Thomas J. Bollyky

Washington, D.C., United States

Director of Global Health at The Council on Foreign Relations

Bloomberg Chair in Global Health; Sr Fellow in Int'l Economics & Development @CFR_org. Founder @ThinkGlobalHlth. Law Prof sometimes. Dad (3x); book author (1x)

Articles

China Sees Opportunity in Trump’s Upheaval

Mar 27, 2025 | foreignaffairs.com | Rebecca Patterson |Joshua Kurlantzick |Jude Blanchette |Thomas J. Bollyky

In 2018, Chinese leader Xi Jinping argued that the world was undergoing “profound changes unseen in a century,” a concept that has since become central to Beijing’s geopolitical worldview. The phrase evoked parallels to the dramatic global shifts that followed World War I, including the collapse of European empires and the reordering of international politics.
The Coming Global Health Crisis

Mar 24, 2025 | foreignaffairs.com | Michael Froman |Linda Robinson |Thomas J. Bollyky |Yanzhong Huang

Critics of the Trump administration’s early actions on global health—withdrawing from the World Health Organization (WHO) and paralyzing U.S.-funded international health programs—fear that those moves will cede Washington’s longstanding leadership role to Beijing. American power and prestige, they charge, will wane, and China’s will grow. The reality is worse.
Importing Generic Drugs Could Ease U.S. Shortages

Jan 17, 2025 | thinkglobalhealth.org | Chloe Searchinger |Allison Krugman |Thomas J. Bollyky

Syphilis rates have been rising in the United States for 10 years. If untreated, the disease poses grim risks, from heart and brain damage to blindness to miscarriage and infant death. Yet when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a shortage of benzathine penicillin G—the only approved treatment for pregnant women—in 2023, the agency waited nine months before importing a version of the drug from a French pharmaceutical company approved for use in Europe.
How Turkey Won the Syrian Civil War

Dec 11, 2024 | foreignaffairs.com | James M. Lindsay |Thomas J. Bollyky |Joshua Kurlantzick |Gonul Tol

In most capitals across the Middle East, the news of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s fall sparked immense anxiety. Ankara is not one of them. Rather than worrying about Syria’s prospects after more than a decade of conflict, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sees opportunity in a post-Assad future.
India Will Carve Its Own Path

Dec 11, 2024 | foreignaffairs.com | James M. Lindsay |Thomas J. Bollyky |Joshua Kurlantzick |Manjari Chatterjee Miller

For more than a decade, the United States’ Asia policy has been consumed with one issue: the rise of China. President Joe Biden’s views did not fully align with those of President Barack Obama, and both men had many differences with Donald Trump. But all three fretted about what China, as a great power, might do to its region and to the world. They have, accordingly, oriented Washington’s Indo-Pacific strategy around partnerships and policies that can constrain Beijing.
The 10 Americas: How Geography, Race, and Income Shape U.S. Life Expectancy

Dec 10, 2024 | thinkglobalhealth.org | Thomas J. Bollyky |Laura Dwyer-Lindgren |Ali H Mokdad |Chloe Searchinger

The differences in U.S. life expectancy are so large it's as if the population lives in separate Americas instead of one. Nearly two decades ago, a team of researchers published the landmark "Eight Americas" study, which examined drivers of U.S. health inequities between 1982 and 2001 by dividing the U.S. population into groups based on geography, race, income, and other factors.
In Economic Security, Trade-Offs Abound

May 8, 2024 | cfr.org | Thomas J. Bollyky |Chloe Searchinger |Alice C. Hill |Zongyuan Liu |Benn Steil

A regular series on the choices faced by international economic policymakersDifficult Trade-Offs Hinder U.S. Industrial Policy on Health Thomas J. Bollyky and Chloe Searchinger More From Our Experts During the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world ran out of everything.
Assessments of the performance of pandemic preparedness measures must properly account for national income

May 1, 2024 | gh.bmj.com | Joseph L Dieleman |Erin N. Hulland |Thomas J. Bollyky

Assessments of the performance of pandemic preparedness measures must properly account for national income Statistics from Altmetric.com Request Permissions If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.
Global Health Security and Diplomacy in 2024: Lead, Leverage, and Elevate

Jan 11, 2024 | thinkglobalhealth.org | Hillary Carter |Thomas J. Bollyky

Last year was challenging in several ways, and it can be easy to feel pessimistic about the prospects of countries working together to overcome the seismic conflicts, the record temperatures, and other threats to global peace and prosperity. Yet, entering 2024, we also see reasons for optimism. At the intersection of health security and diplomacy where we work, a focused effort is beginning to yield tangible benefits on intertwined issues.
Best of 2023 | Think Global Health

Dec 27, 2023 | thinkglobalhealth.org | Thomas J. Bollyky |Caroline Kantis |Alejandra Martinez |Alejandra Martinez |Ted Alcorn

Aging Best of 2023 Our favorite Think Global Health stories from 2023 Honor Ford holds a copy of "Heartstopper" that she donated as part of the Read with Love Book Drive run by PFLAG Bucks County, at the Doylestown Bookshop in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, on April 7, 2023.