Multilateralism

Framing ethical perspectives

Multilateralism refers to a group of nations working together for a common goal. It is at the heart of international relations as nation-states form alliances with like-minded countries to take on global issues, such as climate, emerging technology, inequality, and collective security. Carnegie Council sees multilateralism as essential to generating solutions to global problems and a critical component of an ethical present and future.

Featured Multilateralism Resources

Inclusivity, AI & climate governance, and more

FEB 27, 2024 Video

A Carnegie Council Conversation with the UK Home Secretary

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.

OCT 18, 2023 Video

Unlocking Cooperation: A Global Ethics Day Special Event

In this keynote event for Global Ethics Day 2023, Carnegie Council President Joel Rosenthal led a conversation on the psychology behind cooperation; ways that states, institutions, ...

Explore Our Multilateralism Resources

OCT 3, 2019 Podcast

Climate Change, Intergenerational Ethics, & Political Responsibility, with Stephen Gardiner

University of Washington's Professor Stephen Gardiner discusses the ethics of climate change from intergenerational, political, and personal perspectives. Should individuals feel bad for using plastic ...

U.S. servicemembers load humanitarian relief supplies for victims of Cyclone Nargis. Yokota Air Base, Japan, 2008. CREDIT: <a href=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:080512-F-1590C-553_Loading_relief_supplies_at_U-Tapao.jpg>U.S. Air Force (CC)</a>.

SEP 20, 2019 Article

Need for a New Consensus

Foreign policy experts are having difficulty linking the negative implications of a shift towards trasactionalism for U.S. foreign aid to voters. This begs the ...

SEP 18, 2019 Podcast

The End of the U.S.-Taliban Talks? with Jonathan Cristol

Despite progress over the last year, Donald Trump effectively ended the latest round of U.S.-Taliban negotiations with a tweet earlier this month. Will ...

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 ...

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" ...

(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 ...