Videos

As the world’s population surpasses seven billion, CFR Senior Fellow for Global Health Yanzhong Huang identifies the variety of ways in which different global regions are impacted by population growth. Huang argues that a region- and issue-specific approach is needed to address population issues.

Rob Quartel, chairman and CEO of NTELX, discusses the need for investment in U.S. infrastructure with CFR’s James M. Lindsay. "We really have to focus on alternative means for paying for infrastructure," argues Quartel.

Ed Husain, CFR’s senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies, discusses the emergence of Islamist political parties in Tunisia.

Senator Carl M. Levin (D-MI), chairman of the Armed Services Committee, discusses U.S. involvement in Libya following Qaddafi’s death, as well as progress in Afghanistan and possible federal budget sequestration with CFR’s James M. Lindsay.

Robert Danin, CFR’s senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies, argues that the international community needs to remain involved in Libya after Qaddafi’s death.

Kurt J. Nagle, president and CEO of the American Association of Port Authorities, discusses the infrastructure investment needed to increase U.S. trade and competitiveness with CFR’s director of studies, James M. Lindsay.

The U.S. ratification of the stalled Free Trade Agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama indicates that "there is a possibility, despite the very great partisan divisions in Congress, of bipartisan cooperation on economic issues," says CFR’s Edward Alden. However, Alden emphasizes that "it is important not to overstate the potential job creation benefits" of the agreements.

CFR’s Robert Danin identifies the winners and losers in the deal brokered between Israel and Hamas to secure the release of Gilad Shalit, abducted by Hamas in June 2006.

Cherie Blair, founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, discusses the gender gap in access to mobile technology. Research conducted by Blair’s organization has found that the gender gap is particularly wide in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

Egypt’s 2011 revolution marks the latest chapter in Egyptians’ longtime struggle for greater democratic freedoms. In this video, Steven A. Cook, CFR’s Hasib J. Sabbagh senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies and author of "The Struggle for Egypt", identifies the lessons that Egypt’s emerging leadership must learn from the Nasser, Sadat, and Mubarak regimes.

Expert Robin Wright discusses the unfolding developments of the Arab Spring with CFR’s Isobel Coleman. Wright argues that a "counter-jihad" is happening, which is "challenging the political status quo."

Sebastian Mallaby, Director of the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies and Paul A. Volcker Senior Fellow for International Economics, says Greece is nearing a turning point in its debt crisis. Mallaby predicts that "Greece is going to have to default, it’s going to have to be restructured in its debt," and argues that policy-makers need to "prevent the fire from spreading out of Greece and causing trouble all across the eurozone."

Steven Cook, Hasib J. Sabbagh Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations discusses the prospects and implications of the Palestinian bid for UN recognition of statehood. Cook cautions that "an American veto or American opposition to this declaration of statehood is likely to roil already intense and uncertain and unstable political environments throughout the region."

Derek Yach, director of global health policy at PepsiCo, discusses the role of government and business in lowering mortality rates from non-communicable diseases (NCDs). "We now have overwhelming evidence, both of the health impact, and perhaps as importantly, we’re starting to see the economic impact of heart disease, diabites, chronic lung disease, cancer," says Yach, arguing this data is raising global interest in the issue of NCDs.

This video is part of a special Council on Foreign Relations series that explores how 9/11 changed international relations and U.S. foreign policy. In this video, James M. Lindsay, Senior Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair at the Council on Foreign Relations traces the shifts in the balance of power in American politics following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. "What we witnessed in the months after the attack was a political dynamic as old as the American republic. When the country feels imperiled, the White House gains in power and Congress loses it," says Lindsay. However, ten years after the attacks, "the era of terrorism has given way to the era of fiscal austerity," Lindsay argues, and "we now have American politics that looks more normal, that is much more focused inward, and features much more heated battles between Capitol Hill and the White House."