The Arthur Ross Book Award is a politics-related

literary award A literary award or literary prize is an award presented in recognition of a particularly lauded literary piece or body of work. It is normally presented to an author. Organizations Most literary awards come with a corresponding award ceremony. M ...

History and administration

It was endowed in 2001 by Arthur Ross, an American businessman and philanthropist, for the purpose of recognizing books that make an outstanding contribution to the understanding of

foreign policy A state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterally or through ...

international relations International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such ...

. The prize is for nonfiction works from the past two years, in English or translation, and is accompanied by a monetary award. The amount of the prize has varied from year to year but has sometimes consisted of a $30,000 "Gold Medal", a $15,000 "Silver Medal" and a $7,500 "Honorable Mention". The award is administered by the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is a nonprofit organization that is independent and nonpartisan. CFR is based in New York Ci ...

, an American nonprofit

nonpartisan Nonpartisanism is a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias towards, a political party. While an Oxford English Dictionary definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., in most cases, nonpartisan refers sp ...

membership organization, publisher and

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-govern ...

specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs.

List of winners

2000s

; 2002 *Gold Medal –

Robert Skidelsky Robert Jacob Alexander, Baron Skidelsky, (born 25 April 1939) is a British economic historian. He is the author of a three-volume award-winning biography of British economist John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946). Skidelsky read history at Jesus ...

for ''John Maynard Keynes: Fighting for Freedom 1937–1946'' *Silver Medal –

Lawrence Freedman Sir Lawrence David Freedman, (born 7 December 1948) is a British academic, historian and author with specialising in foreign policy, international relations and strategy. He has been described as the "dean of British strategic studies" and wa ...

for ''Kennedy's Wars: Berlin, Cuba, Laos, and Vietnam'' *Honorable Mention –

Walter Russell Mead Walter Russell Mead (born June 12, 1952) is an American academic. He is the James Clarke Chace Professor of Foreign Affairs and Humanities at Bard College and taught American foreign policy at Yale University. He was also the editor-at-large of ...

and Richard C. Leone for ''Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World'' ; 2003 *Gold Medal – Samantha Power for '' A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide'' *Silver Medal –

Margaret MacMillan Margaret Olwen MacMillan, (born 1943) is a Canadian historian and professor at the University of Oxford. She is former provost of Trinity College, Toronto, and professor of history at the University of Toronto and previously at Ryerson Univer ...

for '' Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World'' *Honorable Mention –

Philip Bobbitt Philip Chase Bobbitt, (born July 22, 1948) is an American author, academic, and lawyer. He is best known for work on U.S. constitutional law and theory, and on the relationship between law, strategy and history in creating and sustaining the St ...

for '' The Shield of Achilles: War, Peace, and the Course of History'' ;2004 *Gold Medal – Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon for ''The Age of Sacred Terror: Radical Islam's War Against America'' *Silver Medal – Robert Cooper for ''The Breaking of Nations: Order and Chaos in the Twenty-First Century'' *Honorable Mention – Ivo H. Daalder and James M. Lindsay for ''America Unbound: The Bush Revolution in Foreign Policy'' ;2005 *Gold Medal –

Steve Coll Steve Coll (born October 8, 1958) is an American journalist, academic and executive. He is currently the dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where he is also the Henry R. Luce Professor of Journalism. A staff writer f ...

for '' Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001'' *Silver Medal –

Stephen Biddle Stephen D. Biddle (born January 19, 1959) is an American author, historian, policy analyst and columnist whose work concentrates on U.S. foreign policy. Currently, he is the Professor of International and Public Affairs at School of International ...

for ''Military Power: Explaining Victory and Defeat in Modern Battle'' *Honorable Mention – James Mann for ''Rise of the Vulcans: The History of Bush's War Cabinet'' ;2006 *Gold Medal –

Tony Judt Tony Robert Judt ( ; 2 January 1948 – 6 August 2010) was a British-American historian, essayist and university professor who specialized in European history. Judt moved to New York and served as the Erich Maria Remarque Professor in European ...

for '' Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945'' *Silver Medal – Olivier Roy for ''Globalized Islam: The Search for a New Ummah'' *Honorable Mention –

George Packer George Packer (born August 13, 1960) is a US journalist, novelist, and playwright. He is best known for his writings for ''The New Yorker'' and ''The Atlantic'' about U.S. foreign policy and for his book '' The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq'' ...

for '' The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq'' ;2007 *Gold Medal –

Kwame Anthony Appiah Kwame Akroma-Ampim Kusi Anthony Appiah ( ; born 8 May 1954) is a philosopher, cultural theorist, and novelist whose interests include political and moral theory, the philosophy of language and mind, and African intellectual history. Appiah w ...

for ''Cosmopolitanism: Ethics in a World of Strangers'' *Silver Medal –

Robert L. Beisner The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

for ''Dean Acheson: A Life in the Cold War'' *Honorable Mention – Thomas E. Ricks for '' Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2003 to 2005'' ;2008 *Gold Medal –

Paul Collier Sir Paul Collier, (born 23 April 1949) is a British development economist who serves as the Professor of Economics and Public Policy in the Blavatnik School of Government and the director of the International Growth Centre. He currently is a ...

for '' The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What Can Be Done About It'' *Silver Medal – Trita Parsi for ''Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States'' *Honorable Mention –

Robert Dallek Robert A. Dallek (born May 16, 1934) is an American historian specializing in the presidents of the United States, including Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard Nixon. He retired as a history professor at Bost ...

for ''Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power'' ;2009 *Gold Medal –

Philip P. Pan Philip P. Pan (born 20th century) is an American journalist, author, and International Editor at '' The New York Times.'' He previously worked as bureau chief in Moscow and Beijing for '' The Washington Post''. Early life Pan was born and rais ...

for ''Out of Mao's Shadow: The Struggle for the Soul of a New China'' *Silver Medal –

Ahmed Rashid Ahmed Rashid (Urdu:; born 1948 in Pakistan) is a journalist and best-selling foreign policy author of several books about Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia. Life and career Ahmed Rashid was born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. He attended Malv ...

for ''Descent into Chaos: The United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia'' *Honorable Mention – Gareth Evans for ''The Responsibility To Protect: Ending Mass Atrocity Crimes Once and for All''

2010s

;2010 *Gold Medal –

Liaquat Ahamed Liaquat Ahamed (born 14 November 1952 in Kenya) is an American author. Life and work Liaquat Ahamed was born in Kenya, where his grandfather had emigrated to from Gujarat by way of Zanzibar in the late 19th century.Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World'' *Silver Medal – Seth Jones for ''In the Graveyard of Empires: America's War in Afghanistan'' *Honorable Mention –

Gérard Prunier Gérard Prunier (born 1942, in Paris ) is a French academic, historian, and consultant. He specializes in African history and affairs —particularly the Horn of Africa and the African Great Lakes regions. Biography Prunier received a PhD in Afri ...

for ''Africa's World War: Congo, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Making of a Continental Catastrophe'' ;2011 *Gold Medal – Carmen M. Reinhart and

Kenneth Rogoff Kenneth Saul Rogoff (born March 22, 1953) is an American economist and chess Grandmaster. He is the Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy and professor of economics at Harvard University. Early life Rogoff grew up in Rochester, New York. ...

for ''This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly'' *Silver Medal –

Thomas Hegghammer The Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (''Forsvarets forskningsinstitutt'' – ''FFI'') is a research institute that conducts research and development on behalf of the Norwegian Armed Forces and provides expert advice to political and mi ...

for ''Jihad in Saudi Arabia: Violence and Pan-Islamism since 1979'' *Honorable Mention – Charles A. Kupchan for ''How Enemies Become Friends: The Sources of Stable Peace'' ;2012 *Gold Medal – John Lewis Gaddis for '' George F. Kennan: An American Life'' *Silver Medal –

Jason Stearns Jason Kauahooululaunaheleonakuahiwi Stearns (born October 31, 1976) is an American writer who worked for ten years in the Congo, including three years during the Second Congo War. He first traveled to the Congo in 2001 to work for a local human ...

for ''Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse of Congo and the Great War of Africa'' *Honorable Mention –

Daniel Yergin Daniel Howard Yergin (born February 6, 1947) is an American author, speaker, energy expert, and economic historian. Yergin is vice chairman of S&P Global. He was formerly vice chairman of IHS Markit, which merged with S&P in 2022. He founded C ...

for '' The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World'' ;2013 *Gold Medal – Fredrik Logevall for '' Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam'' *Silver Medal –

Anne Applebaum Anne Elizabeth Applebaum (born July 25, 1964) is an American journalist and historian. She has written extensively about the history of Communism and the development of civil society in Central and Eastern Europe. She has worked at ''The Econ ...

for ''Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1944–1956 '' *Honorable Mention –

Daron Acemoglu Kamer Daron Acemoğlu (; born September 3, 1967) is a Turkish-born American economist who has taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) since 1993. He is currently the James Rhyne Killian, Elizabeth and James Killian Professor of ...

and James A. Robinson for '' Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty'' ;2014 *Gold Medal – Gary Bass for '' The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide'' *Silver Medal –

Carter Malkasian Carter Malkasian (born 1975) is a historian and former adviser to American military commanders in Afghanistan. Career Malkasian earned a doctorate in military history from the University of Oxford, where he studied under Robert O'Neill. After com ...

for ''War Comes to Garmser: Thirty Years of Conflict on the Afghan Frontier'' *Honorable Mention –

Benn Steil Benn Steil is an American economist and writer. He was educated at Nuffield College, Oxford and at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Steil is the senior fellow and director of international economics at the Council on Foreign ...

for '' The Battle of Bretton Woods: John Maynard Keynes, Harry Dexter White, and the Making of a New World Order'' ;2015 *Gold Medal –

Thomas Piketty Thomas Piketty (; born 7 May 1971) is a French economist who is Professor of Economics at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, Associate Chair at the Paris School of Economics and Centennial Professor of Economics in the In ...

for ''

Capital in the Twenty-First Century ''Capital in the Twenty-First Century'' (french: Le Capital au XXIe siècle) is a book written by French economist Thomas Piketty. It focuses on wealth and income inequality in Europe and the United States since the 18th century. It was initially ...

'' *Silver Medal –

Stephen Kotkin Stephen Mark Kotkin (born February 17, 1959) is an American historian, academic, and author. He is currently the John P. Birkelund '52 Professor in History and International Affairs at Princeton University, where he is also co-director of the pro ...

for '' Stalin: Paradoxes of Power, 1878–1928'' *Honorable Mention –

Evan Osnos Evan Lionel Richard Osnos (born December 24, 1976) is an American journalist and author. He has been a staff writer at ''The New Yorker'' since 2008, best known for his coverage of politics and foreign affairs, in the United States and China. His ...

for '' Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China'' ;2016 *Gold Medal –

Niall Ferguson Niall Campbell Ferguson FRSE (; born 18 April 1964)Biography
Niall Ferguson

for ''Kissinger: 1923–1968: The Idealist'' *Silver Medal – Thomas J. Christensen for ''The China Challenge: Shaping the Choices of a Rising Power '' *Bronze Medal – Charles Moore for ''Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography—Volume II: Everything She Wants'' ;2017 *Gold Medal – John Pomfret for ''The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom: America and China, 1776 to the Present'' *Silver Medal –

Robert F. Worth Robert Forsyth Worth (born September 29, 1965) is an American journalist and former chief of ''The New York Times'' Beirut bureau. He is the author of ''Rage for Order''. Life Born and raised in Manhattan, Worth has an M.A. and a Ph.D. (in Engli ...

for ''A Rage for Order: The Middle East in Turmoil, From Tahrir Square to ISIS'' *Bronze Medal –

Svetlana Alexievich Svetlana Alexandrovna Alexievich (born 31 May 1948) is a Belarusian investigative journalist, essayist and oral historian who writes in Russian. She was awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Literature "for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suf ...

for ''Secondhand Time: The Last of the Soviets'' ;2018 *Gold Medal –

for '' Stalin: Waiting for Hitler, 1929–1941'' *Silver Medal – Michael Green for ''By More Than Providence: Grand Strategy and American Power in the Asia Pacific Since 1783'' *Bronze Medal –

Masha Gessen Masha Gessen (born 13 January 1967) is a Russian-American journalist, author, translator and activist who has been an outspoken critic of the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and the former president of the United States, Donald Trump. Ge ...

for ''The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia'' ;2019 *Gold Medal –

Jill Lepore Jill Lepore is an American historian and journalist. She is the David Woods Kemper '41 Professor of American History at Harvard University and a staff writer at '' The New Yorker'', where she has contributed since 2005. She writes about America ...

for '' These Truths: A History of the United States'' *Silver Medal – Andrew Roberts for '' Churchill: Walking with Destiny'' *Bronze Medal – Max Hastings for ''Vietnam: An Epic Tragedy, 1945-1975'' ;2020 *Gold Medal –

Patrick Radden Keefe Patrick Radden Keefe (born 1976) is an American writer and investigative journalist. He is the author of five books—''Chatter,'' ''The Snakehead,'' '' Say Nothing,'' ''Empire of Pain,'' and ''Rogues''—and has written extensively for many publ ...

for '' Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland'' *Silver Medal –

for ''Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century'' *Bronze Medal – William Dalrymple for '' The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire'' ;2021 *Gold Medal – Zachary D. Carter for ''The Price of Peace: Money, Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes'' *Silver Medal – Peter Baker and

Susan Glasser Susan B. Glasser (born January 14, 1969) is an American journalist and news editor. She writes the online column "Letter from Biden’s Washington" in ''The New Yorker'', where she is a staff writer. She is the author, with her husband Peter Bak ...

for ''The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker III'' *Bronze Medal – Robert Putnam and Shaylyn Romney Garrett for ''The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again''

References

External links

*{{Official website, https://www.cfr.org/arthur-ross-book-award 2001 establishments in the United States Annual events in the United States Awards established in 2001 * Foreign policy American non-fiction literary awards Recurring events established in 2001 Political book awards Council on Foreign Relations