Videos

Jim Owens, Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Emeritus, discusses the importance of competitiveness and free trade issues for the long term economic health of the United States and for the country’s leadership role in the world. Owens spoke to Council on Foreign Relations Vice President Camille Massey during CFR’s 2011 Corporate Conference.

Daniel Markey, Senior Fellow for India, Pakistan, and South Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, explores the implications of Osama bin Laden’s death for U.S. tense relations with Pakistan, the country in which the al-Qaeda leader was hiding.

James M. Lindsay, Senior Vice President and Director of Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, discusses how the news that U.S. Special Forces have killed Osama bin Laden will influence U.S. foreign policy, President Barack Obama’s public opinion, and the war in Afghanistan.

Steven Cook, Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, expects that bin Laden’s death will not have a significant impact on al-Qaeda or organizations like it. Extremist activity targeting countries in the Middle East and the United States is likely to continue, says Cook.

Elliott Abrams, Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, says that bin Laden’s death helps the drive for democracy in the Middle East and weakens the influence of al-Qaeda in the Arab world.

Having just returned from Cuba’s Communist Party Congress, Council on Foreign Relations’ Senior Fellow for Latin America Studies, Julia Sweig, shares her analysis of the political and economic reforms introduced by Raul Castro.

Roger Altman, Founder and Chairman of Evercore Partners and former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, discusses the prospects for solving the U.S. debt and deficit with John Bussey, Washington Bureau Chief of The Wall Street Journal. Altman and Bussey spoke on the sidelines of CFR’s 2011 Corporate Conference.

Jean Ping, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, discusses the organization’s role in Libya and the impact of the Arab Spring on the continent, with Jendayi Frazer, Adjunct Senior Fellow for Africa Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi discusses the impact of the Arab Spring on the democratic movement in Iran with Isobel Coleman, Director of the Council on Foreign Relations’ Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative.

Following reports of substantial rigging in Nigeria’s April 16 presidential elections, John Campbell, Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, says the issue is not whether Jonathan would have won the elections "anyway," but rather the sentiment among Northerners that the PDP yet again stole the elections.

CFR’s Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies John Campbell discusses the importance of Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta to U.S. interests and highlights the need for a political solution.

CFR’s Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies highlights examples of Nigerian civil society organizations. These organizations, Campbell says, have a significant "name and shame" role to play in impelling the country towards democracy.

Nigeria’s upcoming presidential elections will upset the country’s power sharing system. CFR’s Senior Fellow for Africa Policy Studies cautions that campaign appeals to ethnicity and religion coupled with elections that lack credibility may destabilize the country.

CFR’s John Campbell says deteriorating economic and social conditions in Northern Nigeria are behind the recurring upsurge in Boko Haram’s activity. Campbell cautions that the circumstances enabling Boko Haram to operate may be taken advantage of by Al Qaeda or other international terrorist groups, though that has not happened yet.

Alyse Nelson, Co-Founder and CEO of Vital Voices, discusses the organization’s work to empower women around the world with Isobel Coleman, Director of CFR’s Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative.