The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an invitation-only think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs. 1 2 The organization was founded in 1921 by business and civic leaders on the belief that the U.S. should embrace a leadership role and reject isolationism and support internationalism. 1 Its founders sought to exert behind-the-scenes influence to encourage sustained U.S. involvement in global affairs. 2 1
As of January 2025, CFR has 5,291 individual members. All members must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. 3 4 5
History and Leadership
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) was founded in 1921 by a small group of business and civic leaders after the U.S. Senate blocked President Woodrow Wilson’s effort to have the United States join the League of Nations. The organization seeks to encourage sustained U.S. involvement in global affairs 2 1 and was founded on the belief that the U.S. should embrace a leadership role and reject isolationism and internationalism. 1 By the late 1930s, the left-of-center Ford Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation became major financial contributors to CFR. 6 CFR has been referred to as a “bastion of the bipartisan U.S. foreign policy establishment” by the left-of-center Mother Jones magazine. 7
Headquartered in New York City with offices in Washington, D.C., CFR has 5,291 individual members. 5 3 4 CFR’s invitation-only members must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents and nominated by a current member for consideration to join the organization to join either for a term of five years or as life members. 8
David Rubenstein is the chairman of the CFR, and Michael Froman is the organization’s president. 9 10 11
Rubenstein is co-founder of the Carlyle Group, a regent at the Smithsonian Institution, co-chair of the board of the Brookings Institution, and president of the Economic Club of Washington. He is a trustee of the World Economic Forum and was a deputy assistant to the president during the Carter administration. 12
Previously, Froman was the vice chairman and president for strategic growth at Mastercard and the chairman of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth. He was also the U.S. trade representative under President Barack Obama from June 2013 to January 2017. From 2009 to 2013 he was an assistant to the president and deputy national security advisor for international economic affairs focused on international trade and climate change. In the 1990s, Froman was a deputy assistant secretary at the Department of Treasury focused on Eurasia and the Middle East. 13
CFR’s board of directors includes former Health and Human Services Secretary under President Barack Obama Sylvia Burwell, executive chairman of Morgan Stanely James Gorman, former U.S. Representative Will Hurd (R-TX), former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, business executive and philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs, and CNN host Fareed Zakaria. 14
Activities and Funding
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is a nonprofit think tank that specializes on U.S. foreign policy issues. 3 CFR states that it takes no institutional positions on policy issues and has no affiliation with the U.S. government. 3 Instead, CFR has eight focus areas: defense and security, diplomacy and international institutions, economics, energy and environment, health, human rights, politics and government, and social issues. 15
CFR produces books, articles, and reports and also publishes the magazine Foreign Affairs. 3 In 2019, the CFR was criticized for accepting a $12 million gift from Ukrainian-born oligarch and friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Leonard Blavatnik. 7
CFR hosts a corporate program that allows private sector leaders from CFR’s corporate members to interact with leaders from government, media, nongovernmental organizations, and others. Executives at member companies have access to briefings from CFR fellows, discussions, and other meetings hosted in New York and Washington. 16
As of January 2025, CFR’s corporate members include Airbus, Amazon, Bank of America, Blackrock, Chevron, Citi, ExxonMobil, Goldman Sachs, Google, JP Morgan Chase, MasterCard, Meta, Morgan Stanley, Nasdaq and Visa. 17
In 2022, CFR reported $83,166,400 in expenses. This included expenses of $23,132,500 on the David Rockefeller Studies think tank, $13,151,600 on Foreign Affairs magazine, $4,112400 on CFR’s website, and $14,217,100 on other program activities. 18
Controversies
In the summer of 2024, Council on Foreign Relations (CRF) scholar Sue Mi Terry was arrested and charged with violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) for improperly working for the South Korean government. The U.S. Department of Justice charged Terry with advocating for the positions of Korean government officials and aiding Korean officials in gaining access to U.S. government officials. Prosecutors alleged that in return, the Korean government allegedly bought Terry expensive handbags, luxury meals, and deposited a $37,000 unrestricted grant into an account at a think tank where Terry worked. 19 Following the indictment, CFR suspended Terry. She later resigned her fellowship with CFR. 20
Funding
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is funded by annual member dues, annual giving by members, corporate memberships, sales of and subscriptions to Foreign Affairs magazine, grants, and rental income 21
In 2025, Think Thank Funding Tracker reported that CRF received $2,095,000 from Pentagon contractors. Among American think tanks, CFR received the sixth-most money from Pentagon contractors. Other top recipients included the Atlantic Council ($10,270,001), Center for a New American Security ($6,665,0000), Center for Strategic and International Studies ($4,115,000), Brookings Institute ($3,475,000), and Hudson Institute ($2,240,000). 22
In 2023, CFR reported an annual revenue of $81,000,000. 21 That same year, CFR reported receiving 31% of its funding from endowment drawings, 16% from unrestricted gifts, 14% from Foreign Affairs magazine, 11% from individual member dues, and less than 10% each from other sources including corporate grants, investment management drawings, and rental income. 23
In 2020, CFR programs received support from various foundations including the left-of-center Bloomberg Philanthropies, Exxon Mobil Corporation, Ford Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Kern Family Foundation, Koret Foundation, Henry Luce Foundation, Merow Foudnation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Paul E. Singer Foundation, Stanton Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Compton Foundation, Marc Haas Foundation, Hurford Foundation, New York Community Trust, Smith Richardson Foundation, and others. 24
CFR has also received grants totaling $3,000,000 from Stanford University between 2017 and 2019; 25 26 27 $1,450,000 from the Bessmer Giving Fund in 2015; 28 $250,000 from the left-of-center New Venture Fund, a charitable pass-through entity managed by Arabella Advisors, in 2019; 29 $250,000 from the San Francisco Foundation in 2018; 30 $201,000 from the American Endowment Foundation in 2017; 31 $131,000 from the Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund in 2017; 32 $70,000 from Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund in 2018; 33 $52,000 from the left-of-center Silicon Valley Community Foundation in 2013; 34 and $50,000 from Columbia University in 2018. 35
References
- Gavrilis, George. “The Council on Foreign Relations – A Short History.” Council on Foreign Relations 2021. Pg. V. Accessed June 18, 2022. https://www.cfr.org/sites/default/files/pdf/centennial-book.pdf.
- “Annual Report.” Council on Foreign Relations. Accessed June 20, 2022. https://www.cfr.org/annual-report-2021.
- Gavrilis, George. “The Council on Foreign Relations – A Short History.” Council on Foreign Relations 2021. Accessed June 18, 2022. https://www.cfr.org/sites/default/files/pdf/centennial-book.pdf.
- “Membership Roster.” Council on Foreign Relations. Accessed June 19, 2022. https://www.cfr.org/membership/roster.
- “Membership Roster.” CFR. Accessed January 13, 2025. https://www.cfr.org/membership/roster.
- O’Brien, Thomas. “The Century of U.S. Capitalism in Latin America.” University of New Mexico Press. Albuquerque. Pg. 104-105. https://books.google.com/books?id=EMVF8jtZy0oC&pg=PA105#v=onepage&q&f=false.
- Friedman, Dan. “A Soviet-Born Billionaire is Buying influence at US Institutions. Anti-Corruption Activists are Worried.” Mother Jones. October 8, 2019. Accessed June 20, 2022. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/10/council-on-foreign-relations-leonard-blavatnik-russia/.
- “Individual Membership.” Council on Foreign Relations. Accessed June 20, 2022. https://www.cfr.org/membership/individual-membership.
- “Board of Directors.” Officers. Council on Foreign Relations. Accessed June 18, 2022. https://www.cfr.org/board-directors.
- “Board of Directors.” Council on Foreign Relations. Accessed June 18, 2022. https://www.cfr.org/board-directors.
- “Our Leadership.” CFR. Accessed January 13, 2025. https://www.cfr.org/about.
- “David Rubenstein.” Council on Foreign Relations. Accessed June 20, 2022. https://www.cfr.org/bio/david-m-rubenstein.
- “Michael Froman.” CFR. Accessed January 13, 2025. https://www.cfr.org/expert/michael-froman.
- “Board of Directors.” CFR. Accessed January 13, 2025. https://www.cfr.org/board-directors.
- “Topics.” CFR. Accessed January 13, 2024. https://www.cfr.org/topics.
- “Corporate Program.” Council on Foreign Relations. Accessed June 20, 2022. https://www.cfr.org/membership/corporate-membership.
- “Corporate Members.” Council on Foreign Relations. Accessed January 23, 2025. https://www.cfr.org/membership/corporate-members.
- Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Council on Foreign Relations. 2022.
- “Former Government Official Arrested for Acting as Unregistered Agent of South Korean Government.” U.S. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs. July 17, 2024. Accessed January 13, 2025. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/former-cia-and-white-house-official-sue-mi-terry-arrested-acting-unregistered-agent-south
- Schaffer, Michael. “Max Boot Called Trump a Foreign Asset. Now His Wife Is Indicted for Just That.” Politico Magazine. August 2, 2024. Accessed January 13, 2025. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/08/02/sue-mi-terry-south-korean-agent-indictment-column-00172298
- “Funding.” Council on Foreign Relations. Accessed June 20, 2022. https://www.cfr.org/funding.
- “Thank Tank Tracker.” Think Tank Tracker. Accessed January 13, 2025. https://thinktankfundingtracker.org/.
- “Funding.” CFR. Accessed January 13, 2025. https://www.cfr.org/funding.
- “Donor Listing 2020-2021.” Council on Foreign Relations. 2021. Accessed June 20, 2022. https://cdn.cfr.org/sites/default/files/pdf/2021-donor-listing.pdf.
- The Board of Trustees of The Leland Stanford Junior University. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990). 2017. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/941156365/201901969349301905/full.
- The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990). 2018. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/941156365/201901969349301905/full.
- The Board of Trustees of The Leland Stanford Junior University. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990). 2019. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/941156365/202021959349303987/full.
- Bessmer Giving Fund. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990). 2015. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/137111099/201633209349316483/full.
- New Venture Fund. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990). Schedule I. 2019. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/205806345/202033169349300208/full.
- San Francisco Foundation. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990). 2018. Schedule I. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/10679337/202011549349301116/full
- American Endowment Foundation. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990). Schedule I. 2017. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/341747398/201803179349301415/IRS990ScheduleI.
- Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990). 2017. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/311774905/201832619349300328/full.
- Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990). Schedule I> 2018. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/311774905/201922279349300402/IRS990ScheduleI.
- [1] Silicon Valley Community Foundation. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990). 2013. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/205205488/201423189349308877/full.
- Columbia University in the City of New York. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990). 2018. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/135598093/202031969349301328/full.