Susan Aaronson

George Washington University

Susan Ariel Aaronson is associate research professor at The George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs.

Until July 2006, Aaronson was senior fellow and director of Globalization Studies at the Kenan Institute, the Washington branch of the Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina (the Washington office is now closed). From 2001-2004, Aaronson devised and directed a major study, funded by the Ford, UN and Levi Strauss Foundations, that examined how U.S. public policies can promote or undermine global corporate social responsibility (CSR). The project resulted in three reports: CSR in international markets, CSR and trade, and CSR in China. Her books include Trade Imbalance: The Struggle to Weigh Human Rights in Trade Policymaking (Cambridge University Press, 2007), Trade and the American Dream, and Taking Trade to the Streets: The Lost History of Public Efforts to Shape Globalization. Aaronson has also written two primers on trade: "Trade is Everybody's Business" for high school students and "Are there Trade Offs When Americans Trade?" for adults.

Featured Work

APR 3, 2007 Article

Policy Innovations Digital Magazine (2006-2016): Commentary: United States Obligated to Promote Labor Rights

The United States has been a strong advocate of linking trade agreements and worker rights since the 19th century. But the United States will not ...

MAR 5, 2007 Article

Policy Innovations Digital Magazine (2006-2016): Commentary: Ruggie Tells States to Mind Their Businesses

Susan Aaronson outlines the tricky territory of states, corporations, and NGOs that John Ruggie navigated while preparing a United Nations report on human rights and ...

NOV 30, 2006 Article

Policy Innovations Digital Magazine (2006-2016): Commentary: In Coherence Lies Opportunity

If global leaders are serious about reducing poverty, they are really talking about efforts to provide the world’s poor with the public goods and ...