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
OCT 27, 2010 • Podcast
The Lost Peace: Leadership in a Time of Horror and Hope, 1945-1953
In a striking reinterpretation of the postwar years, Robert Dallek examines what drove leaders around the globe—Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, Mao, de Gaulle, and Truman—...
OCT 25, 2010 • Podcast
One Nation Under Contract: The Outsourcing of American Power and the Future of Foreign Policy
Allison Stanger shows how contractors became an integral part of U.S. foreign policy, often in scandalous ways, but maintains that the problem is not ...
OCT 21, 2010 • Article
Ukraine: Reset to a Future of Strength
The "reset button" between Washington and Moscow, far from leaving our former Soviet allies in the cold, has enabled a country like Ukraine to pursue ...
OCT 15, 2010 • Podcast
Can Obama Please Both Arabs and Israelis? What the Polls and History Tell Us
Despite Obama's rhetoric, most Arabs still see America through the prism of pain of the Arab-Israeli conflict, says Telhami, and a majority of Arabs and ...
OCT 12, 2010 • Podcast
The Frugal Superpower: America's Global Leadership in a Cash-Strapped Era
Michael Mandelbaum says that in this age of soaring deficits, the era marked by an expansive U.S. foreign policy is coming to an end. ...
OCT 8, 2010 • Podcast
Washington Rules: America's Path to Permanent War
It is time to examine the Washington consensus on national security and why it must change, says Professor Bacevich--and to acknowledge that fixing Afghanistan should ...
SEP 13, 2010 • Podcast
Facing the Crises of our Time: The United Nations and the United States in the 21st Century
"The UN can do better and it can do more, and when the U.S. is fully committed the chance of success is always greater. ...
AUG 19, 2010 • Article
Should We Stop the Next Genocide?
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 ...
AUG 9, 2010 • Podcast
Ethics for a 21st Century Army: Creating a Code of Professional Military Ethics
Major Chris Case (West Point) and David Rodin (Oxford University): What are the basic principles that should guide professional soldiers in the 21st century?
JUL 30, 2010 • Podcast
Global Ethics Corner: Secrecy in Foreign Policy
Is secrecy in foreign policy an unfortunate yet necessary way to maintain national security? Or does the lack of transparency in state decisions undermine democracy?