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 two 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.

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Coming Home after Being a Hostage Abroad

In the aftermath of the prisoner swap with Russia, returned Americans face many barriers to reintegration. Jason Rezaian explains how the United States can move forward with bipartisan policies to ease their burden.

Commentary by Jason Rezaian — August 2, 2024

The Impacts of Raisi’s Death

On May 19, 2024, Iran’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, and foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, died in a plane crash. Jon Alterman breaks down what their deaths mean for Iranian politics and the wider region. 

Critical Questions by Jon B. Alterman — May 20, 2024

'Across the Aisle' on Hostage Diplomacy

Amb. Robert O'Brien and Jason Rezaian, co-chairs of the CSIS Commission on Hostage Taking and Wrongful Detention, join Columbia University SIPA to discuss the challenges of hostage diplomacy.

Event — April 29, 2024

Newcomers Bring New Rules

Jon Alterman and Lily McElwee argue that addressing the world’s increasingly complex challenges in an era of national contestation requires robust multilateral cooperation to create opportunities and improve global conditions.

Report by Jon B. Alterman and Lily McElwee — April 22, 2024

Pursuing Global Order in the Twenty-First Century

Amid rising great power competition, the United States needs to rethink its engagement with the Global South—a diverse but increasingly populous and wealthy group of states that will be vital to addressing the world's problems.

Digital Report by Jon B. Alterman and Lily McElwee — April 22, 2024

China and the Middle East

China sees the Middle East as the point of the spear of creating a different world which is more mercantilist and less committed to international law and multilateralism.

Congressional Testimony by Jon B. Alterman — April 19, 2024

Jon B. Alterman for Foreign Affairs: A Détente Option for Iran

Jon Alterman delves into U.S.-Iran relations, exposing the failures of deterrence and advocating for a nuanced, strategic response to foster stability and predictability amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East.

Commentary by Jon B. Alterman — April 3, 2024