Home |
Site Index |
FAQs |
Contact |
RSS
|
Podcast
The Council on Foreign Relations launched the Independent Task Force Program in 1995 with a Task Force on nuclear nonproliferation, chaired by Stephen J. Hadley, who now serves as President George W. Bush’s national security adviser. More than fifty reports later, Task Forces have become a trademark of the Council.
The Council sponsors an Independent Task Force when an issue of current and critical importance to U.S. foreign policy arises, and it seems that a group diverse in backgrounds and perspectives may nonetheless be able to reach a meaningful consensus on a policy through private and nonpartisan deliberations. Once formed, Task Forces are independent. Task Force chairs, directors, and members are solely responsible for the content of their reports.
As Task Forces are intended to help shape the public debate on critical foreign policy issues, the Council mobilizes its resources to maximize the impact of Task Force reports, both at the time of the initial release and as developments warrant. In addition to media outreach, the Council supports the efforts of Task Force chairs and members to reach influential practitioners in the executive branch, in Congress, and beyond.
For a complete list of Council-sponsored Independent Task Force reports online, click here.
November 21, 2006—Present
| Chairs: | Bob Kerrey, President, The New School William H. Webster, Partner, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP |
|---|---|
| Director: | Daniel B. Prieto, Vice President, Homeland Security and Intelligence, IBM Corporation |
Chaired by former Nebraska Senator and Governor Bob Kerrey and former Director of the CIA and FBI William H. Webster, the Task Force will address how to maintain America's longstanding democratic traditions while protecting against real and serious threats. Council member Daniel B. Prieto, vice president for Homeland Security and Intelligence at IBM Corporation, will direct the project.
Comprised of roughly two dozen national security and human rights experts, the Task Force aims to craft a set of recommendations for the country's mid- to long-term national security policy, addressing a range of issues including congressional and judicial oversight, secrecy and the free exchange of information, and privacy in a world of increased surveillance.
The Task Force held its first meeting in November 2006, and aims to publish a final report by the end of 2007.
January 30, 2008—Present
| Chairs: | William J. Perry, Professor, Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University Brent Scowcroft, President and Founder, The Scowcroft Group |
|---|---|
| Director: | Charles D. Ferguson, Philip D. Reed Senior Fellow for Science and Technology |
The Council has convened a new Independent Task Force on U.S. Nuclear Weapons Posture, chaired by former Secretary of Defense William J. Perry and former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft. The Task Force will take a fresh look at current U.S. nuclear doctrine and policy, determine the purpose of America's nuclear weapons, and make recommendations for the future of arms control and nonproliferation.
During its first meeting in January 2008, the group debated the purpose of U.S. nuclear weapons and discussed other core issues such as the size and composition of the U.S. nuclear arsenal and the effect of U.S. nuclear policy on preventing proliferation and nuclear terrorism.
Charles D. Ferguson, Council fellow for science and technology, serves as the project director. The group aims to produce the report in the fall of 2008, in anticipation of the new incoming presidential administration.
This report argues that the United States must lead with domestic action on climate change and proposes a U.S. negotiating strategy for a global UN climate agreement that includes commitments from all major economies, while also promoting a less formal Partnership for Climate Cooperation that would focus the world's largest emitters on implementing aggressive emissions reductions.
This Task Force report examines changes in Latin America and in U.S. influence there, while taking account of the region's enduring importance to the United States. The Task Force offers an agenda for U.S. policy toward Latin America and identifies four critical areas that should provide the basis of a new U.S. approach.
About Independent Task Forces at the Council.
The Council offers a variety of email newsletters about up-to-date CFR.org material on what’s happening around the world.
Enter your email address,and click 'Go' to subscribe.
Council Experts are based in the Council’s New York and Washington offices. Each expert's bio page contains his or her contact information, professional and educational history, links to publications and current research, a downloadable one-page biographical narrative, and a high-definition photo.
In Termites in the Trading System, Jagdish Bhagwati reveals how the rapid spread of preferential trade agreements endangers the world trading system.
America Between the Wars explores how the decisions and debates of the years between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Twin Towers shaped the events, arguments, and politics of the world we live in today.
In The Fall and Rise of the Islamic State, Noah Feldman tells the story behind the increasingly popular call for the establishment of the sharia—the law of the traditional Islamic state—in the modern Muslim world.
Complete list of CFR Books.
If you wish to receive a printed copy of one of our annual reports, please email your request to publications@cfr.org or call +1-212-434-9665.
Be sure to include your complete mailing address, phone number, and the year of the annual report that you wish to receive.
Copyright 2008 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.
