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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In Search of an Iran Strategy

The United States needs an Iran strategy. Similarly, Iran needs a U.S. strategy. Now, it feels like neither country has such a strategy as CSIS Middle East Program director Jon Alterman writes in a new commentary.

Commentary by Jon B. Alterman — September 24, 2018

Help Wanted: Multilateralism in the Eastern Mediterranean

The United States not only has a unique opportunity to loom large in the region’s future, but doing so would also push others to share in the burdens. Failing to do so is not merely a missed opportunity. It would represent an expensive mistake.

Commentary by Jon B. Alterman — June 13, 2018

The Enemy Gets A Vote

Secretary of Defense James Mattis is fond of pointing out, “The enemy gets a vote.” However masterful a maneuver the United States executes, the impact depends on how the adversary responds, and not just on what the United States has done.

Commentary by Jon B. Alterman — May 16, 2018

May 12 Deadline May Not Settle Iran Sanctions

Jon Alterman answers key questions about the impending May 12 deadline, including what happens if President Trump doesn’t renew the sanctions waiver.

Critical Questions by Jon B. Alterman — May 2, 2018

Yemen Matters

Yemen’s challenges are difficult, but they are not intractable. The GCC states seem to have internalized that they cannot bomb their way to victory in Yemen, and they recently pledged massive support to UN humanitarian operations.

Commentary by Jon B. Alterman — April 24, 2018

Syria, Turkey, and the Eastern Mediterranean

The United States needs to take a new strategic approach to the Eastern Mediterranean, outlined in a CSIS report forthcoming in May 2018. An urgent part of that strategy, outlined here, is recalibrating U.S. policy toward Syria and Turkey.

Brief by Jon B. Alterman and Heather A. Conley — April 19, 2018

The Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen

Labeled the worst humanitarian crisis in today’s world, the conflict in Yemen is entering its fourth year. This event will discuss the impact the war is having on the Yemeni people, and the challenges it poses policymakers.

Event — April 5, 2018

The Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen

Labeled the worst humanitarian crisis in today’s world, the conflict in Yemen is entering its fourth year. This event discussed the impact the war is having on the Yemeni people, and the challenges it poses policymakers.

Transcript — April 5, 2018

Geostrategic Flashpoint: The Eastern Mediterranean

Today, the United States and its allies are struggling to adapt a coherent Eastern Mediterranean regional policy that acknowledges dramatically new economic, political, and security realities while ensuring that the region remains transatlantically anchored.

Event — February 12, 2018

Experts React: State of the Union 2018

An all-star panel are in place to discuss everything from North Korea to the opioid crisis. Featuring CSIS Senior Vice Presidents Jon Alterman, Heather Conley, Kathleen Hicks, Michael Green, James Lewis, Steve Morrison, and Frank Verrastro.

Commentary — January 31, 2018