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SUBMISSIONS
Write for the Council
The Council accepts Commentary and Opinion from writers outside the institution. Longer research is considered by proposal.
WHAT THE COUNCIL PUBLISHES
800 to 1,200 WORDS
Commentary
Short-form analysis of a current development. Commentary advances a single argument, supported by evidence, and is intended for timely publication.
1,200 TO 2000 WORDS
Opinion
A sustained argument on a question of international policy. Opinion pieces are supported by evidence and conclude with recommendations addressed to governments or institutions.
2,500 WORDS AND ABOVE
Long Research
Longer work is accepted by proposal rather than by submission. A proposal should state the argument, the intended length, and the author’s professional background. The Council reviews proposals and advises whether to proceed.
WHAT THE COUNCIL DOES NOT PUBLISHES
The Council does not publish work that has appeared elsewhere or is under review elsewhere; original reporting, as distinct from analysis; academic papers carrying abstracts, literature reviews, or footnotes; press releases, promotional writing, or work advancing a commercial interest; submissions sent by communications staff on an author's behalf; or classified material, including direct citation of leaked classified documents.
THE COUNCIL'S STANDARDS
Commentary
Support factual claims and other people's arguments with hyperlinks embedded in the text. The Council does not publish footnotes, endnotes, or bare URLs. Link the words a reader would search for, and keep linked text short.
Sources that cannot be linked — interviews, documents not published online, conversations — should be described in the text.
The Council does not source pieces on an author's behalf. A submission that asserts facts without support is declined on that basis alone.
Exclusivity
Submissions must be exclusive to the Council. A piece under review at another publication should not be sent until that publication has responded or the piece has been formally withdrawn. Withdrawing means telling the other publication; assuming it has lost interest is not the same thing.
Tell the Council if any part of the argument has appeared elsewhere in any form, including on a personal blog or a professional network.
Disclosure
Authors must disclose any funding, employment, consultancy, board position, or personal involvement that bears on the subject of the piece. This includes work for a government, a company, or an organization discussed in the submission.
Disclosure is not disqualifying. The Council publishes work by people with direct involvement in what they write about, and says so when it does. Failing to disclose is a different matter and ends consideration.
Where a disclosure is relevant to a published piece, it appears with the piece.
Artificial Intelligence
The Council publishes work written by its authors.
Artificial intelligence may be used for research, translation, or analysis of data, provided the author verifies the output independently and remains responsible for its accuracy. It may not be used to draft the text.
Any substantive use must be disclosed at submission: name the tool and describe what it was used for. Disclosure does not make AI-drafted text acceptable. Linked source material may not be AI-generated.
WHAT TO SEND
01
The piece
A Microsoft Word document. Not a PDF.
Exactly as the byline should read.
02
Author (s) Name
Your current position and the institution you are writing from.
No more than 50 words. This appears beneath the piece if it is published.
03
Affiliations and Titles
04
A short biography
No more than 200 words, covering your professional background, relevant experience, and previous publications. The Council uses this to assess the submission; it is not published.
05
An extended biography
06
A one-sentence summary or deck
Your argument in a single sentence. If the piece is published, this becomes its deck — the line beneath the headline.
A submission missing any of this is returned rather than reviewed. The Council asks for a photograph only once a piece has been accepted.
SUBMIT A PIECE
Commentary and Opinion
A submission missing any required item is returned rather than reviewed.
Longer research is proposed by email rather than submitted here.
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