Chicago Council on Global Affairs

09/02/2026

Africa’s role in global affairs is evolving as countries across the continent navigate an increasingly competitive and multipolar world. With a growing range of economic and diplomatic partners, African countries are diversifying their relationships to create more choice and potentially more leverage. But engagement with great powers—including China, the United States, and Russia—may create as much constraint as opportunity. How are African countries navigating this changing landscape? Can they leverage multilateral institutions to their advantage, or is this a lost cause? And is there a shared African vision for the future international order, or is the continent more divided than aligned?

On October 7, join Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Vice President for Studies Frances Brown, SOAS University of London Vice-Chancellor Adam Habib, and Council President and CEO Leslie Vinjamuri for a conversation on Africa’s place in a changing global order.

This program is presented in partnership with SOAS University of London. Register to attend today: https://bit.ly/4iOoY4i

09/02/2026

Internal discontent poses a challenge to the Iranian regime—but US officials mistakenly assumed that vulnerability could be used to topple it, Council Vice President of Research for Security and Defense Ariane Tabatabai tells POLITICO Magazine.

"There was a belief that we could just nudge collapse using that vulnerability instead of letting it play out and letting the Iranian people determine their fate on their terms, and now we’re here." https://politi.co/4xzsUdZ

The government in Tehran has plenty of debates over tactics, but it’s not fracturing — yet.

09/01/2026

With the 2026 midterms fast approaching, foreign policy is once again part of the national debate, but how much will it shape voters’ choices this fall? For more than five decades, the Chicago Council Survey has tracked Americans’ views on alliances, trade, immigration, and the use of military force. As voters head to the polls in November, what does the data reveal about how Americans want their country to engage with the world? And where does that vision align, or clash, with what Washington is doing?

On October 1, join Dina Smeltz and John Lapinski for the release of this year’s Chicago Council survey and a conversation on what public opinion means in this critical election year.

Register to attend today: https://bit.ly/4gx0bjR

08/28/2026

Six months into the war against Iran, the Trump administration has realized its approach isn’t working. Recent Council polling finds two in three Americans believe the war has not been worth fighting. Now, with the midterm elections just months away, Congress is growing increasingly restless over the costly, prolonged war.

Shortly after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent shared details of the administration’s new economic campaign against Iran, Council Vice President of Research for Security and Defense Ariane Tabatabai weighed in on what’s driving the shift in US strategy and whether an end to the conflict is truly in sight.

Six months into the war against Iran, the Trump administration has realized its strategy isn’t working. Will economic measures succeed where military operations failed?

08/26/2026

The trade war between the United States and Canada has escalated. On Tuesday, Canada announced it would impose retaliatory tariffs on American products in response to US President Donald Trump's new 50 percent levies on Canadian goods. The move follows a breakdown in bilateral negotiations between the two North American trade partners and comes in the wake of the Trump administration's decision not to renew the United-States-Mexico-Canada-Agreement (USMCA) in July.

Polling conducted by the Council, Buendia y Marquez, and Nanos Research ahead of the first joint review of the USMCA show a solid majority of Americans would prefer their leaders improve relations with Canada and Mexico, even if it means making trade and economic concessions. While Mexicans are more closely divided, Canadians stand out most in their reticence to compromise, with seven in 10 thinking their leaders should resist making concessions on trade and economic issues, even at the risk of worsening relations with the United States (69%).

📊 More: https://bit.ly/4zGm5IQ

08/25/2026

"Washington is now pursuing an economic policy that is designed to achieve what the war failed to accomplish: weakening the regime in Tehran and compelling it to accept US demands," says Council Vice President of Research Ariane Tabatabai. "It remains to be seen whether the economic measures will succeed where military operations failed, but I have my reservations."

https://bit.ly/4wZXkoM

08/25/2026

The September 11 attacks reshaped how the United States approaches national security and warfare, ushering in nearly two decades of war in Afghanistan and Iraq, sustained counterterrorism operations, and major changes across the military, intelligence community, and federal government. Twenty-five years later, the strategic environment has shifted, but the post-9/11 era continues to shape American defense and foreign policy. How did these conflicts change the way the United States fights and uses military power? Which lessons still apply as attention shifts toward great-power competition and emerging threats, and which belong to a different era?

On September 17, join Lieutenant General Frank Kearney (Ret.) and Ari Tabatabai for a conversation on what the United States learned after 9/11 and how those lessons should inform the challenges ahead.

This program is presented in partnership with the Pritzker Military Museum & Library - PMML. Register to attend today: https://bit.ly/4hOq9jX

08/20/2026

"A bargaining war turns on two quantities: what each side can threaten, and what each side can bear," Council Vice President of Research for Security and Defense Ariane Tabatabai and Lawfare's Julia Curlee write. "In the Iran war, the question is what price each side believes it has already paid and how much more it is willing to pay for an acceptable outcome."

Read the full analysis ⤵️

In war, the guns do not fall silent so the diplomats can speak. The guns often speak for them.

08/20/2026

"The humanitarian system itself is increasingly becoming more multipolar," says Mercy Corps CEO Tjada McKenna. "Gulf states, China, India, and others are playing roles through humanitarian assistance, development finance, infrastructure, and investment. But different governments bring different priorities and approaches."

McKenna joins Leslie Vinjamuri on this week's episode of Deep Dish to discuss who steps in when governments pull back, whether new donors, private capital, or advancing technology can help fill the gap, and why ending conflicts may be just as important as funding the response. Listen: https://bit.ly/4xdB23N

08/19/2026

The postwar era is often told as the story of a liberal international order built and led by the West. However, that narrative can obscure forces that reshaped the world just as profoundly: decolonization, the emergence of dozens of new states, and the rise of the United Nations around an ambitious vision for preventing war. As great-power competition intensifies and conflicts proliferate, what has become of that vision, and why has it proven so difficult to sustain? As the global order grows more fractured, can the foundations for peace be rebuilt, and how?

On September 29, Join historian Thant Myint-U, grandson of former UN Secretary-General U Thant, and Leslie Vinjamuri for a discussion on why the international system is struggling to make peace, and what it might take to change course.

Register to attend today: https://bit.ly/4gFoBrl