Editing Foreign Affairs

{{Short description|American academic journal}}
{{About|the magazine|other uses|Foreign affairs (disambiguation)}}
{{Distinguish||text=''[[Foreign Policy]]''}}
{{Multiple issues|
{{Update|date=August 2023}}
{{independent sources|date=September 2024}}
}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox magazine
| logo            = Foreign Affairs Logo-en.svg
| logo_size       = 150px
| image_file      = Foreign Affairs September-October 2023 cover.jpg
| image_size      = 
| image_alt       = 
| image_caption   = Cover of the September/October 2023 issue of ''Foreign Affairs''
| editor          = Daniel Kurtz-Phelan
| editor_title    = <!-- up to |editor_title5= -->
| previous_editor = 
| staff_writer    = 
| photographer    = 
| category        = Political science, foreign affairs, and economics
| frequency       = Bimonthly
| format          = 
| circulation     = 195,016
| publisher       = [[Council on Foreign Relations]]
| paid_circulation   = 
| unpaid_circulation = 
| circulation_year   = 
| total_circulation  = 
| founder         = 
| founded         = {{Start date and age|1922|9|15}}
| firstdate       = 
| finaldate       = <!-- {{End date|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| finalnumber     = 
| company         = 
| country         = United States
| based           = 
| language        = English
| website         = {{official URL}}
| issn            = 0015-7120
| oclc            = 
}}
'''''Foreign Affairs''''' is an American magazine of [[international relations]] and [[foreign policy of the United States|U.S. foreign policy]] published by the [[Council on Foreign Relations]], a [[nonprofit organization|nonprofit]], nonpartisan, membership organization and [[think tank]] specializing in U.S. [[foreign policy]] and [[international relations|international affairs]].<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |title = Foreign Affairs |url = https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/213341/Foreign-Affairs |encyclopedia = [[britannica.com]] |access-date = 29 August 2014 }}</ref> Founded on 15 September 1922, the print magazine is published every two months, while the website publishes articles daily and anthologies every other month.

''Foreign Affairs'' is considered one of the United States' most influential foreign-policy magazines. It has published many seminal articles, including [[George F. Kennan|George Kennan]]'s "[[X Article]]" (1947) and [[Samuel P. Huntington]]'s "[[The Clash of Civilizations]]" (1993).<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/russian-federation/1947-07-01/sources-soviet-conduct |author-link=George F. Kennan|title=The Sources of Soviet Conduct |last=Kennan |first=George F. |journal=Foreign Affairs |date=July 1947 |volume=25 |issue=July 1947 |access-date=September 27, 2016}}</ref><ref name=huntington>{{Cite journal |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/1993-06-01/clash-civilizations |title=The Clash of Civilizations? |last=Huntington |first=Samuel P. |journal=Foreign Affairs |date=Summer 1993 |volume=72 |issue=Summer 1993 |pages=22–49 |doi=10.2307/20045621 |jstor=20045621 |author-link=Samuel P. Huntington|access-date=September 27, 2016|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Leading academics, public officials, and members of the policy community regularly contribute to the magazine. Recent ''Foreign Affairs'' authors include [[Robert O. Keohane]], [[Hillary Clinton]], [[Donald H. Rumsfeld]], [[Ashton Carter]], [[Colin L. Powell]], [[Francis Fukuyama]], [[David Petraeus]], [[Zbigniew Brzezinski]], [[John J. Mearsheimer]], [[Stanley McChrystal]], [[Christopher R. Hill]] and [[Joseph Nye]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/author-listing/a |title=Authors |work=Foreign Affairs |access-date=September 27, 2016}}</ref>

==History==
The Council on Foreign Relations, founded in the summer of 1921, primarily counted diplomats, financiers, scholars, and lawyers among its members. Its founding charter declared its purpose should be to "afford a continuous conference on international questions affecting the United States, by bringing together experts on statecraft, finance, industry, education, and science."<ref name="CFR History">{{Cite web |url=http://www.cfr.org/about/history/cfr/ |title=CFR History |publisher=[[Council on Foreign Relations]] |access-date=September 27, 2016 |archive-date=August 21, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120821033942/http://www.cfr.org/about/history/cfr/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[http://www.cfr.org/history-and-theory-of-international-relations/continuing-inquiry/p108 ''Continuing the Inquiry: The Council on Foreign Relations from 1921 to 1996''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916213051/http://www.cfr.org/history-and-theory-of-international-relations/continuing-inquiry/p108 |date=2016-09-16 }}, pg 9.</ref> In its first year, the Council engaged primarily in discourse via meetings and small discussion groups, however, eventually it decided to seek a wider audience and it began publishing ''Foreign Affairs'' on 15 September 1922 on a quarterly basis.<ref name="CFR History"/><ref>[http://www.cfr.org/history-and-theory-of-international-relations/continuing-inquiry/p108 ''Continuing the Inquiry: The Council on Foreign Relations from 1921 to 1996''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916213051/http://www.cfr.org/history-and-theory-of-international-relations/continuing-inquiry/p108 |date=2016-09-16 }}, pg 12.</ref>

The Council named Professor [[Archibald Cary Coolidge]] of [[Harvard University]] as the journal's first [[editing|editor]]. As Coolidge was unwilling to move from [[Boston]] to New York, [[Hamilton Fish Armstrong]], a [[Princeton University|Princeton]] alumnus and a European correspondent of the ''[[New York Evening Post]]'',  was appointed managing editor and worked New York, handling the day-to-day mechanics of publishing the journal. Armstrong chose the distinctive light blue color for the cover of the magazine, while his sisters, Margaret and Helen, designed the logo and lettering respectively.<ref name=History/>

''Foreign Affairs'' is a successor publication of the ''Journal of International Relations'' (which ran from 1910 to 1922), which in turn was a successor to the ''[[Journal of Race Development]]'' (which ran from 1911 to 1919, the title reflecting  concerns about race tensions and race "mixing" in a period when empires were beginning to be in question).<ref>[[Mark Mazower|Mazower, Mark]] (2013). [https://books.google.com/books?id=6-GAmwEACAAJ ''Governing the World: The History of an Idea, 1815 to the Present''.] London: [[Penguin Books]]. p. 165. {{ISBN|978-0143123941}}.</ref>

===1922–1945===
The lead article in the first issue of ''Foreign Affairs'' was written by the former [[United States Secretary of State|secretary of state]] under [[Theodore Roosevelt]]'s administration, [[Elihu Root]]. The article argued that the United States had become a [[world power]], and that as such the general population needed to be better informed about international matters. [[John Foster Dulles]], then a financial expert attached to the American Commission to Negotiate Peace, who would later become [[United States Secretary of State|secretary of state]] under [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]], also contributed an article to the inaugural issue of ''Foreign Affairs'' on Allied debt following World War I.<ref name=History>[[William Bundy|Bundy, William P.]] (1994). [https://web.archive.org/web/20151003100412/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/history "History"]. ''Foreign Affairs''.
:: Notes on an exhibit of materials related to the [[Council on Foreign Relations]] and ''Foreign Affairs'' at the Firestone Library of [[Princeton University]], Fall 1993.</ref>

In 1925, ''Foreign Affairs'' published a series of articles, entitled "Worlds of Color",<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/1925-04-01/worlds-color |title=Worlds of Color |last=DuBois |first=W. E. B. |author-link=W. E. B. Du Bois |journal=Foreign Affairs |date=April 1925 |volume=3 |issue=April 1925 |pages=423–444 |doi=10.2307/20028386 |jstor=20028386 |access-date=September 27, 2016|url-access=subscription }}</ref> by prominent [[African American]] intellectual [[W. E. B. Du Bois]]. DuBois, a personal friend of Armstrong, wrote mainly about race issues and imperialism. Although in the early days of publication the journal did not have many female authors, in the late 1930s American journalist for ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine [[Dorothy Thompson]] would contribute articles.<ref name=History/>

===1945–1991===
[[Image:Kennan.jpeg|right|thumb|[[George F. Kennan]] published his doctrine of [[containment]] in the July 1947 issue of ''Foreign Affairs''.]]

The journal rose to its greatest prominence after [[World War II]] when [[Foreign policy|foreign relations]] became central to [[United States politics]], and the United States became a powerful actor on the global scene. Several extremely important articles were published in ''Foreign Affairs'', including the reworking of [[George F. Kennan]]'s "[[Long Telegram]]", which first publicized the doctrine of [[containment]] that would form the basis of American [[Cold War]] policy.

[[Louis J. Halle, Jr.|Louis Halle]], a member of the U.S. Policy Planning Staff, also wrote an influential article in ''Foreign Affairs'' in 1950.  His article, "On a Certain Impatience with Latin America", created the anticommunist intellectual framework that justified U.S. policy towards Latin America in the Cold War era.  Halle's article described that the encouragement of democracy in postwar Latin America had ended.  He demonstrated disgust over Latin America's inability to assume autonomy and to become democratic.  His rationalization towards Latin America was later used to justify U.S. efforts to overthrow the left-leaning Guatemalan government.<ref>{{cite book |last=Schoultz |first=Lars |year=1998 |title=Beneath the United States: A History of U.S. Policy toward Latin America |url=https://archive.org/details/beneathunitedsta00scho |url-access=registration |location=London |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |pages=[https://archive.org/details/beneathunitedsta00scho/page/341 341–342] |isbn=0-674-92275-1 }}</ref>

Eleven U.S. [[U.S. Secretary of State|secretaries of state]] have written essays in ''Foreign Affairs''.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}

===1991–present===
Since the end of the Cold War, and especially after the [[September 11 attacks|9/11 attacks]], the journal's readership has grown significantly. {{As of|April 2021}}, ''Foreign Affairs''{{'s}} total readership is 303,000 for the print magazine and it has 1.2 million unique visitors per month for the website.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/circulation |title=Circulation |website=Foreign Affairs |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210411014521/https://www.foreignaffairs.com/circulation |archive-date= Apr 11, 2021 }}</ref>

In the Summer 1993 issue, ''Foreign Affairs'' published [[Samuel P. Huntington]]'s influential "[[Clash of Civilizations]]?" article.<ref name=huntington />  In the article, Huntington argued that "the fundamental source of conflict in this new world will not be primarily ideological or primarily economic. The great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict will be cultural."<ref name=huntington />

In the November/December 2003 issue of ''Foreign Affairs'', [[Kenneth Maxwell]] wrote a review of [[Peter Kornbluh]]'s book ''The Pinochet File: A Declassified Dossier on Atrocity and Accountability'', which gave rise to a controversy about [[Henry Kissinger]]'s relationship to the regime of Chilean dictator [[Augusto Pinochet]] and to [[Operation Condor]]. Maxwell claims that key [[Council on Foreign Relations]] members, acting at Kissinger's behest, put pressure on ''Foreign Affairs'' editor [[James Hoge]] to give the last word in a subsequent exchange about the review to [[William D. Rogers]], a close associate of Kissinger, rather than to Maxwell; this went against established ''Foreign Affairs'' policy.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56719-2005Feb26.html |title=A Plot Thickens |last=Duke |first=Lynne |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |date=February 27, 2005 |access-date=September 27, 2016}}</ref>

[[File:FA-WhoisKham123.jpg|thumb|The article "Who Is Khamenei?" by [[Akbar Ganji]], which was published in the magazine's September/October 2013 issue, emphasized the view that the Supreme Leader is the primary decision maker in Iran.]]

Then-opposition leader and former [[Ukraine|Ukrainian]] [[Prime Minister of Ukraine|Prime Minister]] [[Yulia Tymoshenko]] caused a stir by publishing an article entitled "Containing Russia" in the May–June 2007 issue of ''Foreign Affairs'' accusing Russia under [[Vladimir Putin]] of expansionism and urging the rest of Europe to stand against him. Russian [[List of Russian foreign ministers|foreign minister]] [[Sergei Lavrov]] wrote an article in response, but he withdrew it, citing "censorship" from the ''Foreign Affairs'' editorial board. Tymoshenko's party went on to win the 2007 elections and she became Prime Minister once again.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}

In 2009, ''Foreign Affairs'' launched its new website, ForeignAffairs.com, which offers both print content and online-only features.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 12, 2009 |first1=James F. |last1=Hoge Jr. |title=Welcome to ForeignAffairs.com |language=en-US |work=Foreign Affairs |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/press/2009-03-12/welcome-foreignaffairscom |access-date=2023-10-25 |issn=0015-7120}}</ref>

Beginning with the January/February 2013 issue, ''Foreign Affairs'' was redesigned including that the cover would have an image.  Per ''[[Politico]]''{{'}}s story on the redesign: "As part of an effort to expand its appeal beyond the foreign policy establishment, every issue of Foreign Affairs will now feature a photograph on the cover and an extensive interview with a leading newsmaker."<ref>Byars, Dulan (December 19, 2012). [https://archive.today/20210814092755/https://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/12/first-look-the-foreign-affairs-redesign-152375 "First Look: The ''Foreign Affairs'' Redesign"]. ''[[Politico]]''. Archived from [https://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2012/12/first-look-the-foreign-affairs-redesign-152375 the original.]</ref>

==Book reviews==
Since its inception, ''Foreign Affairs'' has included a long book review section, typically reviewing 50 or more books per issue. The magazine's first editor, Archibald Cary Coolidge, asked his Harvard colleague, [[William L. Langer]], a historian and [[World War I]] veteran, to run the section. Langer initially had full control over the magazine's book reviews and wrote all the reviews himself. A month before the reviews were due, the ''Foreign Affairs'' office in New York would ship approximately one hundred books to Langer for review and within two weeks he would return his completed reviews for the next issue.{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}}

Beginning with the first issue in 1922, [[Harry Elmer Barnes]] authored a reoccurring section titled “Some Recent Books on International Relations”. By 1924, the Foreign Affairs website lists Barnes as Bibliographical Editor.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Barnes|first=Harry Elmer|date=June 1924|title=The World Struggle for Oil|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/capsule-review/1924-06-15/world-struggle-oil|journal=Foreign Affairs|series=Capsule Reviews|publisher=Council on Foreign Relations|volume=2|issue=4|quote=Reviewed By Harry Elmer Barnes Bibliographical Editor}}</ref>

In the late 1930s, the review section was broken down into several categories. Currently, the ''Foreign Affairs'' reviews are broken down into long review essays, which are placed at the front of the books section, and the "Recent Books" section, where shorter reviews are featured. The "Recent Books" section is further broken down into the following subject categories.

* Political and Legal, reviewed by [[G. John Ikenberry]]
* Economic, Social, and Environmental, reviewed by [[Barry Eichengreen]]
* Military, Scientific, and Technological, reviewed by [[Lawrence D. Freedman]]
* The United States, reviewed by [[Jessica Mathews|Jessica T. Mathews]]
* Western Europe, reviewed by [[Andrew Moravcsik]]
* Western Hemisphere, reviewed by Richard Feinberg
* Eastern Europe and [[Russia–United States relations|Former Soviet Republics]], reviewed by [[Maria Lipman]]
* Middle East, reviewed by [[Lisa Anderson]]
* Asia and Pacific, reviewed by [[Andrew J. Nathan]]
* Africa, reviewed by [[Nicolas van de Walle]]

The majority of the book reviews featured in the "Recent Books" section are reviewed by the same person; however, other reviewers contribute to the "Recent Books" section on occasion.

== Influence ==
''Foreign Affairs'' is considered an important forum for debate among academics and policy makers. In 1996, Deputy Secretary of State [[Strobe Talbott]] noted: "Virtually everyone I know in the foreign policy-national security area of the Government is attentive to ''Foreign Affairs''."<ref>
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| title       = Foreign Affairs Magazine Becoming Harder to Predict
| work        = [[The New York Times]]
| author      = Robin Pogrebin
| date        = 1998-01-12
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</ref>

According to the ''[[Journal Citation Reports]]'', the journal has a 2023 [[impact factor]] of 6.3, ranking it 2nd out of 166 journals in the category "International Relations".<ref name="WoS">{{cite book|title=2023 Journal Citation Reports|publisher=[[Thomson Reuters]]|year=2024|edition=Social Sciences|series=[[Web of Science]]|chapter=Journals Ranked by Impact: International Relations|title-link=Journal Citation Reports}}</ref>

==Editors==
* Daniel Kurtz-Phelan: 2021–present
* [[Gideon Rose]]: 2010–2021<ref>[http://www.cfr.org/history-and-theory-of-international-relations/continuing-inquiry/p108 ''Continuing the Inquiry: The Council on Foreign Relations from 1921 to 1996''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916213051/http://www.cfr.org/history-and-theory-of-international-relations/continuing-inquiry/p108 |date=2016-09-16 }}, pg 73.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/staff|title=Staff|access-date=September 27, 2016|work=Foreign Affairs}}</ref>
* [[James F. Hoge, Jr.]]: 1992–2010
* [[William G. Hyland]]: 1984–1992
* [[William P. Bundy]]: 1972–1984
* [[Hamilton Fish Armstrong]]: 1928–1972
* [[Archibald Cary Coolidge]]: 1922–1928

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{Official website}}
* [https://www.jstor.org/journal/foreignaffairs ''Foreign Affairs'' archive] (1922–) at [[JSTOR]]
* [https://www.jstor.org/journal/jinterelations ''The Journal of International Relations'' archive] (1919–1922) at [[JSTOR]]
* [https://www.jstor.org/journal/jracedeve ''The Journal of Race Development'' archive] (1910–1919) at [[JSTOR]]

[[Category:1922 establishments in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Bimonthly journals]]
[[Category:Council on Foreign Relations]]
[[Category:International relations journals]]
[[Category:Magazines established in 1922]]
[[Category:Political magazines published in the United States]]