home > the cfr think tank > experts > leslie h. gelb
President Emeritus and Board Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations
Contact Info:
Phone: +1-212-434-9742; for all media requests call +1-212-434-9460
E-mail: JZelmati@cfr.org
Location:
New York, NY
Media downloads:
Video clip (WMV, 970K)
Video clip (MP4, 1.3 MB)
Pulitzer Prize-winner, former correspondent for the New York Times, and senior official in State and Defense Departments; expert on U.S. foreign policy and national security.
Expertise:U.S. foreign policy; national security; Russia; Persian Gulf.
Experience:Columnist, Deputy Editorial Page Editor, Op-ed Page Editor, National Security Correspondent, Diplomatic Correspondent, New York Times (1981-93); Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (1980-81); Assistant Secretary of State for political/military affairs (1977-79); Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution (1969-73); Visiting Professor, Georgetown University (1969-73); Director of Policy Planning and Arms Control for International Security Affairs, Department of Defense (196769); Executive Assistant, U.S. Senator Jacob K. Javits (1966-67).
Honors:Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Journalism (1985); American Political Science Association (APSA) Woodrow Wilson Award for the best book on international relations (1981); Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Selected Publications:Anglo-American Relations, 1945-1950: Toward a Theory of Alliances (Taylor & Francis, 1988); Claiming the Heavens: The New York Times Complete Guide to the Star Wars Debate (coauthor, Crown Publishing Group, 1988); Our Own Worst Enemy: The Unmaking of American Foreign Policy (coauthor, Simon & Schuster, 1984); The Irony of Vietnam: The System Worked (coauthor, Brookings Institution Press, 1980).
December 19, 2008
Interview
As President George W. Bush enters his final month in office, Leslie H. Gelb, a former high-ranking national security official who served ten years as CFR's president, assesses the Bush administration's legacy. It "drained and lessened American power in the world," he says, and as a result U.S. credibility in the world "was sorely damaged."
See more in United States, Presidency
October 12, 2008
Op-Ed
Parade
Leslie H. Gelb discusses the impact the U.S. president has on shaping the world.
See more in U.S. Strategy and Politics, Presidency, U.S. Election 2008
September 2, 2008
Op-Ed
National Interest
Leslie Gelb argues that now is the time for realists to put aside partisan differences to form a " politically potent coalition...to shape U.S. foreign policy."
See more in U.S. Strategy and Politics, Grand Strategy
May 11, 2008
Op-Ed
Parade
Leslie H. Gelb writes that “the reality of the 3 a.m. call, however, is both less dramatic and less telling than most Americans think.”
See more in Presidency, U.S. Election 2008
April 27, 2008
Op-Ed
New York Times
Leslie H. Gelb reviews Aram Roston's new book, “The Man Who Pushed America to War,” about Ahmad Chalabi.
See more in United States, Iraq, Foreign Policy History
April 27, 2008
Op-Ed
Washington Post
Leslie H. Gelb argues that real issue is not whether to talk to "bad guys" but how.
See more in United States, North Korea, Iran, U.S. Strategy and Politics
April 26, 2008
Op-Ed
Washington Post
Watering down previous deals will reinforce Pyongyang’s instinct for bluster and blackmail, argue Winston Lord and Leslie H. Gelb.
See more in United States, North Korea, U.S. Strategy and Politics
October 16, 2007
Interview
Former CFR President Leslie H. Gelb says the plan to persuade Iraqis to accept a federal form of government is the best way to “maintain harmony among the different Iraqi groups,” although it remains unpopular among many Arabs.
See more in Iraq, Civil Reconstruction, Peacemaking
October 16, 2007
Op-Ed
National Interest online
Leslie Gelb and Morton Abramovitz consider the common assertion of presidential candidates that the U.S. must restore its leadership in the world.
See more in United States, Foreign Policy History, U.S. Election 2008
October 3, 2007
Op-Ed
Washington Post
Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) and CFR's Leslie Gelb in the Washington Post say the U.S. should support federalism, not partition, in Iraq.
See more in Iraq, Democracy Promotion, Nation Building
September 23, 2007
Article
New York Times
See more in United States, Israel, Congress, U.S. Election 2008
February 9, 2007
Op-Ed
Wall Street Journal
See more in Middle East, Iraq, Grand Strategy
January 23, 2007
Testimony
See more in Iraq, Defense Strategy, Conflict Assessment, Congress, Grand Strategy
January 14, 2007
Op-Ed
The Washington Post
See more in Iraq, Wars and Warfare, Congress, Foreign Policy History, Presidency
December 10, 2006
Op-Ed
The New York Times
See more in Iraq, National Security and Defense, Wars and Warfare, International Peace and Security, Congress
October 24, 2006
Op-Ed
Wall Street Journal
See more in Iraq, Wars and Warfare, Congress
October 15, 2006
Op-Ed
Time Magazine
See more in Iraq, Wars and Warfare, Grand Strategy
July 28, 2006
Op-Ed
Wall Street Journal
See more in Middle East, U.S. Strategy and Politics
July 11, 2006
Audio
Listen to Fouad Ajami discuss his book The Foreigner's Gift: The Americans, the Arabs, and the Iraqis in Iraq as part of the Council's Iraq: The Way Forward Series.
See more in Society and Culture, U.S. Strategy and Politics
July 11, 2006
Video
Watch Fouad Ajami discuss his book The Foreigner's Gift: The Americans, the Arabs, and the Iraqis in Iraq as part of the Council's Iraq: The Way Forward Series.
See more in Society and Culture, U.S. Strategy and Politics
In The Closing of the American Border, Edward Alden goes behind the scenes to tell the story of the Bush administration’s struggle to balance security and openness in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
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.
Complete list of CFR Books.
This report lays out a thoughtful agenda for U.S. policy toward the Democratic Republic of Congo, arguing that what happens there should matter to the United States--for humanitarian reasons as well as economic and strategic ones.
In this report, CFR Senior Fellow Michael A. Levi analyzes the potential use of deterrence in preventing terrorist groups from acquiring nuclear weapons and recommends a new approach to U.S. declaratory policy, as well as ways to improve U.S. capabilities to determine the sources of terrorist attacks.
Complete list of Council Special Reports.
For more information on the David Rockefeller Studies Program, contact:
Gary Samore
Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair
+1.212.434.9627
gsamore@cfr.org
Sebastian Mallaby
Director of the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for
Geoeconomic Studies, Deputy Director of Studies, and Paul A. Volcker Senior
Fellow for International Economics
smallaby@cfr.org
Janine Hill
Deputy Director of Studies Administration
+1.212.434.9753
jhill@cfr.org
Copyright 2009 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.
