Expert Bio
James M. Lindsay is senior vice president, director of studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg chair at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), where he oversees the work of the more than six dozen fellows in the David Rockefeller Studies Program as well as CFR’s fourteen fellowship programs. He is a leading authority on the American foreign policymaking process and the domestic politics of American foreign policy.
Before returning to CFR in 2009, Lindsay was the inaugural director of the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas at Austin, where he held the Tom Slick chair for international affairs at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. From 2003 to 2006, he was vice president, director of studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg chair at CFR. He previously served as deputy director and senior fellow in the foreign policy studies program at the Brookings Institution. From 1987 until 1999, he was a professor of political science at the University of Iowa.
From 1996 to 1997, Lindsay served as director for global issues and multilateral affairs on the staff of the National Security Council. He has also served as a consultant to the United States Commission on National Security/21st Century (Hart-Rudman Commission) and as a staff expert for the United States Institute of Peace's congressionally mandated Task Force on the United Nations.
Lindsay has written widely on various aspects of American foreign policy and international relations. His most recent book, co-authored with Ivo H. Daalder, is The Empty Throne: America’s Abdication of Global Leadership. His previous book with Ambassador Daalder, America Unbound: The Bush Revolution in Foreign Policy, was awarded the 2003 Lionel Gelber Prize, named a finalist for the Arthur S. Ross Book Award, and selected as a top book of 2003 by The Economist. Lindsay’s other books include Agenda for the Nation (with Henry J. Aaron and Pietro S. Nivola), which was named an "Outstanding Academic Book of 2004" by Choice Magazine, and Congress and the Politics of U.S. Foreign Policy. He has also contributed articles to many major newspapers and magazines, including Foreign Affairs, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times. He writes the blog The Water's Edge, which discusses the politics of American foreign policy and the domestic underpinnings of American global power. He also hosts the weekly podcast, The President’s Inbox.
Lindsay holds an AB in economics and political science with highest distinction and highest honors from the University of Michigan and an MA, MPhil, and PhD from Yale University. He has been a fellow at the Center for International Affairs and the Center for Science and International Affairs, both at Harvard University. He is a recipient of the Pew Faculty Fellowship in International Affairs and CFR International Affairs Fellowship. He is a member of CFR.
Lindsay was born and raised in Massachusetts and lives in Washington, DC.
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Liana Fix, a fellow for Europe at CFR, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss Ukraine’s surprise incursion into Russia.
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This Week: The Democratic nominee said America has a “fleeting opportunity to move past the bitterness, cynicism and divisive battles of the past.”
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James M. Lindsay, senior vice president, director of studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg chair at CFR, discusses the party nomination and electoral process in U.S. presidential elections and the foreig…
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Stephen Heintz, president and CEO of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss how the United States should adapt to an era of renewed great power competition and domestic disagreement over what it should seek to achieve abroad. This episode is the fourth in a special TPI series on U.S. grand strategy.
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Each Friday, I look at what the presidential contenders are saying about foreign policy. This Week: Democrats gather in Chicago next week optimistic about their chances in November.
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Rush Doshi, C.V. Starr Senior Fellow for Asia Studies and director of the China Strategy Initiative, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss how America should navigate its geopolitical rivalry with China.
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Each Friday, I look at what the presidential contenders are saying about foreign policy. This Week: The 2024 election continues to be a tight race where policy issues are taking a back seat to personal attacks.
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The Minnesota governor is Kamala Harris’s choice to be her running mate in the 2024 presidential election.
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Christopher Kirchhoff, former special assistant to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Raj M. Shah, managing partner of Shield Capital, sit down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the efforts by the U.S. Department of Defense to incorporate cutting-edge technology into its operations.
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Each Friday, I look at what the presidential contenders are saying about foreign policy. This Week: Who Kamala Harris chooses as her running mate could tip the outcome of the presidential race.
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Charles A. Kupchan, a senior fellow at CFR and a professor of international affairs at Georgetown University, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss how the United States should adapt to an era of renewed great power competition and domestic disagreement over what it should seek to achieve abroad. This episode is the third in a special TPI series on U.S. grand strategy.
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Each Friday, I look at what the presidential contenders are saying about foreign policy. This Week: Kamala Harris is seeking to become the first sitting vice president since George H. W. Bush to be elected president.