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
JUL 7, 2009 • Article
A Humanitarian Assessment of the War in Iraq
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 ...
JUL 6, 2009 • Podcast
U.S.-Iran Relations After the Iranian Election
How should the United States proceed in its relations with Iran during this turbulent time—and beyond? Should we launch direct, high-level talks between a ...
JUN 8, 2009 • Article
Get out of the GWOT
Despite Obama's promises of change, U.S. defense policy is geared almost exclusively to a dangerous counter-insurgency posture designed to prevent a new 9/11. It's time ...
JUN 5, 2009 • Podcast
North Korea: What Next?
There are no good options in negotiations with North Korea, says Bush's top advisor on North Korean affairs, Victor Cha. It's always a choice between ...
JUN 3, 2009 • Podcast
Ethical Policy Dilemmas in the Promotion of U.S. Human Rights Values
What are realistic processes of social change that should inform effective human rights policy and its implementation? Should human rights issues be pressed even if ...
JUN 1, 2009 • Podcast
The American Future: A History
In a dazzling display of learning and verbal virtuosity, Simon Schama takes us from Arlington Cemetery to the contrasts between the Jeffersonian and Hamiltonian worldview; ...
MAY 22, 2009 • Podcast
George Kennan, the Soviet Union, and the Cold War Reconsidered
Historian John Lukacs discusses his close friend George Kennan. Kennan was an architect of the Cold War, but after 1950 he became one of its critics ...
MAY 19, 2009 • Article
Obama Could Send Message to Iran With...a Message to Iran
In one letter, Obama could spell out common interests, mutual concerns, and prospects for peace.
MAY 19, 2009 • Podcast
The Geopolitics of Emotion: How Cultures of Fear, Humiliation, and Hope are Reshaping the World
What are the driving emotions behind our cultural differences? How do these varying emotions influence the political, social, and cultural conflicts that roil our world?
MAY 19, 2009 • Podcast
The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One
Have U.S. actions in the "war on terror" blurred the distinction between local and global struggles? How can the U.S. develop strategies that ...