Michael W. Doyle

Carnegie Council Senior Fellow, Model International Mobility Convention (MIMC); Former Carnegie Council Trustee; Columbia University

Michael W. Doyle is a senior fellow for the Model International Mobility Convention (MIMC) at Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs and university professor at Columbia University.

His research interests include international relations theory, international law, and international history; civil wars and international peace-building; and the United Nations.

From 2006 to 2013, Professor Doyle served as an individual member and chairperson of the UN Democracy Fund, which was established in 2005 by the UN General Assembly to promote grassroots democratization around the world. Professor Doyle previously served as assistant secretary-general and special adviser for policy planning to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

He has taught at Princeton University, Johns Hopkins University, Yale Law School, and the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom. He is the former chair of the board of the International Peace Institute.

Professor Doyle received an AB and a Ph.D. from Harvard University and an honorary LLD from the University of Warwick, United Kingdom.

He was first elected to the Carnegie Council Board in 2014.

Featured Work

FEB 3, 2023 Article

"Forced Migrants," Human Rights, and "Climate Refugees"

Senior Fellow Michael Doyle explores arguments for assistance and asylum that those who are driven by climate to cross international borders can and should claim.

APR 21, 2022 Podcast

Global Ethics Review: Ukrainian Refugees & the International Response, with Michael W. Doyle

Since the Russian invasion began in late February, millions of Ukrainians have been forced to flee their homes. In this Global Ethics Review podcast, Senior ...

Italian navy rescues asylum seekers in the Mediterranean off the coast of Africa, June 2014. <br>CREDIT: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/vfutscher/42322119744">Massimo Sestini/Polaris</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/">(CC)</a>.

JUN 20, 2021 Article

The World's Refugee System Needs to be Made Responsible

Today, we are faced with an unfair and ultimately unsustainable refugee system that simultaneously increases human suffering while placing the burden of hosting refugees on ...

APR 27, 2021 Podcast

Global Ethics Review: The Model International Mobility Convention 2.0, with Michael Doyle

How can we make migration more ethical? Columbia University's Professor Michael Doyle, also a senior fellow at Carnegie Council, discusses the Model International Mobility Convention (...

Bridge of the Americas (El Paso–Ciudad Juárez), June 2016. CREDIT: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/54593278@N03/27793302444">U.S. Customs and Border Protection/Public Domain</a>

SEP 4, 2019 Podcast

The Model International Mobility Convention, with Michael Doyle

In this timely talk, SIPA's Professor Michael Doyle details the Model International Mobility Convention, a "hypothetical ideal convention" developed to define a "comprehensive and coherent" ...

MAR 10, 2010 Podcast

Michael Doyle on Nonintervention and the Responsibility to Protect

What circumstances justify overriding sovereignty? Michael Doyle discusses the difficult questions surrounding nonintervention and the "unanimous revolution" of 2005, which led to the new norm known ...

Striking First: Preemption and Prevention in International Conflict

OCT 1, 2008 Podcast

Striking First: Preemption and Prevention in International Conflict

Is the Bush Doctrine of aggressive preventive action a justified and legal recourse against threats posed by terrorists and rogue states? Does the United States ...

Multilateral Strategies to Promote Democracy

JAN 27, 2004 Article

Multilateral Strategies to Promote Democracy

A panel of high-level peers meet at the Council to discuss multilateral strategies for democracy promotion. Impatient with the usual critique, they begin with two ...