Steven A. Cook

Eni Enrico Mattei Senior Fellow, Middle East and Africa Studies, Director, International Affairs Fellowship for Tenured International Relations Scholars, Council on Foreign Relations

Steven A. Cook is the Eni Enrico Mattei senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies and director of the International Affairs Fellowship for Tenured International Relations Scholars at the Council on Foreign Relations. He is an expert on Arab and Turkish politics as well as U.S.-Middle East policy. Cook is the author of False Dawn: Protest, Democracy, and Violence in the New Middle East; The Struggle for Egypt: From Nasser to Tahrir Square, which won the 2012 gold medal from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy; and Ruling but Not Governing: The Military and Political Development in Egypt, Algeria, and Turkey. Oxford University Press is publishing his next book, The End of Ambition: America’s Past, Present, and Future in the Middle East in 2022. Cook is a columnist at Foreign Policy magazine. He has also published widely in international affairs journals, opinion magazines, and newspapers and is a frequent commentator on radio and television. His work can also be found on CFR.org. Cook is an adjunct lecturer in the Global Initiatives Management Program, Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Prior to joining CFR, Cook was a research fellow at the Brookings Institution (2001–02) and a Soref research fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (1995–96). Cook holds a BA in international studies from Vassar College, an MA in international relations from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, and an MA and a PhD in political science from the University of Pennsylvania. He speaks Arabic and Turkish and reads French.

Do Houthi Missile Attacks Outline the Limits of De-escalation in the Gulf Region?

On March 1, AGSIW hosted a discussion examining challenges and threats to regional de-escalation and rapprochement.

Ottoman Revival: How are Regional Powers Reacting to Turkey’s Resurgence in the Middle East?

On May 9, AGSIW hosted a panel discussion examining Turkey's new and more assertive regional role.

Publications content-type in which the post is published

Turkey’s Resurgence as a Regional Power Confronts a Fractured GCC

This paper reviews how Turkish-Gulf Arab relations have developed in recent years, particularly following the end of the main civil war in Syria.

Publications content-type in which the post is published

Turkey and the GCC: Cooperation Amid Diverging Interests

The GCC countries view Turkey as an indispensable Sunni ally and counterweight to Iran, but a difficult, and at times unreliable, partner.