Isobel Coleman
Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy; Director of the Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative; and Director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program
Contact Info:
Phone: +1-212-434-9771
E-mail:
icoleman@cfr.org
Location:
New York, NY
Media downloads:
High-resolution photo
(JPG, 467K)
One-page bio
(PDF, 59K)
CV
(PDF, 15K)
Author of the book
Paradise Beneath Her Feet: How Women are Transforming the Middle East
(Random House, 2010). Contributing author to Restoring the Balance: A Middle East Strategy for the Next President (Brookings Institution Press, 2008). Coauthor of
Strategic Foreign Assistance: Civil Society in International Security
(Hoover Institution Press, 2006).
Director of the
Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative
.
?
Expertise:
Democratization, civil society, economic development, gender issues in the Middle East and South Asia, educational reform, and microfinance.
Experience:
Former CEO and Chairman of a healthcare services company (2000-2002); Partner, McKinsey & Company (1992-2000); Research Fellow, Brookings Institution (1990-1991); Adjunct Professor, American University (1991).
Languages:
Japanese and Spanish (familiar).
Honors:
Marshall Scholar, Oxford University (1987-1990); Brookings Research Fellow (1990-1991).
Selected Publications:
?
The Global Glass Ceiling
,? Foreign Affairs (May/June 2010); ?
What's the Matter with Yemen?
? Washington Post (2010); ?
The Better Half
,? Foreign Affairs (January/February 2010); ?
The Kingdom's Clock
,? Foreign Policy (coauthor, September/October 2006);
Strategic Foreign Assistance: Civil Society in International Security
(coauthor, Hoover Institution Press, 2006); ?
Women, Islam, and the New Iraq
,? Foreign Affairs (January/February 2006); ?
The Arab World is Experiencing the First Tremors of a Youthquake
,? Dallas Morning News (2006); ?
Iran's Bitter Lessons for Iraq
,? International Herald Tribune (coauthor, 2005); ?Defending Microcredit,? Fletcher Forum of World Affairs (Winter 2005); ?
The Pay-Off From Women's Rights
,? Foreign Affairs (May/June 2004); ?Beyond the Burqa: The Future Of Afghan Women's Rights,? Georgetown Journal of International Affairs (Summer 2004).
Recent Interviews:
Avenue Magazine: "
The Girl Effect
" (October 2010)
?
Education:
DPhil, MPhil, Oxford University;
BA, Princeton University.
Current Research Projects
Past Research Projects
December 16, 2010
| Authors:
| Isobel Coleman
, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy; Director of the Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative; and Director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program
Paul B. Stares
, General John W. Vessey Senior Fellow for Conflict Prevention and Director of the Center for Preventive Action
|
|---|
Expert Roundup
Four CFR fellows weigh in on the effectiveness of the State Department's Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review recommendations.
See more in
Global Health
,
U.S. Strategy and Politics
November 10, 2010
| Speaker:
| Isobel Coleman
, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy; Director of the Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative; Director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program, Council on Foreign Relations
|
|---|
| Presider:
| Irina A. Faskianos
, Vice President, National Program and Outreach, Council on Foreign Relations
|
|---|
Audio
CFR's Isobel Coleman discusses the rise of women in a professional and public capacity in the Middle East with students, as part of the CFR Academic Conference Call series.
Learn more about CFR's
Academic Initiative
.
See more in
Middle East
,
Women
October 21, 2010
| Author:
| Isobel Coleman
, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy; Director of the Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative; and Director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program
|
|---|
Academic Module
This module features teaching notes by CFR Senior Fellow Isobel Coleman, author of
Paradise Beneath Her Feet: How Women Are Transforming the Middle East
, along with other resources to supplement the text. Dr. Coleman demonstrates how influential Islamic feminist thinkers are driving social change in the Middle East to create economic, political, and educational opportunities for women.
See more in
Middle East
,
Women
September 24, 2010
| Authors:
| Isobel Coleman
, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy; Director of the Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative; and Director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program
Mary Ellen Iskenderian, Women's World Banking
|
|---|
Op-Ed
Huffington Post
Isobel Coleman
and
Mary Ellen Iskenderian
discuss several commitments aimed at women and girls from the 2010 Clinton Global Initiative.
See more in
Economic Development
,
Poverty
,
Women
September 24, 2010
| Author:
| Isobel Coleman
, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy; Director of the Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative; and Director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program
|
|---|
Op-Ed
Huffington Post
Isobel Coleman
discusses an initiative to provide affordable, efficient stoves to one hundred million homes around the world by 2020.
See more in
Economic Development
,
Energy/Environment
,
Women
September 15, 2010
| Author:
| Isobel Coleman
, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy; Director of the Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative; and Director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program
|
|---|
Article
Forbes Online
Isobel Coleman
explains how to tap into the burgeoning power of women in the global marketplace.
See more in
Business and Foreign Policy
,
Economic Development
,
Emerging Markets
,
Women
July 28, 2010
| Author:
| Isobel Coleman
, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy; Director of the Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative; and Director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program
|
|---|
Op-Ed
Huffington Post
Isobel Coleman
discusses the feminization of AIDS in Africa and two recent studies that offer hope for prevention.
See more in
Africa
,
Sub-Saharan Africa
,
Health and Disease
,
Health
,
Women
July 14, 2010
| Author:
| Isobel Coleman
, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy; Director of the Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative; and Director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program
|
|---|
First Take
The passage of a burqa ban by the French National Assembly is a response to France's "idea of women's dignity," voter support, and a desire to blunt "the rise of fundamentalism," says CFR's Isobel Coleman.
See more in
France
,
Democracy and Human Rights
,
Religion and Politics
June 18, 2010
| Author:
| Isobel Coleman
, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy; Director of the Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative; and Director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program
|
|---|
Op-Ed
Huffington Post
Isobel Coleman
discusses the benefits of new technologies for the world's poorest that extend beyond health, safety, and environmental issues.
See more in
Economic Development
,
Women
May 6, 2010, New York
| Speaker:
| Isobel Coleman
, Author, "Paradise Beneath Her Feet: How Women Are Transforming The Middle East", Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy, CFR
|
|---|
| Presider:
| |
|---|
Transcript
In "Paradise Beneath Her Feet," Isobel Coleman shows how Muslim women and men are fighting back with progressive interpretations of Islam to support women's rights in a growing movement of Islamic feminism. Dr. Coleman argues that these efforts are critical to bridging the conflict between those championing reform and those seeking to oppress women in the name of religious tradition.
See more in
Middle East
,
Women
May 5, 2010
| Speaker:
| Isobel Coleman
, Director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program and Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy
|
|---|
| Presider:
| Irina A. Faskianos
, Vice President, National Program & Outreach, Council on Foreign Relations
|
|---|
Audio
See more in
Religion
,
Women
May 3, 2010
| Author:
| Isobel Coleman
, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy; Director of the Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative; and Director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program
|
|---|
Article
Washington Post
Isobel Coleman
discusses an emerging movement of Islamic feminism.
See more in
Middle East
,
Religion
,
Women
April 30, 2010
Podcast
CFR's Senior Fellow Isobel Coleman discusses her new book about the rising empowerment of Muslim women in the Mideast and its potential to transform human rights in the region
See more in
Religion
,
Women
May/June 2010
| Author:
| Isobel Coleman
, Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy; Director of the Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative; and Director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program
|
|---|
Foreign Affairs Article — Summary
It is time for multinational corporations to come to the same realization -- funding education and training female business leaders is good for business.
See more in
Women
April 21, 2010
| Speakers:
| Katherine Lucey, Founder and Executive Director, Solar Sister
Carolyn Makinson, Executive Director, Women's Commission, International Rescue Committee
Toshihiro Nakamura, Co-Founder, the Kopernik
|
|---|
| Presider:
| Isobel Coleman
, Director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program and Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy, Council on Foreign Relations
|
|---|
Audio
Listen to experts give examples of bringing technologies to developing countries and how distribution of these products works.
This session was part of The ExxonMobil Women and Development Roundtable Series which was made possible by the generous support of ExxonMobil.
See more in
Economic Development
,
Women
April 21, 2010
| Speakers:
| Leslie Cordes, Director of Partnership Development, Energy and Climate, United Nations Foundation
Gail Karlsson, United Nations Development Programme and ENERGIA
Richenda Van Leeuwen, Consultant and Former Senior Advisor, Good Energies, Inc.
|
|---|
| Introductory Speaker:
| Lorie D. Jackson, Director, Women's Economic Opportunity Initiative, ExxonMobil
|
|---|
| Presider:
| Isobel Coleman
, Director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program and Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy, Council on Foreign Relations
|
|---|
Audio
Listen to experts discuss energy challenges facing women in the developing world and how new technologies can improve conditions and save lives.
This session was part of The ExxonMobil Women and Development Roundtable Series which was made possible by the generous support of ExxonMobil.
See more in
Economic Development
,
Women
April 21, 2010
| Speakers:
| Katherine Lucey, Founder and Executive Director, Solar Sister
Carolyn Makinson, Executive Director, Women's Commission, International Rescue Committee
Toshihiro Nakamura, Co-Founder, the Kopernik
|
|---|
| Presider:
| Isobel Coleman
, Director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program and Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy, Council on Foreign Relations
|
|---|
Video
Watch experts give examples of bringing technologies to developing countries and how distribution of these products works.
This session was part of The ExxonMobil Women and Development Roundtable Series which was made possible by the generous support of ExxonMobil.
See more in
Economic Development
,
Women
April 21, 2010, New York
| Speakers:
| Katherine Lucey, Founder and Executive Director, Solar Sister
Carolyn Makinson, Executive Director, Women's Commission, International Rescue Committee
Toshihiro Nakamura, Co-Founder, The Kopernik
|
|---|
| Presider:
| Isobel Coleman
, Director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program and Senior Fellow for U.S. Policy, Council on Foreign Relations
|
|---|
Transcript
Experts give examples of bringing technologies to developing countries and how distribution of these products works.
See more in
Economic Development
,
Women
April 21, 2010
| Speakers:
| Leslie Cordes, Director of Partnership Development, Energy and Climate, United Nations Foundation
Gail Karlsson, United Nations Development Programme and ENERGIA
Richenda Van Leeuwen, Consultant and Former Senior Advisor, Good Energies, Inc.
|
|---|
| Introductory Speaker:
| Lorie D. Jackson, Director, Women's Economic Opportunity Initiative, ExxonMobil
|
|---|
| Presider:
| Isobel Coleman
, Director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program and Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy, Council on Foreign Relations
|
|---|
Video
Watch experts discuss energy challenges facing women in the developing world and how new technologies can improve conditions and save lives.
This session was part of The ExxonMobil Women and Development Roundtable Series which was made possible by the generous support of ExxonMobil.
April 21, 2010, New York
| Speakers:
| Mark Bent, CEO and President, Sunlight Solar
Lauren Taylor, Communications Director, Solar Electric Light Fund
|
|---|
| Presider:
| Isobel Coleman
, Director of the Women and Foreign Policy Program and Senior Fellow for U.S. Policy, Council on Foreign Relations
|
|---|
Transcript
Experts address challenges faced by companies producing new technologies for use in the developing world.
See more in
Economic Development
,
Women