Framing ethical perspectives
As countries grapple with global issues, such as climate change and the impact of emerging technology, the way that nations interact has never been more consequential. Our experts, programming, and impact initiatives work to analyze the foreign policy of the United States and other nations with an aim to explore shared values and produce agenda-setting resources.
Foreign Policy Resources
International affairs, global governance, and more
DEC 15, 2025 • Video
The Ethics of Decision-Making in National Security
APR 9, 2026 • Article
Realism vs. Pragmatism: Understanding America’s New Rhetorical Landscape
Amid Trump's fiery rhetoric and debates over "realism," Professor Jason Ralph writes that "pragmatism" may offer a better alternative for the American public.
AUG 14, 2025 • Podcast
Values, Realism, and U.S. Foreign Policy, with Alexander Vindman
Alexander Vindman joins "Values & Interests" to discuss the critical interplay between morality and power in the practice of geopolitics.
Related Initiatives
Ethics & International Affairs Journal
Ethics & International Affairs is the quarterly journal of Carnegie Council. It aims to close the gap between the theory and practice of ethics.
Model International Mobility Convention
The primary goal of the Model International Mobility Convention (MIMC) is to formulate new rules for migration and asylum that can benefit both migrants and refugees as well as their states of origin, transit, and destination.
Explore Our Foreign Policy Resources
AUG 4, 2017 • Podcast
Scott D. Sagan on the Nuclear Necessity Principle
Major changes must be made if U.S. nuclear war plans are to conform to the principles of just war doctrine and the law of ...
AUG 1, 2017 • Podcast
George Friedman: The End of the International Order and the Future of Asia
Tired of conventional wisdom? Check out geopolitical forecaster George Friedman. The period that began at the end of World War II was a freak, he ...
JUL 27, 2017 • Podcast
Meredith Sumpter: The "G-Zero" World Hits Asia
"First and foremost, a G-zero is a world in which no one country has dominant power or can influence the international system of governance," explains ...
JUL 25, 2017 • Podcast
General Donald Bolduc on the U.S. War in Afghanistan
In this inspiring interview, Brig. Gen. Bolduc discusses his time in Afghanistan and his assessment of the situation there as well as in Africa, where ...
JUL 20, 2017 • Podcast
Graham Allison on "Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides’s Trap?"
Thucydides's Trap is the dangerous dynamic that occurs when a rising power threatens to displace a ruling power, explains Harvard's Graham Allison. So is war ...
JUL 18, 2017 • Podcast
Isaac Stone Fish: Facts and Fiction on North Korea
Asia Society's Isaac Stone Fish is working on a novel set in Pyongyang, but he's also looking for the truth in the "world's most opaque ...
JUL 17, 2017 • Article
Recalibrating the U.S. Strategy for the War on Drugs
With Mexico in mind, it's time the U.S. recalibrated its strategy for the decades-long War on Drugs. "A policy that addresses the violent threat ...
JUL 16, 2017 • Publication
Ethics in International Affairs: An Introduction
This introduction from Carnegie Council President Joel Rosenthal explains the point of view underlying the Council’s activities, discussing the connection between power and ethics.
JUL 13, 2017 • Podcast
Mira Rapp-Hooper on "Subcontracting" U.S. Policy Toward Asia
The U.S. and China have fundamentally different priorities regarding the Korean Peninsula, explains Asia expert Rapp-Hooper. "So, by subcontracting North Korea policy to China," ...
JUL 11, 2017 • Podcast
Conversation with Raymond Kuo: Can Trump be a Bismarck in Asia?
"This has happened before where we've had a great power who is essentially the leader of the international system taking a transactional approach. The closest ...