Article at a glance:

A political education for business: An interview with the head of the Council on Foreign Relations

• The passage from the 20th to the 21st century has brought new stakeholders into the international playing field, blurring the traditional lines among business, government, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).
• Richard Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations, says that businesses can learn from government as they compete in an increasingly complex global landscape. He argues that they can gain by taking a higher-profile, more vocal stance on public-policy issues.