Edward Alden is Bernard L. Schwartz Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Alden's career spans more than three decades in journalism, think tanks, and academia. He was the bureau chief for the Financial Times newspaper in Toronto, Canada, and Washington, DC before joining the Council on Foreign Relations in 2007.

In addition to his own books and articles, he has worked with senior US policymakers on in-depth investigations of issues such as US immigration policy, US trade policy, border security, and the future of work. Since 2019 he has also been a visiting professor at Western Washington University, and he currently writes a column for Foreign Policy.

Jim retired in March 2021 as president of the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth, a position he held for two decades; he is now its president emeritus. He served as Interim Executive Director of the Santa Fe Council on International Relations for seven months ending in March 2022 and is currently a member of the Board and chair of programs. Jim’s interest in travel and global affairs grew from his years spent in Tunisia where he attended a French lycée. He is a graduate of Washington and Lee University and earned his MA in Foreign Affairs at the University of Virginia with a focus on international law and Middle East politics. Jim co-hosts McCuistion/Perspectives, a public affairs program, on KERA-Dallas. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and Honorary Consul for the Kingdom of Morocco.