Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy
Advancing understanding in geostrategy, international security, and global politics
Dr. Jon B. Alterman was named to the Zbigniew Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy in 2012. CSIS established the chair in 2003 to advance understanding in the fields of geostrategy, international security, and global politics. Zbigniew Brzezinski was the nation’s 11th national security adviser, and after leaving that post he spent more than three decades at CSIS. Reflecting Brzezinski’s personal achievements during a long career that included public service, teaching, and writing, CSIS awards the chair to a leading scholar-practitioner in global affairs and international strategy.
Much of Dr. Alterman’s scholarship is grounded in decades of study of the Middle East, yet in recent years he has advanced cross-regional research linking his Middle East expertise to emerging global issues. Currently, Dr. Alterman’s work for the Brzezinski Chair focuses on three main themes:
Dr. Alterman’s early work on China, the United States, and the Middle East in the mid-2000s anticipated the growing Middle Eastern energy trade with Asia and the increasing importance of the Middle East to Chinese economic political, and military strategy. As the U.S. strategic posture balances away from a Middle East focus, Russia plays a greater role in regional conflicts, and the Global South emerges as a key player in international affairs, the Brzezinski Chair is working to understand how regional states are responding to Great Power efforts to shape the global commons and to anticipate future challenges to global order. You can read some of Alterman’s work on China-Middle East ties here, and the Brzezinski Chair’s latest report on global order here.
In recent years, states have increasingly turned to the capture or wrongful detention of Western citizens as an asymmetrical tool of coercion against the United States and its allies. The resultant “hostage diplomacy” is a critical bipartisan issue. Dr. Alterman helped launch the CSIS Commission on Hostage Taking and Wrongful Detention to study the efficacy of policy responses to hostage taking, develop new tools to empower U.S. officials and the families of hostages, and deter future hostage taking. Find out more about the Commission here.
The number of independent states has expanded exponentially since World War I. But many independence movements have also failed, with broader implications for regional stability and international cooperation. The Brzezinski Chair has conducted research on the factors contributing to the success or failure of struggles for self-determination across the world. Read the latest book from the Brzezinski Chair on independence movements here.
Latest Work
Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, and Alsu Kurmasheva Are Back in the United States
On Thursday, a massive and complex prisoner exchange marked a breakthrough in hostage diplomacy between Russia and the West. Sixteen prisoners held in Russia are free in the largest prisoner swap since the Cold War.
Commentary by Danielle Gilbert — August 6, 2024
Coming Home after Being a Hostage Abroad
Commentary by Jason Rezaian — August 2, 2024
“Newcomers Bring New Rules: Shared Leadership in a More Multipolar World”: Audio Brief with Jon B. Alterman
Podcast Episode by Jon B. Alterman — April 22, 2024
Newcomers Bring New Rules
Report by Jon B. Alterman and Lily McElwee — April 22, 2024
Pursuing Global Order in the Twenty-First Century
Digital Report by Jon B. Alterman and Lily McElwee — April 22, 2024
All Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy Content
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2014 Global Forecast
Report by Craig Cohen, Josiane Gabel, Kathleen H. Hicks, Jon Alterman, David Berteau, Ernest Bower, Samuel Brannen, Victor Cha, Heather Conley, Jennifer Cooke, Zack Cooper, Anthony Cordesman, Ralph Cossa, Matthew Goodman, Michael Green, John Hamre, Murray Hiebert, Christopher Johnson, Andrew Kuchins, and Sarah Ladislaw, Robert Lamb, Maren Leed, James Lewis, Haim Malka, Carl Meacham, Scott Miller, Stephen Morrison, Clark Murdock, Aram Nerguizian, Daniel Runde, Sharon Squassoni, Johanna Nesseth Tuttle, Juan Zarate — November 1, 2013
Middle East Notes and Comment: The Age of Proxy Wars
Newsletter by Jon B. Alterman — May 17, 2013
The New Egypt: Challenges of a Post-Revolutionary Era - Day 4
Event — April 25, 2013
Interpreting Xi Jinping's First Trip Abroad: Glimpses of an Emerging Diplomatic Strategy?
Event — April 24, 2013
The New Egypt: Challenges of a Post-Revolutionary Era - Day 2
Event — April 23, 2013
GlobeSec 2013 Keynote Address: Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski
Event — April 18, 2013
Middle East Notes and Comment: Paradigm Shift
Newsletter by Jon B. Alterman — February 14, 2013
Jon B. Alterman
Independence Movements and Their Aftermath: Self-Determination and the Struggle for Success
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