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

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Books and Reports

Dr. Alterman’s work tackles broader themes than just what goes on within the Middle East. Featured here are major, produced written products that look at big picture trends, touching on U.S. engagement with China and Europe, as well as Russia’s role as a spoiler.

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Commentary

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Dr. Alterman often writes short, op-ed style pieces on geostrategic issues involving the United States, the Middle East, and often other great powers in the region. To receive these each month, please subscribe to the Middle East Notes and Comment newsletter.

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All Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy Content

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Babel: U.S. Power and Influence in the Middle East

U.S. Power and Influence in the Middle East: Part Four

Jon explores U.S. diplomacy in the Middle East and how U.S. policymakers think about the use of diplomatic tools. 

Podcast Episode by Jon B. Alterman — March 29, 2022

CSIS Babel U.S. in the Middle East
Babel: U.S. Power and Influence in the Middle East

U.S. Power and Influence in the Middle East: Part Three

Jon explores how the United States has used its economic toolkit in the Middle East, and how sanctions and development aid have been in advancing U.S. interests in the Middle East. 

Podcast Episode by Jon B. Alterman — March 22, 2022

CSIS Babel U.S. in the Middle East
Babel: U.S. Power and Influence in the Middle East

U.S. Power and Influence in the Middle East: Part Two

Jon Alterman explores how the last two decades of heightened U.S. military involvement in the Middle East changed the region, and the U.S. military. 

Podcast Episode by Jon B. Alterman and Eliot A. Cohen — March 15, 2022

CSIS Babel U.S. in the Middle East
Babel: U.S. Power and Influence in the Middle East

U.S. Power and Influence in the Middle East: Part One

Jon takes a closer look at how the United States responded to the 9/11 attacks by deepening its involvement in the Middle East, how its role in the region has changed, and how some people think it needs to change a lot more. 

Podcast Episode by Jon B. Alterman — March 8, 2022

CSIS Babel U.S. in the Middle East

China Headaches for Iran Deal

Jon Alterman gives a commentary on China’s changing role in nuclear negotiations.

Commentary by Jon B. Alterman — September 22, 2021

Focus on Influence, Not Power, in the Middle East

Dr. Jon Alterman discusses the difference between “influence” and “power” with U.S. involvement in the Middle East, comparing the United States to its key adversaries.

Commentary by Jon B. Alterman — March 25, 2021

The Smart Way out of the Middle East

Dr. Jon Alterman discusses how the United States can rebalance away from the Middle East while maintaining influence over its allies and partners.

Commentary by Jon B. Alterman — February 22, 2021