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

JUL 21, 2021 Podcast

The Heartbeat of Iran: Real Voices of a Country and Its People, with Tara Kangarlou

In today’s interconnected global village, Iran remains a mystery to much of the rest of the world―especially to those living in the United ...

Map depicting China's Belt and Road Initiative. CREDIT: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:One-belt-one-road.svg">Lommes (CC)</a>.

JUL 9, 2021 Podcast

The Doorstep: China in the Middle East & U.S. Foreign Policy, with Asha Castleberry-Hernandez

What is China up to in the Middle East? How is its massive Belt and Road infrastructure project affecting U.S. foreign policy and American ...

JUN 18, 2021 Podcast

The Doorstep: Cryptocurrencies & Global Decentralization, with NYU Stern's David Yermack

Cryptocurrencies are dominating headlines with El Salvador recently announcing Bitcoin as the country's legal tender and Biden and Putin discussing ransomware and crypto at their ...

Detail from book cover.

JUN 15, 2021 Podcast

Rethinking American Grand Strategy, with Christopher McKnight Nichols

What is grand strategy? What differentiates it from normal strategic thought? What, in other words, makes it "grand"? In answering these questions, most scholars have ...

JUN 4, 2021 Podcast

The Doorstep: Press Freedom & Foreign Policy Panel, with Stephen J. Adler & Carlos Martínez de la Serna

Advocating for press freedom around the globe has long been a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy. The Trump administration changed the rules, but what ...

President Biden, Vice President Harris, & Secretary Blinken during a virtual Quad Summit with Australia, India, & Japan at the White House, March 2021. CREDIT: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/51102889275/in/photostream/">Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz</a> <a href="https://www.usa.gov/government-works">(U.S. Government Works)</a>

JUN 2, 2021 Article

Revisiting Fractured Globalization in Year 2 of COVID

As we enter the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Global Engagement Senior Fellow Nikolas Gvosdev refelcts on the erosion of international solidarity. ...

MAY 21, 2021 Podcast

The Doorstep: Analyzing Biden's New Approach to Sanctions, with CNAS's Rachel Ziemba

Sanctions are becoming an increasingly important part of the Biden administration's foreign policy toolkit. Carnegie Council Senior Fellows Nick Gvosdev and Tatiana Serafin discuss their ...

President Biden observes vaccine dosage preparations at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland, January 29, 2021. CREDIT: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/51145157658/">Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz</a> (<a href="https://www.usa.gov/government-works">U.S. Government Works</a>)

MAY 19, 2021 Article

Vaccine Nationalism versus Vaccine Diplomacy

Health security is a fundamental "doorstep" issue in terms of the intersection of domestic and foreign policy. In this blog post, U.S. Global Engagement ...

MAY 7, 2021 Podcast

The Doorstep: What Does Biden's "Omnipolicy" Mean for the U.S.? with Politico's Nahal Toosi

Nahal Toosi, foreign policy and national security writer at "Politico," returns to speak with Carnegie Council Senior Fellows Nick Gvosdev and Tatiana Serafin about how ...

APR 23, 2021 Podcast

The Doorstep: Sustainability vs. Food Security in Our Oceans, with Duke University's Martin Smith

Dr. Martin Smith from Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment joins "Doorstep" co-hosts Nick Gvosdev and Tatiana Serafin to discuss the health of our ...