April 06, 2009. Power, Ideas and Foreign Policy in the 21st Century



Leslie H. Gelb

President Emeritus, Council on Foreign Relations



Conversations host Harry Kreisler welcomes Leslie H. Gelb, President Emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, for a discussion of his new book Power Rules: How Common Sense Can Rescue American Foreign Policy. Gelb analyzes what power is, demonstrates how most American leaders fail to understand it, and explains how the demons of ideology, domestic politics, and arrogrance lead to its misuse. Gelb then focuses on the architecture of power in the 21st century. Finally, he proposes a strategy for U.S. foreign policy and examines two problems--the international economic crisis and the Afghanistan Pakistan crisis and offers suggestions to President Obama about how he should proceed to avoid the pitfalls that wrecked previous administrations.



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



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. Author of the new book Power Rules: How Common Sense Can Rescue Foreign Policy (HarperCollins, March 2009).

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 (1967-­69); 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:



Power Rules: How Common Sense Can Rescue Foreign Policy (HarperCollins, March 2009); 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).

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