
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.
Subscribe to the Carnegie Ethics Newsletter for updates and analysis from Joel
Featured Work

SEP 13, 2018 • Podcast
Global Ethics Weekly: Expertise in the Era of Trump, with Joel Rosenthal
Responding to excerpts from U.S. Naval War College's Professor Tom Nichols and best-selling author and economist Dambisa Moyo--and the hostile anti-expert tone of the ...

AUG 2, 2018 • Podcast
Global Ethics Weekly: The Assault on Ethics, with Joel Rosenthal
Carnegie Council President Joel Rosenthal and host Alex Woodson discuss the ethical failures of the first 18 months of Trump's presidency, but also why they both ...

JUL 24, 2018 • Article
The Assault on Ethics
A year and a half into the Trump presidency, its most consequential feature thus far is its assault on ethics. What began as a curiosity ...

JUL 24, 2018 • Article
The Assault on Ethics
"A year and a half into the Trump presidency, its most consequential feature thus far is its assault on ethics," writes Carnegie Council President Joel ...
MAY 31, 2018 • Podcast
Why Ethics Matter in International Affairs
How can you ensure that ethics are a core component, not only of an international affairs education, but of graduates' performance once they go out ...
MAY 1, 2018 • Podcast
The Peacemakers: Leadership Lessons from Twentieth-Century Statesmanship, with Bruce Jentleson
What are the qualities and conditions that enable people to become successful peacemakers? At a time when peace seems elusive and conflict endemic, Bruce Jentleson ...

MAR 19, 2018 • Article
Story of Service: Max Missel
Max Missel was born October 18, 1895 in Kovno, Russia (now Kaunas, Lithuania). Five-year old Max came to the United States with his mother Lipsa and his ...


JAN 29, 2018 • Article
Was the 1928 Paris Peace Pact really a failure?
In their book, The Internationalists, Hathaway and Shapiro argue that 1928 marks a complete shift from an old world order to a new one. Before Kellogg-Briand, ...

OCT 13, 2017 • Podcast
Liberals' Lament? A Conversation between Joel Rosenthal and Devin Stewart
Carnegie Council President Joel Rosenthal and Senior Fellow Devin Stewart discuss the challenges to liberalism, in the United States and on the international stage, and ...