Joel H. Rosenthal is president of Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. As a nonprofit leader, scholar, and teacher he works to empower ethical action, with a particular focus on U.S. foreign policy, issues of war and peace, human rights, and pluralism. At Carnegie Council, Rosenthal leads a team that identifies critical ethical issues, convenes experts, and produces agenda-setting resources to educate and activate communities globally.
Rosenthal is editor-in-chief of the Ethics & International Affairs journal published by Cambridge University Press. His first book Righteous Realists is an examination of the political realists who shaped post-WWII America in the nuclear age, including Hans Morgenthau, Reinhold Niebuhr, and George Kennan. His current writing and commentary can be found at the President’s Desk.
Rosenthal is the recipient of numerous awards including the Distinguished Scholar Award from the International Studies Association for his lifetime achievement in international studies and an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Social Science from the University of Edinburgh. He received his Ph.D. from Yale University and BA from Harvard University.
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Featured Work
AUG 20, 2010 • Article
Can We Succeed Where Carnegie Failed?
Carnegie's belief was that nations could resolve disputes without resorting to war. He worked hard to create mechanisms for achieving peace, but his hopes were ...
AUG 18, 2010 • Article
Is Peace Worth Fighting For?
Transcript of a speech at a August 18, 2010 Scottish Parliament’s Festival of Politics event, “Is Peace Worth Fighting For?“ “My remarks today are inspired not ...
JUL 27, 2010 • Podcast
Taiwan: Building Partnerships for Asia-Pacific Economic Integration
Since 2008, Taiwan has quietly pursued new political and economic initiatives with China, and the likelihood of conflict across the Taiwan Strait has diminished. What are ...
JAN 19, 2010 • Article
Obama and God
As President Obama completes his first year in office, little attention has been given to a question that sparked raucous argument during the campaign. How ...
JAN 19, 2010 • Article
Obama and God
As President Obama completes his first year in office, little attention has been given to a question that sparked raucous argument during the campaign. How ...
DEC 22, 2009 • Podcast
East Asian Security and Democracy: The Place of Taiwan
Taiwan has transformed itself into a prosperous, vibrant democracy, and recently tensions between Taiwan and China have lessened. As the balance of power between the ...
NOV 17, 2009 • Podcast
How Rights Move: Losing and Acquiring Rights in the International Domain
David Rodin explores the logic which governs how rights may be lost, acquired and transferred--how they 'move'--and examines in particular the implications this has for ...
SEP 29, 2009 • Podcast
Leadership as Practical Ethics
If we accept leadership as goal-driven and compromise-ridden, then we see that ethics should not be a peripheral to any public policy curriculum or program ...
SEP 9, 2009 • Podcast
Realism as Pragmatic Cooperation
Remedies to global challenges are less about romantic dreams to improve the world and more about pragmatism and sustainability. The pragmatic and ethical thing to ...
SEP 9, 2009 • Podcast
Afghanistan and Japan: Joel Rosenthal on Public Television
What impact will the recent elections in Afghanistan and Japan have on U.S. interests? Joel Rosenthal is interviewed on Worldfocus, along with Carol Giacomo ...