Council on Foreign Relations

The Council on Foreign Relations says it was founded in 1921 as a nonpartisan, independent national membership organization, think tank, educator and publisher, with a mission to inform U.S. engagement with the world; it takes no institutional positions on policy issues.⁠[1][2]

Foreign Affairs has been published by the Council since 1922. The 2023 annual report said the magazine marked its centennial in 2022, had more than 200,000 print subscribers, published bimonthly in print with a daily website, and produced the podcast The Foreign Affairs Interview.⁠[1][2]

The Council’s Corporate Program was founded in 1953 with 25 members and now has more than 120 global member companies at Gold, Silver and Bronze levels.⁠[2][3]

The Council created its International Affairs Fellowship in 1967, with some 650 fellows by 2023, and established the Stephen M. Kellen Term Member Program in 1970 for people aged 28 to 36, who serve five-year terms.⁠[2][3]

Richard Haass was president from 2003 until he stepped down in June 2023. The 2023 annual report said that during his tenure the endowment grew from $130 million in 2003 to more than $565 million, nearly 300 fellows took part in the Council’s programs and the Richard Haass Center for Education received more than $40 million in commitments; it was his twentieth and final annual report.⁠[4][2]

At the end of fiscal 2023 (June 30, 2023), membership had grown from 5,172 to 5,234, with term members nearly 18% of the total.⁠[2]

On March 1, 2023 the Council announced that its board had unanimously approved former U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman as its fifteenth president, after a search committee co-chaired by Jami Miscik and Blair Effron. Mastercard said Froman would take up the role on July 1.⁠[4][5]

After stepping down Haass became the Council’s president emeritus, and in 2025 he was appointed a Distinguished University Scholar at NYU’s School of Professional Studies.⁠[6]

The Council announced that President Froman and Senior Fellow Sheila A. Smith had received Japanese decorations for advancing U.S.-Japan relations and mutual understanding.⁠[7]

CFR president Froman wrote in Foreign Affairs in August 2026 that the world’s ability to absorb Chinese overcapacity was “approaching a breaking point,” that curbs on Chinese exports could trigger a global economic crisis, and that the cleanup would likely fall on the United States and the institutions it anchors.⁠[8]

The Council is headquartered at 58 East 68th Street in New York, with an office at 1777 F Street NW in Washington. Its think tank, the David RockefellerDavid RockefellerDavid Rockefeller (1915–2017) was an American banker and philanthropist and the youngest son of John D. Rockefeller Jr. He worked at Chase Manhattan Bank for 35 years, serving as chairman and chief executive officer from 1969 to 1981; he led institutions including The Rockefeller University and the Council on Foreign Relations for many years and co-founded the Trilateral Commission in 1973.Open the full entry Studies Program, has more than seventy full-time and adjunct fellows; Shannon K. O’Neil is senior vice president and director of studies, and Daniel Kurtz-Phelan is editor of Foreign Affairs.⁠[1][9][10]

The board is chaired by David M. Rubenstein, with Sylvia Mathews Burwell and Blair W. Effron as vice chairs, Robert E. Rubin and Carla A. Hills as chairmen emeriti and President Froman as an ex officio member. Members are Life or Term members, elected twice a year by the Board of Directors.⁠[11][3]

Council on Foreign Relations: Official website: https://www.cfr.org/ (opens in a new window)⁠[1]

Foreign Affairs: Official website: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[1]

X: Official account: https://x.com/CFR_org (opens in a new window)⁠[1]

YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry: Official channel: https://www.youtube.com/cfr (opens in a new window)⁠[1]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Official page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/council-on-foreign-relations (opens in a new window)⁠[1]