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Carnegie Ethics Online
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Zarrin T. Caldwell
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05/23/12
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What is the role of the nation-state in a globalizing world? The need is not for a relinquishment of national identity per se, but for becoming "unstuck" from the almost sacrosanct nation-state-centered doctrines that undergird policy at multiple levels.
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S. Prakash Sethi
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04/02/12
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On the customer side, Apple is one of the world's most innovative and successful companies. But when it comes to working conditions at its plants in China, its record is marred by significant violations. Will new CEO Tim Cook work to set a new standard for tech industry workers in Asia?
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Marlene Spoerri,
Mladen Joksic
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03/21/12
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What explains the far right's resurgence across Europe? Despite the perceived failures of multiculturalism, the continent should do more to understand why xenophobia remains so compelling and why its immigrants continue to struggle to become European.
Can the recent eruption of protests be interpreted as a single phenomenon, even though spread out across great distances and separated by barriers of language and culture? Can we locate a common strand of thought or purpose that binds them together?
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Anuradha Chakravarty
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01/18/12
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The November 2011 elections were a historic opportunity to begin rebuilding the fragile DRC state. But as this first-hand account shows, evidence suggests that power politics and strategic manipulation prevailed, betraying the Congolese people.
The Fukushima disaster has caused a backlash against nuclear power. But can Japan maintain a nuclear-free society without risk of rolling blackouts? Are energy security, economic efficiency, and environmental sustainability fundamentally compatible or mutually exclusive?
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Karthik Nachiappan
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11/21/11
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Can think tanks really facilitate growth? How robust are the Think Tank Initiative's evaluative and accountability processes? Measuring how the TTI fares will not only enable us to gauge the venture's efficacy, but also help us to better understand the role that philanthropic foundations play.
The relief that so many feel at Gilad Shalit's release must be tempered by an acknowledgement that the deal Israel made with Hamas to secure Gilad's release is, at best, morally problematic, if not actually unethical. It involves difficult moral questions for both Israelis and Palestinians.
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Richard Brubaker
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09/29/11
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While the global sustainability discussion is focused on carbon emissions, the Chinese people will continue working on problems that are tangible for them, such as health and safety.
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Alison M. S. Watson
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08/17/11
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In an era supposedly characterized by a desire for pluralism, multi-culturalism, and hybridity, the many dilemmas of inter-country adoption demonstrate how far we have come, but also how far we still have to go.
When it comes to the question of a Palestinian state, anything is possible. Which, given the frustrating and enduring problems attendant to the issue, is almost tantamount to saying that nothing is possible. Yet nothing, not even blood and memory, is written in stone.
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Marlene Spoerri,
Mladen Joksic
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06/02/11
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For Serbians, material incentives, not a moral imperative, are the main motivation for compliance with the International Criminal Tribunal. Thus Serbia has
succeeded in aspects of criminal justice, but has failed to partake in transitional
justice--and Mladic's arrest does not change this.
Ultimately, it will be Obama's actions, not his words, that will determine whether the U.S. will be seen as truly supporting the Arab Spring, and so far the actual record has been decidedly mixed.
Actions rather than words will also decide what happens in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
While all eyes are focused on Libya, we may be headed towards a bloodbath in Ivory Coast similar to that in Rwanda in April 1994. The Middle East is of vital strategic importance and Sub-Saharan Africa is not. Yet how can we allow history to repeat itself?
After the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and now the nuclear meltdown in Japan, it should be clear that oil and nuclear power are not benign forces. Both are toxic, dirty, and insecure forms of energy. It is thus astonishing that the Canadian energy industry proposes a combination of the two.
Many ask, "Will the newly independent South Sudan become a failed state?" But the real question is, "Can North Sudan remain a viable state without the South?" says Sudan expert Eric Reeves. Peace is far from guaranteed and both states face staggering challenges.
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Patricia Lynne Duffy
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01/11/11
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A series of inter-related projects in a Ugandan village show that small can be beautiful, particularly for women--and it all began with a community library.
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Julia Taylor Kennedy
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12/14/10
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A new era in Latin America or status quo in another form? While female politicians' success in Latin American elections is laudable, this trend does not necessarily herald either the end of machismo or a new dawn for women's liberation in the region.
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David C. Speedie,
Caitlin Tierney
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11/23/10
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A constructive engagement over water supply and stewardship might just create an atmosphere conducive to constructive dialogue on more contentious problems in the Middle East and other areas of conflict.
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Zornitsa Stoyanova-Yerburgh
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10/15/10
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To the casual observer, it may be hard to see what holds EU members together, writes Stoyanova-Yerburgh. It is no surprise then that the EU, this bold experiment in integration of like-minded democracies, has lost some of its credibility as an international leader. Can it gain it back?
"Sustainability is changing the way businesses think about innovation—with customers, partners, and within organizations themselves," writes Corporate EcoForum's Jeffrey Hittner.
Should the United States, as the world's greatest military power, use its might to prevent the next outbreak of ethnic violence from turning into a full-fledged genocide? The answer is not an easy one, writes security affairs analyst Erik Schechter.
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Hirad Abtahi,
Sam Sasan Shoamanesh
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07/07/10
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Authors Abtahi and Shoamanesh have a bold proposition: a multi-state, political-economic-security union that stretches from the Fertile Crescent to the Silk Road, connecting the Indian Ocean to the Caucasus, and the Mediterranean to Central Asia.
DRC expert Thomas Turner examines Congo's rash of conflicts, its resource curse, elections, and possible withdrawal of MONUC. The state survives, but is too weak to protect its people.
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Katherine A. Miller
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05/04/10
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In August 2010, three months after writing this article, West Point Cadet Katherine Miller publicly announced she was gay and resigned from West Point, saying that "Don't Ask Don't Tell" had caused her to lie and thus violate West Point's Honor Code.
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Jonathan Cristol
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04/13/10
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The issue in the Israel/Palestinian conflict is not a lack of desire for peace, but the political inability to achieve it. The basic contours of an agreement already exist. It is time for the U.S. to force a resolution to the conflict by providing incentives for both sides to finally sign on to it.
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Margot E. Salomon
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03/25/10
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In this critical post-financial crisis period, Margot Salomon of LSE underscores the demands that international human rights law place on a more ethical form of economic globalization.
Although Obama has largely avoided the term democracy assistance, in fact he has delivered a considered and astute response to overcoming Bush's tarnished legacy--a response which promises to deliver a more sophisticated and coherent brand of democracy assistance.
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James Farrer,
Devin T. Stewart
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01/06/10
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Beyond the ethical and practical arguments for immigration reform, the strongest case for an internationally recognized right to move may arise out of the "worst-case scenarios" of global climate change.
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Sarah Burd-Sharps,
Kristen Lewis
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12/04/09
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The question today is not whether to start rationing healthcare. We are already rationing, based in large part on the ability to pay. The question is how to alter the terms in a way that balances fairness and efficiency.
The sudden downfall of the Communist regimes in 1989 and the opening of the Berlin Wall are sometimes depicted as the inevitable result of a lengthy process of systemic decay. But in fact there was nothing inevitable about the outcome.
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David C. Speedie
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10/26/09
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"He that hunts two hares will catch neither," runs an old proverb. In the current unruly security environment, with challenges aplenty for the Obama administration, the hare to be pursued remains the reduction of the global nuclear threat, says David Speedie.
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John Grim,
Mary Evelyn Tucker
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09/02/09
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John Grim and Mary Evelyn Tucker argue that although the world's religions have been slow to respond to our current environmental crises, their moral authority and their institutional power may help effect a change in attitudes, practices, and public policies.
The 2008 taxpayer bailout and a long string of corporate restructurings and downsizings have shifted risk from corporations to individuals, writes Ann Rutledge. Most Americans were caught in a high-stakes Monopoly game where they didn't know the rules.
The debates about withdrawing from Iraq have excluded what would seem to be a self-evident point of contention: how best to repair the damage that Iraqis have suffered as a result of the war.
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Elizabeth A. Cole,
Madeleine Lynn
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06/03/09
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What has changed in China since 1989, and what are Chinese looking for from their government today? Health and safety issues are paramount for many, especially for their children.
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Sakiko Fukuda-Parr,
Margot E. Salomon
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05/04/09
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The global economic crisis and its impact on the poor are issues of international human rights law, in particular of state obligations to take collective action to create a global economic system amenable to the fulfillment of basic rights to subsistence, security, and freedom, say Sakiko Fukuda Parr and Margot Salomon.
David Willcox writes on a U.K. court case brought by participants in the U.K.'s nuclear testing program which raises a moral dilemma for governments.
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Matthew Hennessey
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03/04/09
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Obama is in a unique position to make a difference in Africa, but will he fulfill his campaign promises? Matthew Hennessey has some suggestions for Obama and his Africa team.
What sorts of features must we instill in a collective to make it easier for people to make the decision to tell the truth? What can we do, as a group, so we don't have to rely on the ethical compass of individuals?
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David C. Speedie
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02/02/09
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In a possible letter from the United States to Iran, David Speedie writes of the two nations' shared interests, the causes that divide them, and on moving beyond past grievances. (Originally published May 2008)
It's time to go back to President Eisenhower's original goal of space for peaceful purposes and ditch America's position that it has the right to militarily dominate outer space.
Fighting the climate crisis will be as much about new incentives as about new technologies, and there are few incentives as reliable as price. Will Obama miss a crucial opportunity?
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Matthew Hennessey
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11/11/08
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Globalization is an attitude of openness, and whether in cultural attitudes or economics, openness improves the lives of citizens by expanding opportunities for choice, says Matthew Hennessey of the Manhattan Institute.
Although microfinance has helped millions of individuals to survive, it doesn't create much real economic growth, says Michael Strong. But some organizations are moving beyond microfinance to create more substantial rural enterprises.
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William C. Vocke Jr.
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09/25/08
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Hidden in the U.S. presidential election is the promise of a renewed emphasis on public diplomacy. But how will America renew a lost love affair with the rest of the world?
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Devin T. Stewart,
Nikolas K. Gvosdev,
David A. Andelman
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08/29/08
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The nation-state is an anachronistic myth which should be shed once and for all, declares Devin Stewart. Gvosdev and Andelman disagree.
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Bradley Shingleton
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07/01/08
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Initiatives such as "A Common Word Between Us" and Hans Küng's Global Ethic may mark the beginning of constructive dialogue between the West and the Muslim world.
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Zornitsa Stoyanova-Yerburgh
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06/10/08
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Those who question the moral significance of borders often invoke the EU as a model of post-national belonging. Yet for asylum-seekers, "Fortress Europe" remains a more accurate description.
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Devin T. Stewart
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04/04/08
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From Africa to Southeast Asia, China's economic diplomacy carries risks. A case in point is Cambodia, where many believe that China's projects are harming the country, both physically and in the realm of human rights and democracy.
The "national basic income" concept is energizing a growing number of political theorists and leaders. However, the "one-country-at-a-time" approach has a regrettable tendency to sideline international issues.
The international community could act to stop the genocide in Darfur. For example, it could pressure China and enact an EU trade and investment moratorium. But it's more likely that we will continue to stand by and watch.
Antarctica is unique in that it has no governing body, no electorate (or citizens), and no permanent human inhabitants. One of the greatest ethical dilemmas currently facing the nations of the world is how and to what extent mankind should regulate this vast region.
Many human rights and labor rights leaders argue that the U.S. should not reward Colombia with a permanent free trade agreement right now because it has not made sufficient progress in labor rights and basic human rights. But if not now, when?
Wadlow suggests three points that the world community should press the U.S. to include in the upcoming conference: Hamas should be invited; a wider economic zone is needed; and an Organization for Security and Cooperation
in the Middle East should be established.
Kurlantzick sees a need for the U.S. to counter China's soft power, but avoids
making any ethical judgment on its questionable elements, specifically China's diplomatic and business relationships with authoritarian regimes and human rights violators like Sudan.
The temptation to focus on regime change as the solution to all the problems posed by Pyongyang is strong. But attempts to overthrow the regime or squeeze it into submission risk doing more evil than good for ordinary North Koreans.
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Frank Jarolímek-Proner,
Martin Searle,
Joshua Marquis
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08/07/07
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Does the death penalty make the U.S. a rogue state? Arguments for and against capital punishment.
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Marcus A. Roberts,
Frank Spring
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06/27/07
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"To view Blair through Iraq alone is to ignore his extraordinary legacy in the areas of liberal interventionism, international development and climate change," says Roberts, while Spring praises his triumph in Northern Ireland and distinguishes between Bush's "moralist" foreign policy and Blair's more successful "ethical" approach.
When will China publicly acknowledge what really happened on June 4, 1989? Just as in Taiwan, change in China must surely come from within. But the rest of the world has a role to play also, and the Beijing Games provide an opportunity to do so.
In the interests of security, should the U.S. end the visa waiver for British Muslims? The cost is far too high, says Spring, involving backtracking on values, straining relations with allies, and alienating communities.
Is isolationist unilateralism (the "Israelization" of America) an acceptable U.S. response to globalized terrorism? No, argues Spring, for both practical and ethical reasons.
The danger Kurdistan faces is overwhelming. Their peripheral region falls between two hostile capitals, Ankara and Tehran. Below, what is now known as the world’s deadliest capital, Baghdad. What can Kurdistan possibly do to keep from being buried alive?
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Devin T. Stewart
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02/09/07
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For the U.S. to justify and prolong its international leadership, it must ensure that the rest of the world can access the benefits of globalization. It can start by promulgating a more thoughtful approach to trade--one that is neither protectionist nor free market fundamentalist.
While the World Bank has greatly reduced its loans for large dams, the Chinese are going full-speed ahead with a spate of dam projects, both at home and in Africa. But the ill effects may outweigh the benefits.
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Ashley Bommer,
Asad Rahman,
Jere Van Dyk
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12/18/06
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Is the rugged province of Baluchistan a haven for al-Qaeda and the Taliban? How do Pakistanis and Afghans view the situation there?
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Marcus A. Roberts
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11/17/06
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In the wake of the Democrats' return to power, Council Associate Marcus Roberts examines liberal foreign policy approaches through Peter Beinart's new book.
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Devin T. Stewart,
Joshua Eisenman
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10/13/06
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China's authorities have recently come under fire from foreign governments and human rights groups for Chinese business practices in other countries. Eisenman and Stewart delve into the foreign policy issues arising from China’s new-found wealth.
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Devin T. Stewart
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09/07/06
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National trade deficits usually get worse before they get better.This pattern resembles a "J" on graphs and so economists call it the J curve. Ian Bremmer noticed that countries also follow a J curve, which describes the relationship between a country's openness and its stability.
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Anthony F. Lang, Jr.
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08/07/06
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While democratic states tend to protect their own citizens and tend to be more peaceful, does it follow that democratic systems ought to be imposed on communities by the use of military force?
In the growing confrontation between the United States and Iran, there is one area which has been overlooked and could provide an area of mutual cooperation: the fight against drugs.
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Patrick M. Cronin
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06/21/06
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Branding the suicides of three Guantanamo detainees "an act of asymmetric warfare" is an act of superpower suicide. The global perception of a disregard for ethics and human life costs the United States the currency of international affairs: legitimacy.
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