Foreign Policy

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

MAR 28, 2024 Podcast

The Humanization of Warfare: Ethics, Law, and Civilians in Conflict

APR 9, 2024 Video

Algorithms of War: The Use of AI in Armed Conflict

From Gaza to Ukraine, the military applications of AI are fundamentally reshaping the ethics of war. How should policymakers navigate AI’s inherent trade-offs?

MAR 28, 2024 Video

Unlocking Cooperation: The Global South and Global North

In the inaugural panel of the "Unlocking Cooperation" series, Ramu Damodaran leads a discussion on forging a path forward for Global South/North collaboration.

Explore Our Foreign Policy Resources

Khurais Oil Processing Facility in Saudi Arabia, February 2017. CREDIT: <a href=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Khurais_Oil_Processing_Facility,_Saudi_Arabia_by_Planet_Labs.jpg>Planet Labs, Inc. (CC)</a>.

SEP 18, 2019 Article

Candidates, Calculus, and the Iran Crisis

In choosing whether and how to respond to the attack on Saudi Arabian oil refineries, what is the calculus for determining action? Should the United ...

Protest against U.S. military attacks in Syria, Minneapolis, Minnesota, April 2017. CREDIT: <a href=https://www.flickr.com/photos/fibonacciblue/33878190156/in/album-72157682265455706/>Fibonacci Blue (CC)</a>.

SEP 17, 2019 Article

The Narrative IS Changing . . .

The narrative about America's role in the world is changing--and more evidence is accumulating that suggests that no matter how the 2020 presidential and congressional elections ...

President Trump at the 2017 UN General Assembly. CREDIT: <a href=https://www.flickr.com/photos/un_photo/37501289212/>UN Photo/Ariana Lindquist (CC)</a>.

SEP 9, 2019 Article

Transactionalism and U.S. Foreign Aid

A draft of a new presidential directive on American foreign aid suggests that transactionalism will shift from being a rhetorical device to an actual defining ...

(L to R) Former Uzbeki President Islam Karimov, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, June 2016. CREDIT: <a href=http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/52257>kremlin.ru (CC)</a>

AUG 23, 2019 Article

The Ethics of Trade with China and Authoritarian Upgrading

Increased foreign investment and engagement is producing, not democratization, but "authoritarian upgrading," where selected reforms are designed to legitimize a softer authoritarianism. This presents an ...

Joe Biden in Iowa, July 2019. CREDIT: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Joe_Biden_with_supporters_-_48243819806.jpg">Gage Skidmore/(CC)</a>

AUG 22, 2019 Podcast

The 2020 Election & the View from Overseas, with Nikolas Gvosdev

As the 2020 election begins to come into focus, Senior Fellow Nikolas Gvosdev details the foreign policy cleavages in the Democratic Party. Plus, referencing Nahal Toosi's ...

President Trump departing China, November 2017. CREDIT: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/26541431789">The White House/Public Domain</a>

AUG 20, 2019 Podcast

Ethics & the U.S.-China Trade War, with Nikolas Gvosdev

What role should ethics play in the U.S.-China trade war? Senior Fellow Nikolas Gvosdev looks at these economic tensions in the context of ...

President Donald J. Trump and President Xi Jinping hold a bilateral meeting in Beijing on November 9, 2017. CREDIT: <a href=https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/more-photos-foreign-trip/>The White House (CC)</a>.

AUG 20, 2019 Article

Ethical Considerations in a Trade War with China

Are there ethical considerations that need to be factored in as part of assessing the merits of a "trade war" with the People's Republic of ...

President Donald J. Trump walks off the stage at the Southsea Common in Portsmouth, England. CREDIT: <a href=https://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/48012260898/>The White House (CC)</a>.

AUG 20, 2019 Article

Beyond Trump

Some countries are now coming to the same conclusions reached by the U.S. Global Engagement program: the 2016 election was not a "blip," but represents ...

Senator Elizabeth Warren in Las Vegas, April, 2019. CREDIT: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elizabeth_Warren_(47699370372).jpg">Gage Skidmore (CC)</a>

JUL 31, 2019 Article

Democratic Candidates and Foreign Policy

Which foreign policy narratives have emerged from the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates? Will it be restorationist, democratic community, America First, retrenchment/redefinition, reindustrialization/regeneration, or climate ...

JUL 23, 2019 Podcast

A New Era of Cyberwarfare, with Arun Vishwanath

When the United States launched a massive cyberattack against Iran last month, it heralded "a new age of Internet warfare," says cybersecurity expert Arun Vishwanath. ...