pandemic means for international supply chains and trade. Read O’Neil’s article, “How to Pandemic-Proof Globalization: Redundancy, Not Reshoring, Is the Key to Supply Chain Security,” on ForeignAffairs.com.
Events
A global pandemic, elections, civil unrest, and much more. The year 2020 was like no other. Take a look back at how the Council on Foreign Relations brought together renowned experts and leaders to unpack one of the most challenging times for the United States and the world.
Chairman Kimberly Reed discusses how the Export-Import Bank is working to modernize U.S. business competitiveness in the face of contentious trade and business practices by China.
Public Health Threats and Pandemics
The coronavirus pandemic has not been an advertisement for the healthy effects of democracy. There have been some notable success stories among democracies, but it is also true that nine out of the ten nations with the highest cumulative COVID-19 cases are democracies. One possibility is that the mechanisms that ordinarily produce better health in democracies—accountability through free and fair elections and freedom of expression—may not function to produce the same result in a pandemic. In this Council on Foreign Relations roundtable, Drs. John Gerring and Ilona Kickbusch discuss this possibility and their work from a new BMJ series on democracy and health.
Public Health Threats and Pandemics
Panelists discuss the state of the World Health Organization, including the influence exerted by the United States and China, the organization's ability to coordinate a global vaccine, and its role in addressing future pandemics.
Expert Spotlight
Henri J. Barkey
Adjunct Senior Fellow for Middle East Studies
Philip H. Gordon
Mary and David Boies Senior Fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy
Middle East and North Africa Europe and Eurasia U.S. Foreign Policy
Explainers
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Food and Water Security
Rising Hunger: Facing a Food-Insecure World
Global food insecurity has surged amid the coronavirus pandemic, threatening to worsen humanitarian crises and spur further mass migration.
China
China’s Approach to Global Governance
Learn about China's evolving approach to global governance and how it has shifted strategy under President Xi Jinping related to trade, the belt and road initiative, and the coronavirus pandemic.
Public Health Threats and Pandemics
The Coronavirus Pandemic, With Tom Bollyky
Thomas J. Bollyky, director of CFR’s Global Health program and senior fellow for global health, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the World Health Organization’s newly declared pandemic, COVID-19.
United States
How Police Compare in Different Democracies
Killings by U.S. officers in 2020 have sparked widespread calls for police reform and an end to systemic racism. Here’s how U.S. policing compares with other countries’ approaches.
Global
Women’s Power Index
Find out where women around the world wield political power—and why it matters.
Featured Publications
Former Ambassador John Campbell illustrates the history and importance of Nigeria, a country too often overlooked by the West.
CFR Senior Fellow Yanzhong Huang discusses how China’s environmental crisis is undermining public health and becoming an Achilles heel in its reemergence as a global power.
Charles A. Kupchan mines the nation’s past to uncover the ideological and political roots of ongoing changes in U.S. foreign policy, including the sources of Donald J. Trump's “America First” doctrine.