Joel H. Rosenthal is president of Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. As a nonprofit leader, scholar, and teacher he works to empower ethical action, with a particular focus on U.S. foreign policy, issues of war and peace, human rights, and pluralism. At Carnegie Council, Rosenthal leads a team that identifies critical ethical issues, convenes experts, and produces agenda-setting resources to educate and activate communities globally.
Rosenthal is editor-in-chief of the Ethics & International Affairs journal published by Cambridge University Press. His first book Righteous Realists is an examination of the political realists who shaped post-WWII America in the nuclear age, including Hans Morgenthau, Reinhold Niebuhr, and George Kennan. His current writing and commentary can be found at the President’s Desk.
Rosenthal is the recipient of numerous awards including the Distinguished Scholar Award from the International Studies Association for his lifetime achievement in international studies and an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Social Science from the University of Edinburgh. He received his Ph.D. from Yale University and BA from Harvard University.
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Featured Work
SEP 15, 2005 • Transcript
Evangelical Reflections on the U.S. Role In the World
A discussion of the growing importance of religious groups in advancing international human rights causes, from the Sudan to Korea.
APR 27, 2005 • Transcript
Losing Iraq: Inside the Postwar Reconstruction Fiasco
Originally in favor of going to war, Phillips, a former State Department official, discusses the mistakes made because of the lack of a plan for ...
MAR 8, 2005 • Article
America and the World: Ethical Dimensions to Power
A discussion between Joel H. Rosenthal, Michael J. Smith, William F. Felice, and Donald Eastman that took place March 8, 2005. It was the third in a ...
MAR 8, 2005 • Podcast
America and the World: Ethical Dimensions to Power
Taking Roosevelt's "Four Freedoms"—freedom from fear, freedom from want, freedom of worship, and freedom of expression—as a departure point, Joel Rosenthal and Michael ...
MAR 8, 2005 • Transcript
America and the World: Ethical Dimensions to Power
Taking Roosevelt's "Four Freedoms"—freedom from fear, freedom from want, freedom of worship, and freedom of expression—as a departure point, Joel Rosenthal and Michael ...
JAN 26, 2005 • Article
Accountability: How to Treat Unlawful Combatants
If I were giving President Bush advice for his second term, I would argue that the new administration ought to establish an accountability mechanism–a ...
JAN 26, 2005 • Article
Accountability: How to Treat Unlawful Combatants
"If I were giving President Bush advice for his second term, I would argue that the new administration ought to establish an accountability mechanism--a task ...
NOV 5, 2004 • Article
Realism Reconsidered: A Tribute to James Chace
“James is somebody whom I admire for his many virtues. It is appropriate that we appear here tonight under the banner of “ethics.” James is ...
NOV 5, 2004 • Article
In Memoriam: James Chace
"In his numerous studies on American history and foreign policy, including some splendid shorter review essays, Chace--an old-fashioned liberal in his politics--essentially propounded a "realist" ...
NOV 2, 2004 • Article
New Rules for War?
In launching a campaign to disarm and liberate Iraq, the United States has crossed, some say hurdled across, two thresholds—one strategic, the other diplomatic. ...