Nikolas K. Gvosdev

Former Carnegie Council Senior Fellow, U.S. Global Engagement Initiative (USGE); U.S. Naval War College

Nikolas K. Gvosdev was a senior fellow for the U.S. Global Engagement Initiative (USGE) at Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs.

He is also a professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College, the director of the Policy Analysis sub-course in the National Security Affairs Department, and the Captain Jerome E. Levy Chair in economic geography and national security.

Gvosdev was the editor of The National Interest and remains a senior editor at the magazine. In addition, he holds a non-residential senior fellowship at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. He is a co-author of U.S. Foreign Policy and Defense Strategy: The Evolution of an Incidental Superpower (2015). He previously published Russian Foreign Policy: Interests, Vectors and Sectors (with Christopher Marsh) in 2013.

Gvosdev is a frequent commentator on U.S. foreign policy and international relations, Russian and Eurasian affairs, and developments in the Middle East.

Featured Work

PPE & COVID-19 testing kits arrive in the Philippines from China, March 2020. <br>CREDIT: <a href=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:China_COVID19_test_kit_PH_donation_10.jpg>Philippines Presidential Communications Operations Office/Wikimedia (CC)</a>.

JUL 28, 2020 Article

Ethical Dilemmas in Ensuring Human Security

In this blog post, Carnegie Council Senior Fellow Nikolas Gvosdev reflects on his recent "Human Security is National Security in a Time of Pandemic" webinar ...

JUL 27, 2020 Podcast

Human Security is National Security in a Time of Pandemic, with Derek Reveron

Professor Derek Reveron, chair of the U.S. Naval War College's National Security Affairs Department, discusses how subnational and transnational forces--namely, the COVID-19 pandemic--intersect with ...

Aerial view of the Washington Monument. CREDIT: <a href=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_Navy_030926-F-2828D-307_Aerial_view_of_the_Washington_Monument.jpg>United States Navy/Wikimedia (CC)</a>.

JUL 16, 2020 Article

Bill Burns and Narratives About U.S. Foreign Policy

Senior Fellow Nikolas Gvosdev compares diplomat Bill Burns' recent article in "The Atlantic" with his own report on U.S. Global Engagement, "The Search for ...

White House press conference, July 14, 2020. CREDIT: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/50115849402/">The White House/Tia Dufour/Public Domain</a>.

JUL 15, 2020 Article

The Persistence of the Trump Narrative

Senior Fellow Nikolas Gvosdev reiterates the point that U.S. foreign policy will not snap back to its pre-Trump state, no matter who is in ...

Hong Kong, July 1, 2020. CREDIT: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1_july_2020_implementation_Hong_Kong_Law_streets_in_Causeway_Bay.jpg">Voice of America, Cantonese Service, Iris Tong/Public Domain</a>

JUL 7, 2020 Article

Difficult Ethical Choices on China

Responding to a dramatic Andrew Sullivan column for "New York" magazine, Senior Fellow Nikolas Gvosdev breaks down the difficult ethical choices when it comes to ...

Black Lives Matter protest in Columbus, Ohio, May 30, 2020. CREDIT: <A href=https://www.flickr.com/photos/21426642@N07/49954069361>Becker1999</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">(CC)</a>.

JUL 1, 2020 Article

Where Do Human Rights Fit In? Policy Narratives Re-examined

Senior Fellow Nikolas Gvosdev discusses Nahal Toosi's recent "Politico" article about a subtle but major shift in the international landscape: human rights groups focusing on ...

Black Lives Matter protest near the White House in Washington, DC on June 7, 2020. CREDIT: <a href=https://www.flickr.com/photos/vpickering/49982193058/in/photolist-2j9KNDh-2j8HLyo-2j8gfRF-2j8ceNs-28YCXBs-3PNWg-2j8ePpz-236VNse-7hjLfs-2j7gCdJ-p2QT8D-2j7pFRB-RCwDLE-nus8id-2j9Az2D-27tUqSG-pGdhqe-wnLiC2-HXvuL3-pGf7X5-2j7pEtg-212G4s3-21AUXJs-2s8J8-2ja5YFy-2sa57-2sa55-cDaREG-bHHavT-2sa53-2jajtQJ-4rPzz-2ia58JD-2j7tH61-bnLsYN-2j9NtRp-2j7tHWK-29ZBoXo-292fBVk-RZKY7Q-p294TD-8eK6DN-DseXHT-Rkwjok-4X5y1A-2a1hihY-SkGTp1-Szz6i6-69vein-2j7tGCs/>Victoria Pickering (CC)</a>.

JUN 10, 2020 Article

The Breonna Taylor/George Floyd Narrative? Impacts on U.S. Foreign Policy and International Standing

In this blog post, U.S. Global Engagement Senior Fellow Nikolas Gvosdev asks: With the COVID-19 pandemic already calling America's leadership role into question, how ...

Washington, DC, June 3, 2020. CREDIT: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mobili/49970479326/">Mobilus in Mobili</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">(CC)</a>.

JUN 8, 2020 Article

Vox Populi: After the Event

Senior Fellow Nikolas Gvosdev follows up on his recent "Vox Populi" webinar. The virtual event with Eurasia Group Foundation's Mark Hannah and The Chicago Council ...

MAY 29, 2020 Podcast

Vox Populi: What Americans Think About Foreign Policy, with Dina Smeltz & Mark Hannah

What do Americans think about the role the United States should be playing in the world? How do they conceive of the different trade-offs between ...

Aid packages from China are unloaded at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City, Philippines on March 21, 2020. CREDIT: <a href=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:China_COVID19_test_kit_PH_donation_7.jpg> Philippines Presidential Communications Operations Office (CC)</a>.

MAY 26, 2020 Podcast

China's Changing Role in the Pandemic-Driven World, with Amitai Etzioni & Nikolas Gvosdev

How has the pandemic changed U.S-China relations? How has it altered China's relationship with other nations and its geopolitical positioning? George Washington University's Amitai ...