Steven A. Cook, Expert on Arab and Turkish Politics, Joins Council as Next Generation Fellow

January 30, 2004 - Steven A. Cook, an expert on Arab and Turkish politics, has joined the Council to complete a book that evaluates the military’s role in the political development of Egypt, Turkey, and Algeria. He will also launch a project that examines the prospects and problems associated with political, economic, and social reform in the Arab world, and will write on issues related to U.S. policy in the Middle East, Turkey’s drive for EU membership, and the Arab-Israeli conflict.

“We are very fortunate to have Steven as a new member of the Studies Program,” says James M. Lindsay, Maurice R. Greenberg Chair and Director of the Studies at the Council. “He is an immensely talented young scholar who combines academic rigor with in-depth personal knowledge of the Middle East.”

Before joining the Council, Cook was a Research Fellow at the Brookings Institution (2001-2002)—where he will continue to serve as a member of Brookings’s Task Force on U.S. Policy toward the Islamic World. Prior to that, he was a Soref Research Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (1995-1996). Cook’s writings have appeared in Middle East Quarterly, Middle East Insight, Insight Turkey, Encyclopedia of U.S. Foreign Relations, SAIS Review, Arab World Geographer, Millennium, and the Christian Science Monitor.

Cook holds an AB in International Studies from Vassar College, an MA in international relations from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and both a Master’s degree and PhD in political science from the University of Pennsylvania.

The Next Generation Fellowship Program nurtures outstanding young thinkers and writers whose work lies at the frontier of policy relevant scholarship. During their time at the Council, Next Generation Fellows conduct research and hold study group meetings with Council members and other experts to discuss their work. These efforts are expected to lead to the publication of several major articles or a book during the Fellow’s tenure at the Council.

Founded in 1921, the Council on Foreign Relations is an independent, national membership organization and a nonpartisan center for scholars dedicated to producing and disseminating ideas so that individual and corporate members, as well as policymakers, journalists, students, and interested citizens in the United States and other countries, can better understand the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other governments.

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