ASU President Michael Crow has joined the ranks of foreign policy thinkers around the country with his recent appointment to the Council on Foreign Relations, a foreign policy think tank.
The Council on Foreign Relations, founded in 1921, is a national membership organization that pulls together scholars, policy makers and foreign relations experts.
Several colleagues who are members of the council nominated Crow for membership, and the ASU Foundation paid his annual dues of $350.
Crow was an attractive candidate because his vision for ASU has "enormous potential," said Richard Mallery, a member of the council's membership committee since 1985 and a partner at Snell & Wilmer law firm in Phoenix.
"Crow is one of the most exciting thinkers in higher education today," he said. "He will be a strong voice for the Southwest."
The Southwest is an important voice as the U.S. changes the way it thinks about foreign policy, Mallery said.
"America is becoming less Euro-centric in the formation of its foreign policy and more focused on the growing importance of Mexico, Latin America and Asia," he said.
The council focuses on trade, human rights and national security, among other topics, but does not take positions on the issues. The council recently released a task force report on creating a North American community.
Its goal is to provide nonpartisan ideas to help educate policy makers, journalists, students and interested citizens on foreign policy choices the U.S. and other governments face.
The council holds meetings around the country, but members are not required to attend.
Being a part of the council will connect ASU to an influential intellectual community that is dealing with issues of great importance to the University as it moves forward, Crow said.
"The future of both the state and the nation depends on how well we understand and organize ourselves to address the complex and fluid geopolitical environment in which we live," he said.
Reach the reporter at elias.arnold@asu.edu.
