Charles Kupchan

Senior Fellow for Europe, the Council on Foreign Relations

Introduction by Portland Commissioner Nick Fish

Human history can be defined by cycles of conflict and war. Are we destined to repeat this pattern, or is lasting and stable peace possible? Charles Kupchan has studied these questions in depth, arriving at some surprising and encouraging answers. In his new book How Enemies Become Friends: The Sources of Stable Peace, he uses compelling historical analysis and examples to explain how nations have replaced hostility with friendship and transformed enmity into amity. He explores the issues of diplomatic engagement with rivals, and challenges the notion that economic interdependence is a stronger force in building mutual trust than diplomacy.

A senior fellow for Europe studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), Charles Kupchan is also professor of international affairs at the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He served as the director for European affairs at the National Security Council (NSC) during the first Clinton administration after working on the policy planning staff at the U.S. Department of State. Prior to his government service, Kupchan was an assistant professor of politics at Princeton University. He received a BA from Harvard University and MA and PhD degrees from Oxford University. He is the author of several previous books including The End of the American Era: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Geopolitics of the Twenty-first Century (2002), and Power in Transition: The Peaceful Change of International Order (2001) as well as numerous articles on international and strategic affairs.