Applied Ethics

Framing ethical perspectives

Applied ethics refers to the practical applications of the moral principles that govern behavior. Carnegie Council focuses on this field, mostly through the realm of international affairs, by identifying and addressing the most critical ethical issues of today and tomorrow. Our initiatives, content, and experts analyze the way that governments, institutions, and individuals interact and make choices on global issues, such as climate change, emerging technology, and governance.

Featured Applied Ethics Resources

Practical conversations, decision analysis, and more

JUL 5, 2023 Article

A Framework for the International Governance of AI

Carnegie Council, in collaboration with IEEE, proposes a five-part AI governance framework to enable the constructive use of AI.

APR 12, 2022 Podcast

Surveillance Tech's Infinite Loop of Harms, with Chris Gilliard

In this discussion with Senior Fellow Arthur Holland Michel, Chris Gilliard explains why the arc of surveillance technology and novel AI bends toward failures that ...

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JAN 18, 2013 Podcast

Ethics Matter: Top Risks and Ethical Decisions 2013 with Ian Bremmer

"There are three big things happening right now in the world: China rising, Middle East exploding, Europe muddling through. Those are the things that truly ...

CREDIT: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/vectorportal/7796847260" target="_parent"> Vectorportal</a><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en" target="_parent"> (CC)</a>

DEC 17, 2012 Article

Israel and Hamas: Time to Talk?

Hamas is unlikely to ever become a partner for peace with Israel, but it can be a partner for coexistence, albeit a limited and uneasy ...

CREDIT: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/breadfortheworld/4132138328/">Bread for the World</a> (<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/deed.en">CC</a>).

DEC 6, 2012 Article

Policy Innovations Digital Magazine (2006-2016): Commentary: Send Salads to Ethiopia, and Solar Panels to Senegal

We wouldn't send salads as food relief to a starving country, so why is the Overseas Private Investment Corporation doing the equivalent in the energy ...

The Least of all Possible Evils

DEC 3, 2012 Article

Hard Questions for Humanitarians

Do international laws intended to constrain war and uphold human rights unwittingly legitimate violence? Zach Dorfman of Carnegie Council reviews Eyal Weizman's book, "The Least ...

DEC 3, 2012 Podcast

Corey Brettschneider on Hate Speech

How should states deal with hate speech? In the U.S., the prevailing attitude is that hate speech should be protected. In other liberal democracies, ...

NOV 29, 2012 Podcast

Human Rights Watch: Promoting Ethical Behavior When It's Contested

It's the job of Human Rights Watch to shine a spotlight on human rights abuses worldwide, including in the U.S., says its executive director ...

CREDIT: <A HREF="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sgustin/4113242724/">sgustin78</a> (<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en">CC</a>)

NOV 28, 2012 Article

Losing the Violence Monopoly

The poisonous cocktail of widespread police and military brutality, increasingly lethal inter-communal ethnic violence in several regions, the anxious countdown to the March 2013 presidential elections, ...

Lorraine Elliott and See Seng Tan

NOV 26, 2012 Article

Ethics, International Relations, and Global Environmental Governance

Lorraine Elliott's recent lecture in Singapore drew on more than a decade of work to canvass ways in which we might understand--and indeed make sense ...

NOV 26, 2012 Podcast

Global Ethics Corner: Is It Too Soon to Normalize Relations with Burma?

As Burma begins to reform its government, the U.S. has been quick to begin normalizing relations with the Asian state. Are geostrategic considerations overshadowing ...

NOV 20, 2012 Podcast

Ethics Matter: Dan Ariely on the Hidden Forces that Shape our Decisions

Why do smart people cheat? Why do we eat more than we should or text while driving? In this funny and insightful talk, behavioral economist ...