Home > Themes > Ethics, War, and Peace
Ethics, War, and Peace
Transcript
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Zachary Karabell,
Joanne J. Myers
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02/02/10
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In a witty and astute talk, Karabell describes and explains what he calls 'superfusion'--how the economies and capital flows of China and the U.S. became inextricably entwined to the point where neither can survive without the other.
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George Friedman,
Joanne J. Myers
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01/29/10
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Elections and campaigns are about options. Governing is about constraints. For Obama--and every president--what happens when foreign policy options meet foreign policy constraints?
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Alexandra Harney,
Devin T. Stewart
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01/26/10
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Harney (author of "The China Price") and Stewart discuss the human and environmental costs of China's cheap prices; Google in China; fake and dangerous Chinese products; U.S.-China relations; and the latest trends in Japan.
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Michael D. Gordin,
Joanne J. Myers
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01/25/10
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How does a state make a nuclear bomb? How does it hide its weapons program? How do other states detect nuclear proliferation? Gordin addresses important questions about how we think about nuclear weapons past and present.
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Charles W. Kegley, Jr.,
Madeleine Lynn,
Joel H. Rosenthal
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12/22/09
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Taiwan has transformed itself into a prosperous, vibrant democracy, and recently tensions between Taiwan and China have lessened. As the balance of power between the U.S. and China shifts, what is the future for Taiwan, and what role will it play in the region?
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Avishai Margalit,
Joanne J. Myers
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12/15/09
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Compromise can be a political virtue, especially for the sake of peace. When is political compromise acceptable, and when is it fundamentally rotten? What if a rotten compromise is politically necessary? Are there moral limits to acceptable compromise, and what are those limits?
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Vali Nasr,
Joanne J. Myers
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12/14/09
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The real key to bringing economic and political change to the Muslim world is capitalism, says Vali Nasr. Entrepreneurial middle classes the world over have a stake in the system and are more interested in economic success than religious extremism.
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John Isaacs,
David C. Speedie
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12/11/09
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John Isaacs, Executive Director of the Council for a Livable World, discusses nuclear weapons treaties and their relevance for U.S. foreign policy, domestic politics, and the global arms control agenda.
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John Isaacs,
David C. Speedie
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12/10/09
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There are an estimated 23,000 nuclear weapons on the planet. Although they have faded from the public consciousness somewhat, they remain one of the greatest dangers we face. Obama has provided an opportunity for unprecedented progress on this issue. Will he succeed?
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Adam Roberts,
Joanne J. Myers
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12/04/09
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Should civil resistance be seen as potentially replacing violence completely, or as a phenomenon that operates in conjunction with, and as a modification of, power politics?
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George Packer,
Joanne J. Myers
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12/03/09
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George Packer discusses some of his essays from the period of September 11, 2001 to November 4, 2008; the luxury of being able to write long, in-depth articles for "The New Yorker" magazine; and the uncertain future of print journalism.
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Michael J. Sandel,
Joanne J. Myers
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11/24/09
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Political philosopher Michael Sandel turns the Council into a classroom. Using questions such as military service, he engages the audience in a lively debate on what individuals owe society.
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David Rodin,
Joel H. Rosenthal
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11/17/09
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David Rodin explores the logic which governs how rights may be lost, acquired and transferred--how they 'move'--and examines in particular the implications this has for the way we justify and prosecute war.
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Michael Ancram,
Joanne J. Myers
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11/10/09
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In an increasingly interconnected world, soft power and engagement with all the world's players will become increasingly important--and that includes talking to Hamas and the Taliban, says Ancram.
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Caroline Alexander,
Joanne J. Myers
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11/10/09
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The "Iliad" is usually seen as a martial epic glorifying war. Yet in fact, says Alexander, Homer was at pains to depict the Trojan war--and war in general--as a pointless catastrophe that blighted all it touched.
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Jeffrey D. McCausland,
Joel H. Rosenthal,
David C. Speedie
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11/06/09
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"Afghanistan makes Iraq look easy," says U.S. Army Colonel (Ret.) Senior Fellow Dr. McCausland. His comprehensive and evenhanded briefing analyzes the situation on the ground and the possible consequences of sending more troops.
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Thomas J. Miller,
David C. Speedie
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11/02/09
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President and CEO of the UN Association of the USA, Ambassador Miller discusses the U.S. role in the world and the power of grass roots commitment. Citizens can change policy by reminding leaders of their obligations on issues such as climate change.
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David L. Bosco,
Joanne J. Myers
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11/02/09
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What has been, is, and should be the role of the UN Security Council? Bosco chronicles its history--its successes and its failures—and concludes with some positive suggestions for the future.
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Robert Lacey,
Joanne J. Myers
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10/28/09
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After spending years in the Kingdom talking to people in all walks of life, Robert Lacey gives us a modern history of the Saudis in their own words, revealing a people attempting to reconcile life under religious law with the demands of a rapidly changing world.
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Shirley Williams,
David C. Speedie
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10/20/09
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In a wide-ranging conversation, Baroness Williams discusses the Obama administration's foreign policy; the situation in Afghanistan and in Iran; U.S. and British politics, including voter representation and corruption; and her work on nuclear disarmament.
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Leslie Gelb,
Carter Page,
David C. Speedie
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10/16/09
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How can America build partnerships and coalitions to solve today's global problems? Will the nation continue to dominate world affairs, or are we fast approaching a "post-America" era?
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Daniel Jonah Goldhagen,
Joanne J. Myers
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10/16/09
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Rwanda, Bosnia, Cambodia, Darfur, Congo, and more--since World War II, genocide has caused more deaths than all wars put together. Goldhagen analyzes how and why genocides start and proposes steps the international community can take to stop them.
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Michael E. O'Hanlon,
Joanne J. Myers
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10/13/09
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Michael O'Hanlon explains how military modeling and planning are done, taking as examples Desert Storm, the Iraq War, and the decisions to be made now about Afghanistan.
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Amartya Sen,
Joanne J. Myers
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10/08/09
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The traditional theory of social justice is out of touch with practical realities, says Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen. Instead he proposes a theory of comparative justice that is applicable to the real world.
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Hilary Charlesworth,
Christian Barry,
Matt Peterson
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10/07/09
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What does a country gain by enacting a bill of rights? Do countries that lack bills of rights, like Australia, protect human rights as well as those, like the United States and Canada, that have them?
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Peter Maass,
Joanne J. Myers
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10/06/09
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From Ecuador to Nigeria, in most oil-producing countries oil has not brought any benefits to the poor and has often damaged people's health and ruined the environment, says Peter Maass. As for Iraq, although the war was not "all about oil," oil certainly played an important role.
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Bruce Bueno de Mesquita,
Joanne J. Myers
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10/06/09
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Iran, Iraq, Israel, and North Korea--all are rational players, acting in their own self-interest as they perceive it, and with game theory we can predict what they and other players will do next.
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Joel H. Rosenthal
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09/09/09
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Remedies to global challenges are less about romantic dreams to improve the world and more about pragmatism and sustainability. The pragmatic and ethical thing to do is to recognize that our interests are tied up with those of others in new and potentially creative ways.
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Thomas E. Griffith,
Joel H. Rosenthal
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09/02/09
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When is outsourcing appropriate? asks Griffith. We need to be thinking more deeply about what using military contractors means for the U.S. in terms of who we are and who we want representing us in the world.
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Thomas X. Hammes,
Joel H. Rosenthal
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09/02/09
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Military contractors bring up many issues which have not been fully explored, says Hammes; loyalty, for example. While we can expect great loyalty from U.S. citizens when U.S. soldiers are in danger, what can we really expect from a Bangladeshi truck driver or a local Iraqi contractor?
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James Jay Carafano,
Jeffrey D. McCausland
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08/18/09
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Using contractors on the battlefield is not new for the U.S. What's more, it's a good option and it's here to stay, says Carafano. "For the U.S. it is a way of leveraging the capabilities of the modern world efficiently."
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Joel H. Rosenthal
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07/14/09
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Carnegie Council president Joel Rosenthal shares his thoughts on the mission and work of the Carnegie Council, the new administration, the future of realism, and Reinhold Niebuhr's legacy.
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Thomas R. Pickering,
David C. Speedie
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07/10/09
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Ambassador Thomas Pickering discusses Russia's role in the unfolding events in Iran and other potential areas of cooperation between Russia and the United States, including missile defense and NATO enlargement.
When are elections legitimate? What about Iran? Elections assume that losers accept results. Because many disagree, can they overturn an election? Should we believe authorities that declare elections valid?
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Michela Wrong,
Matthew Hennessey
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06/10/09
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Matthew Hennessey interviews Michela Wrong about her latest book. Their discussion includes the question of aid, corruption, the role of the tribe, and why Obama is not visiting Kenya on his first presidential visit to Africa.
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Victor D. Cha,
Joanne J. Myers
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06/05/09
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There are no good options in negotiations with North Korea, says Bush's top advisor on North Korean affairs, Victor Cha. It's always a choice between a bad option and a worse option.
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Richard H. Solomon,
Joel H. Rosenthal
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06/03/09
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What are realistic processes of social change that should inform effective human rights policy and its implementation? Should human rights issues be pressed even if their primary effect is to assure domestic American constituencies that an administration's "heart is in the right place?"
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Simon Schama,
Joanne J. Myers
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06/01/09
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In a dazzling display of learning and verbal virtuosity, Simon Schama takes us from Arlington Cemetery to the contrasts between the Jeffersonian and Hamiltonian worldview; to China and Afghanistan; and to many points in between.
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John Lukacs,
Nicholas X. Rizopoulos
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05/22/09
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Historian John Lukacs discusses his close friend George Kennan. Kennan was an architect of the Cold War, but after 1950 he became one of its critics and recommended a dialogue with the Russians. Why the seeming contradiction?
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Neil MacFarquhar,
Joanne J. Myers
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05/20/09
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Despite all the bloodshed in its recent history, the Middle East is still a place of warmth, humanity, and generous eccentricity. Within the turmoil there are those still pioneering political and social change. Will they continue wrestling with their region's future--on their own terms?
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Karsten Voigt,
David C. Speedie
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05/11/09
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Distinguished German statesman Karsten Voigt discusses the German political mindset, which grew out of its situation after World War II; Obama's popularity in Germany; and U.S.-German relations in the context of the EU, NATO, and Russia.
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John Lukacs,
Nicholas X. Rizopoulos
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04/15/09
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John Lukacs argues that despite the different attitudes Winston Churchill took towards Russia over a 40-year period, there is an amazing consistency to his view of that nation, whether it was Tsarist or Soviet.
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David A. Hamburg,
David C. Speedie
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03/23/09
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David Speedie interviews David Hamburg on the prevention agenda of the Carnegie Corporation of New York and its legacy of preventing interstate conflict, genocide, and threats to global health.
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Thomas P. M. Barnett,
Joanne J. Myers
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03/18/09
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The 21st century will see the rise of a global middle class for the first time, which is in the U.S. national interest. Therefore although we will have to make compromises, we should work to hasten this globalization process.
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Emile A. Nakhleh,
Joanne J. Myers
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03/17/09
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In an informed assessment of the past, present, and future of America's relations with the Muslim world, the CIA's point person on Islam, Emile A. Nakhleh, makes a vigorous case for a renewal of American public diplomacy.
Do we respect the wishes of anti-Castro Americans, to restrict trade, or the wishes of agriculture and medical sales interests, to open Cuban markets? If we relax restrictions, do we reward repression? What do you think?
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Alex J. Bellamy,
John Tessitore
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03/03/09
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"This is just the beginning of the road for R2P," says Bellamy. "There are a lot of skeptics...but it is a principle that has commanded the support of 192 governments, and that creates a tremendous political impetus."
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Simon Dalby,
John Tessitore
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02/25/09
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"Peace-building is literally about building now," says Dalby. "It's about constructing buildings that don't need large quantities of energy, both because of climate change and so that they are not dependent on supplies from the other side of the planet."
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Martin Indyk,
Joanne J. Myers
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02/20/09
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What can the mistakes and missed opportunities of the past teach the new Obama administration about how to go forward with the Arab-Israeli peace process?
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Thomas E. Ricks,
Jeffrey D. McCausland,
Joanne J. Myers
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02/20/09
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What's next for Iraq? Thomas Ricks predicts that the U.S. military presence there will continue for at least another five to ten years, and that Iraq will change Obama more than Obama will change Iraq.
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P. W. Singer,
Joanne J. Myers
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02/11/09
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Once the stuff of science fiction, robotics are already changing the way wars are being fought, says P.W. Singer. How will they affect the politics, economics, laws, and ethics of warfare?
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Daniel P. Erikson,
Joel H. Rosenthal,
Joanne J. Myers
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02/09/09
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As Castro finally leaves the stage and a new president arrives in Washington, both the Cuban system and U.S.-Cuba relations could be on the brink of a new era. What will happen next?
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George Friedman,
Joanne J. Myers
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02/04/09
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What's in store during this new century? Which nations will gain and lose power? How will new technologies change the way we live? George Friedman, founder and CEO of Strategic Forecasting, Inc., has some predictions that may surprise you.
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Jeff McMahan,
Christian Barry,
Matt Peterson
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01/28/09
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Israeli officials insist that their attacks on Gaza were judiciously planned so as to minimize harm to civilians. What role do civilian casualties play in assessing the justice of war?
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Gordon M. Goldstein,
Joel H. Rosenthal,
Joanne J. Myers
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01/27/09
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For Bundy, the ultimate actor in Vietnam was not the military, the secretary of state or of defense, or the national security advisor. It was the president. What does this teach us about other American wars?
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Anne-Marie Slaughter,
Joel H. Rosenthal,
Joanne J. Myers
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01/27/09
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Was George W. Bush the true heir of Woodrow Wilson, the architect of liberal internationalism? Was the Iraq War a result of liberal ideas about America's right to promote democracy abroad? Anne-Marie Slaughter begs to differ.
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Ian Bremmer,
Art Kleiner,
Michele Wucker,
Thomas Stewart,
Devin T. Stewart
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01/26/09
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What dangers are lurking for 2009? Taking Eurasia Group's list of Top Risks as a starting point, this lively discussion examines the ethical aspects of these issues.
What is true for the individual may not be true for the group, the state, or the international system, and vice versa. Does this suggest that ethics is personal, not institutional or governmental? For you, at what levels does ethical choice live?
Should we observe Morgenthau's principles--avoid the crusading spirit and heed others' perspectives--or is promoting democracy and taking a forceful stand indispensable to U.S. foreign policy?
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Robert Hunter,
David C. Speedie,
Joanne J. Myers
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12/22/08
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The post-Cold War NATO has expanded, both in mission and membership. In each instance, problems have arisen with Russia. What are the lessons to be learned from these stresses, and what are NATO's prospects?
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Chong-Pin Lin,
Devin T. Stewart
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12/12/08
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Dr. Lin discusses Taiwan's current political crisis; relations with China; climate change; the future of democracy in East Asia; what Obama's presidency may mean for the region; and the surprising "detente" between China and Japan.
Can intelligent robot soldiers be designed to be more ethical in battle than human soldiers? Would you prefer a robot or a human deciding about the possibility of civilian casualties, about collateral damage?
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Gilles Kepel,
Joanne J. Myers
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12/10/08
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The neocons and al-Qaeda have both failed to reach their objectives, says Kepel. We are now facing one big power in the Middle East: Iran.
Will our responses to the financial crisis be constructive, or will panic cloud our judgments?
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Andrew J. Nathan,
Yun-han Chu,
Joanne J. Myers
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12/04/08
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Nathan and Chu report on surveys in five new democracies (Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Thailand, and Mongolia), one established one (Japan), and two nondemocracies (China and Hong Kong).
Are ethics primary questions that precede and surround practical leadership? Are these daily questions that inform each political decision?
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Gary Sick,
David C. Speedie
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11/21/08
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The Bush administration has been toying with the idea of talking to Iran for the last two years. With the arrival of Obama, now the question is not "should we," but how do we go about doing it?
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Ted Sorensen,
David C. Speedie
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11/14/08
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"A president who doesn't go to war may show more courage than one who does," said JFK. In a wide-ranging conversation, Sorensen discusses JFK, Cuba, and Vietnam; the 2008 Russia/Georgia conflict; McCain's idea of a League of Nations; and the promise of Obama.
How will President Obama deal with the hopes and fears of people abroad? Will his priority be the interests of the U.S. or will the welfare of those beyond America's borders also count?
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Karl E. Meyer,
Shareen Blair Brysac,
Joanne J. Myers
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11/12/08
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How did the modern Middle East come about? Who were the British and Americans who shaped this region, from the 1882 British invasion of Egypt to today's Iraq War?
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Andrew J. Bacevich,
Joanne J. Myers
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11/11/08
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America is facing a profound triple crisis: the economy, the government, and an involvement in endless wars. This threatens all of us, Republicans and Democrats alike, says Andrew Bacevich.
We enter a slippery ethical slope when we begin to make distinctions between victims. When can an individual's rights be set aside?
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Laurent Cohen-Tanugi,
Devin T. Stewart
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11/04/08
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French intellectual Laurent Cohen-Tanugi argues that economic globalization exists in a complex dialectic with the traditional geopolitics that it has, ironically, helped to revive.
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Ted Widmer,
Joel H. Rosenthal,
Joanne J. Myers
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11/04/08
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Ted Widmer shows that from its beginnings, the United States, for all its shortfalls, has been by far the world’s greatest advocate for freedom.
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Oksana Antonenko,
David C. Speedie
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10/29/08
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This conflict started from the ethnic conflict between the Georgians and South Ossetians, which has a long history, and it also started with Georgian aggression.
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Oksana Antonenko,
David C. Speedie
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10/24/08
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Georgia and Russia expert Oksana Antonenko discusses the history behind the headlines, and what the future may bring to this troubled region.
The presidential candidates assert that America must renew its global moral authority, but they dance, offering no solutions. Let's take a closer look.
Should the opinions of the world be important in American elections? This is a crucial question in applied ethics as we choose a president.
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James Traub,
Joanne J. Myers
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10/14/08
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According to James Traub, although Bush bungled his famous Freedom Agenda—that American liberty is dependent on liberty in other lands—the concept still holds true.
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Joseph S. Nye,
Joanne J. Myers
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10/13/08
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What qualities make a leader succeed in business or in politics? Joseph Nye contends that modern leadership requires "smart power," which is a judicious situational balance of hard power and soft power.
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Michael W. Doyle,
Harold H. Koh,
Joanne J. Myers
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10/01/08
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Is the Bush Doctrine of aggressive preventive action a justified and legal recourse against threats posed by terrorists and rogue states? Does the United States have the right to defend itself by striking first, or must it wait until an attack is in progress?
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Philip Bobbitt,
Joanne J. Myers
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09/26/08
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The world is in the midst of a great transition from nation states to "market states", says Philip Bobbitt, and consequently almost every widely-held idea we currently have about 21st century terrorism is wrong.
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Jessica Wolfendale,
Christian Barry,
Matt Peterson
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09/18/08
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We now know that the U.S. officially sanctions and regularly employs interrogation tactics that push legal and moral boundaries. In this episode, Jessica Wolfendale sits down with Christian Barry to determine where those boundaries lie.
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Bing West,
Joanne J. Myers
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09/16/08
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There has been a fundamental disconnect between the Bush Administration and the reality in Iraq, says Bing West. But nevertheless, the strongest tribe in Iraq--the U.S. army--managed to turn things around.
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Nikolas K. Gvosdev,
Harry Harding,
Flynt Leverett,
David C. Speedie,
Devin T. Stewart
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07/11/08
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From economic growth to cultural exports, the global distribution of power is shifting from "the West" to the rest of the world. This panel addresses the effects of this emerging new reality.
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David Rodin,
David Luban,
Joel H. Rosenthal,
Noboru Maruyama
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07/08/08
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Rodin's premise is that if we have a commitment against torture, then it leads to an absolute prohibition on torture. Luban worries that our commitment is not strong enough.
"To be a moderate in the Arab world today," says Jordanian diplomat Marwan Muasher, "is to be a very, very tiny minority." The reason is that all the Arab center's energy has been focused on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
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Mike Moore,
Joanne J. Myers
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06/18/08
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Except for the U.S. and Israel, every nation favors a treaty to prevent the weaponization of space. China has been pushing the U.S. on this since 1999. What are we waiting for?
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Ted Sorensen,
Joanne J. Myers
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06/12/08
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Special Counsel and Advisor to John F. Kennedy Ted Sorensen recalls his life and times with JFK, including the dramas of desegregation and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
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Ahmed Rashid,
Joanne J. Myers
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06/09/08
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"Almost every single important extremist leader is living on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan," says Ahmed Rashid. Compared to this threat, Iraq is a sideshow.
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Sir Lawrence Freedman,
Joanne J. Myers
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05/22/08
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Looking back over the last 30 years, historian Sir Lawrence Freedman analyzes the complex politics of the Middle East and shows how America's policy choices in previous crises have led to the current dilemmas
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Kimberly Dozier,
Jeffrey D. McCausland
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05/16/08
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Kimberly Dozier, a veteran Middle East journalist who was critically wounded in a Baghdad bomb blast, talks about the difficulties of reporting from Iraq. It's dangerous, it's expensive, and people don't want to hear it.
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Noah Feldman,
Joanne J. Myers
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05/16/08
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In the West the idea of governance by Sharia law is radioactive, says Noah Feldman, yet for many in the Muslim world it represents their aspirations for rule of law. Can Islamic States succeed?
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Ashraf Ghani,
Joanne J. Myers
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05/06/08
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Drawing on his background at the World Bank and as the first post-Taliban finance minister of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani (and co-author Clare Lockhart) develops a comprehensive framework for understanding the problem of state-building.
Quil Lawrence tells the story of the Kurds, the only Iraqi ethnic group that want the Americans to stay. Divided among Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria and numbering 25 million, the Kurds are the largest ethnic group without their own nation.
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Darius Rejali,
Joanne J. Myers
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04/04/08
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In his exhaustive study, Rejali traces the history of torture through the ages. "It's not so much that torture never works," he says. "The point is, works better than what?" There are better alternatives.
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George A. Lopez,
Thomas E. McNamara,
Joanne J. Myers
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03/04/08
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George Lopez gives an overview of effective, multilateral counter-terrorism measures, and as an illustration, Ambassador McNamara analyzes how Libya went from rogue state to member of the Security Council.
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Martin Evans,
Joanne J. Myers
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02/22/08
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After the bloody war of independence, Algerians hoped for a brighter future. Yet an estimated 200,000 people were killed in the 1990s, and today Islamic terrorism is on the rise. What went wrong?
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Mokhtar Lamani,
Joanne J. Myers
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02/11/08
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Appointed by the Arab League as Special Envoy to Iraq, Mohktar Lamani spent a
year in Baghdad's dangerous Red Zone trying to bring about peace between
Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds, and Christians. But his efforts were crippled by
sectarian conflict and he resigned in February 2007.
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Jean-Marc Coicaud,
Joanne J. Myers
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01/24/08
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Why do so many UN peacekeeping operations end in mixed results or outright failure? Reasons include the indecisiveness and bad financial management of the UN and the fact that member states almost invariably put national interests first.
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Ahmed Rashid,
Joanne J. Myers
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12/12/07
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Created as a Muslim state 60 years ago this August, Pakistan is in crisis, wrestling with Draconian laws, the conflict between secularism and Islam, and an increasing terrorist threat. Ahmed Rashid, author of "Taliban," analyses the situation.
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Srgjan Kerim,
Joanne J. Myers
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12/10/07
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We need to involve individuals more and give a lot of what we call our sovereignty to the individual, says Kerim. Shared responsibilities should be the value of such a new culture of international relations, together with freedom, equality, tolerance, and respect.
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Matthew Levitt,
Joel H. Rosenthal,
Joanne J. Myers
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11/29/07
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Levitt discusses the behind-the-scenes work that Treasury is doing to cut off funds for terrorism, with particular focus on Iran.
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Richard Rhodes,
Joel H. Rosenthal,
Joanne J. Myers
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11/01/07
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It's time to finish the work that Reagan and Gorbachev began and get rid of all the nuclear weapons in the world, says Rhodes. And led by George Shultz, a group of Reagan-era hawks have a step-by-step proposal on how to do it.
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Walter Russell Mead,
Joanne J. Myers
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10/31/07
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Walter Russell Mead wittily explains how the individualistic faiths of Britain and America lent themselves so well to the creation of the modern economic and political order.
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Alan B. Krueger,
Joanne J. Myers
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10/03/07
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If we are to address terrorism successfully, we need to make a more rigorous
examination of its causes. Many believe that it springs from poverty and
lack of education, yet as Krueger shows, the evidence is all to the contrary.
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Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu,
Joanne J. Myers
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10/02/07
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The 57-member OIC has embarked on an ambitious 10-year plan, which includes setting up a 10-billion-dollar fund for poverty alleviation and eventually establishing an independent body on human rights.
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Robert D. Kaplan,
Joanne J. Myers
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09/17/07
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The Pacific is no longer an American lake, says Robert Kaplan, and with the rise of China and India, we should accept that we are moving once again towards a multipolar world.
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Major General John D. Altenburg (U.S. Army ret.),
Jeffrey D. McCausland,
Joanne J. Myers
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06/20/07
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We don't need new laws, says Altenburg. We need to comply with those we already have, and to educate the public about the definition of terms such as "unlawful enemy combatants" and why, if captured, they are not entitled to habeas corpus.
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Allan Rock,
Joanne J. Myers
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06/05/07
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There are now 250,000-300,000 child soldiers, deployed in 20 countries across three continents. Allan Rock discusses the UN's efforts to change this, with special reference to Sri Lanka.
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Gregory A. Raymond,
Joel H. Rosenthal
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05/30/07
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Drawing parallels between today's situation in Iraq and the wars of ancient Greece and Persia, Raymond shows how a great power's hubris can lead to its nemesis.
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Jere Van Dyk,
Madeleine Lynn
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05/18/07
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Jere Van Dyk talks about Afghanistan past and present, the resurgence of the Taliban, and the possible whereabouts of Osama bin Laden.
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Robert Hormats,
Joanne J. Myers
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05/10/07
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Hormats compares the fiscal policies made in previous American wars to those of the current administration and argues that today's decisions place America's future at risk.
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Ali A. Allawi,
Joanne J. Myers
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04/11/07
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Ali A. Allawi, until recently a senior minister in the Iraqi government, discusses the Iraq crisis. How did it get to this point, and what will be the longterm repercussions on Iraq and the rest of the world?
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Zahid Hussain,
Joanne J. Myers
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03/12/07
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This is a tense time in Pakistan and Afghanistan, says Zahid Hussain. The Pakistan intelligence service and militant Islam are connected, Musharraf is walking a tightrope, and the Taliban is back in force in Afghanistan.
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Chas W. Freeman, Jr.
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02/23/07
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"The supreme purpose of our foreign policy must be to defend our values and to do so by means that do not corrode them. By these measures, what we are doing now is directly counterproductive."
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Margaret MacMillan,
Joanne J. Myers
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02/21/07
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How did this momentous meeting between two leaders lay the foundations for today's complex and difficult relationship between the United States and China?
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General Sir Rupert Smith,
Jeffrey D. McCausland
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01/24/07
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"War no longer exists," says General Smith. "Confrontation, conflicts, and combat certainly do." He discusses the difference between these terms--too often used interchangeably--and the challenges we face in using force to our best advantage.
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General Sir Rupert Smith,
Joanne J. Myers
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01/24/07
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The new paradigm is war amongst the people, where the strategic objective is to win hearts and minds, and the battle is for the people's will, rather than the destruction of an opponent's forces.
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John B. Taylor,
Joel H. Rosenthal,
Joanne J. Myers
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01/11/07
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What steps did the U.S. government take to freeze terrorist assets worldwide, plan the financial reconstruction of Afghanistan, and oversee the development of a new currency in Iraq?
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H.E. Mr. Young-jin Choi,
Joanne J. Myers
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12/12/06
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If unattended, failed states will become hotbeds of international terrorism, nuclear proliferation, environmental degradation, communicable diseases, and overpopulation. Thus it is in our own-self interest not to turn a blind eye.
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Joseph Cirincione,
Jeffrey D. McCausland
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12/05/06
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Joseph Cirincione discusses the tricky mix of force, sanctions, threats, incentives, and diplomacy required to deal with the growing nuclear threats from Iran and North Korea.
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Joseph Cirincione,
Joanne J. Myers
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12/05/06
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We are at a nuclear tipping point, says Joseph Cirincione, and the policy decisions the United States makes over the next 3-5 years will decide whether or not we launch another great wave of nuclear proliferation.
Jonathan Clarke argues that the Clash of Civilizations theory is largely based on mistaken conclusions about the meaning of the end of the Cold War, and could easily become a self-fulfilling prophesy.
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David M. Malone,
Joanne J. Myers
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11/30/06
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What role did the UN Security Council play in the international struggles over Iraq?
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Alberto J. Mora,
Dan Rather
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11/02/06
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Alberto Mora discusses the damage that the abuses at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib have done to the United States, both domestically and internationally.
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Alberto J. Mora,
Dan Rather,
Joel H. Rosenthal
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11/02/06
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Former Navy General Counsel Alberto Mora fought to stop policies that authorized cruelty toward terror suspects. "Cruelty harms our nation's legal, foreign policy, and national security interests," says Mora. "I can't put it any plainer than that."
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Niall Ferguson,
Joanne J. Myers
|
09/26/06
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The twentieth century was by far the bloodiest in all of human history. How can we explain the astonishing scale and intensity of its violence when, thanks to the advances of science and economics, most people were better off than ever before?
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Gordon Corera,
Joanne J. Myers
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09/07/06
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"Khan has wreaked havoc on attempts to restrain the spread of nuclear technology," says Corera. "He has lowered the barriers of entry for the nuclear game. He has irreversibly changed the mechanics of supply and demand, and left a really damaging legacy."
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Shashi Tharoor,
Ruth Wedgwood,
James Traub,
Joanne J. Myers
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06/12/06
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Is the UN "I" for irrelevant, or "I" for indispensable, as Shashi Tharoor would have it? While conceding that the UN is relevant, Ruth Wedgwood argues that "competing multilaterals" should also play a role in solving the world's problems. This witty but deeply serious debate will give both sides of the argument food for thought.
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Ahmed S. Hashim,
Joanne J. Myers
|
06/06/06
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In one of the most detailed analyses yet of the insurgency and America's efforts to smash it, Ahmed Hashim presents a grim view of the violence in Iraq from inside the American camp.
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Joel H. Rosenthal,
Thomas M. Nichols,
Jean Bethke Elshtain
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06/01/06
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The U.S. and other developed nations are moving into an era where preventive war is acceptable—even though to say so openly is still taboo, says Nichols. Elshtain lays out the history and principles of just war. "If force is resorted to," she insists, "it should be within the just war tradition."
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Vali Nasr,
Jere Van Dyk
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05/17/06
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"For the Iranians, the Taliban and Saddam were a problem, and the United States removed both of them," says Nasr. "[T]here is an opportunity for Iran to become a regional power . . . because of the 2001 attack on Afghanistan and the 2003 fall of Saddam. So they benefited from what the United States did."
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Vali Nasr,
Fatemeh Haghighatjoo,
John Tirman,
Joanne J. Myers
|
05/17/06
|
Ms. Haghighatjoo says that Iranian political parties and individuals critical of
their government’s handling of the nuclear issue " have joined the debate [and]
believe that the ultimate pressure that can change Iran’s nuclear policy will
come from within, not from without."
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Barnett Rubin,
Joanne J. Myers
|
03/14/06
|
Recent elections mark the last formal step towards democracy in Afghanistan. Yet
the past year has seen a steady increase in political violence. What is being
done to ensure that democracy and stability take hold?
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Jere Van Dyk,
Barnett Rubin
|
03/14/06
|
"It's very difficult to be optimistic," says Dr. Rubin, one of the world's foremost experts on Afghanistan. "Still, five years ago we could never have imagined having the good fortune to confront the kind of problems that we are dealing with today."
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Yitzhak Nakash,
Joanne J. Myers
|
03/06/06
|
Professor Yitzhak Nakash presents in great detail the history of the Shi'a branch of Islam, including an analysis of the tenuous political process in post-Saddam Iraq.
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Gary Hart,
Joanne J. Myers
|
03/03/06
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Gary Hart outlines the fundamental changes that America must grapple with when confronting elusive terrorist threats. The new security regime will require a shield for the homeland as well as a cloak of non-military protections.
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Michael Walzer,
Joanne J. Myers
|
02/28/06
|
For the first time since his classic "Just and Unjust Wars" was published almost three decades ago, Professor Michael Walzer has again collected his most provocative arguments about contemporary military conflicts and the ethical issues they raise.
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Nancy Sherman,
Joanne J. Myers,
Joel H. Rosenthal
|
02/22/06
|
While few soldiers may have read the works of Epictetus or Marcus Aurelius, it is undoubtedly true that the ancient philosophy known as Stoicism guides the actions of many in the modern military.
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Richard N. Gardner,
Joanne J. Myers
|
01/19/06
|
Former U.S. Ambassador Richard N. Gardner discusses the delicate balancing act of diplomacy, politics and practicality in Cold War Italy.
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Nirupam Sen,
Nancy E. Soderberg,
Bruce Jones,
Robert O. Keohane,
Paige Arthur
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12/13/05
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In this roundtable discussion, eminent authorities discuss the ethics of collective security. What constitutes a "global threat" from a nonstate actor, and who gets to define it? How might we reform international institutions to meet such threats?
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P. W. Singer,
Joanne J. Myers
|
12/01/05
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P. W. Singer examines the Pentagon's policy of contracting private security and logistics firms for tasks ranging from combat to catering in the Iraq War. What are the ethical dilemmas and conflicting incentives of outsourcing a traditional state function to essentially mercenary groups?
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Dr. Kurt Campbell,
Joanne J. Myers
|
10/19/05
|
American attention is focused on the "war on terror. " But 20 years from now we may look back and realise that the rise of China and the new Asian dynamics that resulted were actually far more significant, says Kurt Campbell.
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Kenneth Roth,
Fernando R. Tesón,
Paige Arthur
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10/06/05
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Was the war in Iraq a humanitarian intervention? Yes, argues Tesón. What’s important is that it rid the world of a dictator. No, says Roth, and trying to justify it in humanitarian terms has given intervention a bad name.
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J. Douglas Beason,
Joanne J. Myers
|
10/06/05
|
“Directed-energy weapons”—lasers, high-powered microwaves, and particle beams—used to be the stuff of science fiction, says J. Douglas Beason. But now they’re a reality, and will transform the nature of warfare.
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Robert D. Kaplan,
Joanne J. Myers
|
09/27/05
|
Robert D. Kaplan provides an insider's account of our current involvement in
world affairs, as well as painting a vivid picture of how defense policy is
implemented at the grassroots level.
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Luis Lugo,
Allen Hertzke,
Richard Cizik,
Joel H. Rosenthal
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09/15/05
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A discussion of the growing importance of religious groups in advancing international human rights causes, from the Sudan to Korea.
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Elazar Barkan,
Roy Gutman,
Donald. S. Hays,
Haris Hromic,
Charles Ingrao,
Mirza Kusljugic,
David Marwell,
H.R.H. Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein
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07/13/05
|
Transcript of a panel and commemorative event of the 10th anniversary of the massacre at Srebrenica, held at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, in collaboration with the Academy of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and with the Council in an advisory role.
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Haris Hromic,
Elizabeth A. Cole
|
06/27/05
|
On June 27, 2005, almost exactly ten years after the Srebrenica massacres, CarnegieCouncil.org spoke to Haris Hromic about his pioneering work for the Academy of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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Larry Diamond,
Joanne J. Myers
|
06/14/05
|
After a recent visit to Iraq, Larry Diamond reflects sadly on how we have allowed the situation "to slip into a state of severe insecurity, stalemate, and economic disarray."
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Mark Bowden,
Mark Danner,
Darius Rejali,
Elaine Scarry,
Aryeh Neier
|
06/01/05
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This distinguished panel explores the practical, moral, legal, historical, and psychological aspects of torture and debates "the ticking bomb" scenario.
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Andrew J. Bacevich,
Mary-Lea Cox
|
05/17/05
|
"Family values", says Bacevich, used to apply to domestic politics; "but today this concept is aligned with a foreign policy agenda based on a belief in the efficacy of military power along with a revived sense of the American mission in the world."
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Andrew J. Bacevich,
Joanne J. Myers
|
05/17/05
|
Bacevich argues that military force has increasingly become the preferred instrument of American foreign policy, a process that began not with 9/11, but with the end of the Cold War.
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David Rieff,
Madeleine Lynn
|
05/13/05
|
David Rieff talks about how his views have changed on intervention.
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Admiral John Hutson,
Michael Posner,
Joanne J. Myers
|
05/12/05
|
The abuses at Abu Ghraib, Guantánamo, and elsewhere, have undermined our standing around the world, say Posner and Hutson.
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David Rieff,
Joanne J. Myers
|
05/04/05
|
David Rieff tries to bridge the gap between our democratic dreams and the means we use to achieve them in tricky wars of humanitarian purpose.
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David L. Phillips,
Joel H. Rosenthal
|
04/27/05
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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 winning the peace.
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Alan Wolfe,
Joanne J. Myers
|
04/19/05
|
In a candid discussion of American politics and ideals, Alan Wolfe looks to the future and how the U.S. can keep liberty and equality alive and available to others around the world.
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Zachary Karabell,
Mary-Lea Cox
|
04/13/05
|
Karabell examines some of the most pervasive myths about the Middle East, including those surrounding the U.S. quest for oil, the Israel connection, and xenophobia.
|
Nancy Birdsall,
William F. Felice
|
04/12/05
|
Dr. Birdsall illuminates the intersection of globalization, development and American dominance, with special interest in improving America's use of soft power in foreign policy.
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Morton Halperin,
Joseph T. Siegle,
Michael M. Weinstein,
Joanne J. Myers
|
03/17/05
|
The authors argue that democracy and development go hand in hand. Therefore, more aid should be given to poor democracies and democratizers than to poor autocracies.
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Tom Diaz,
Barbara Newman,
Joanne J. Myers
|
03/15/05
|
"Hezbollah makes Al-Qaeda look like Sunday-schoolers, children, kindergartners" according to an FBI contact interviewed by journalists Diaz and Newman.
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Joel H. Rosenthal,
Michael J. Smith,
William F. Felice,
Donald Eastman
|
03/08/05
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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 Smith discuss the ethical dimensions of U.S. foreign policy.
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Kishore Mahbubani,
Joanne J. Myers
|
03/02/05
|
Mahbubani observes that much of the world is disappointed with America's leadership, and yet would like it to take the lead in creating a stable world order. But can America revive the kind of leadership necessary to do this?
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Lt. Gen. Romeo A. Dallaire,
Joanne J. Myers,
Pamela Wallin
|
02/11/05
|
In 1994, General Dallaire was the commander of the UN Assistance Mission to Rwanda and powerless to stop the massacre of 800,000 people, who were slaughtered in 100 days. Yet just as in Rwanda ten years ago, the UN is reluctant to use the word "genocide" to describe Darfur.
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P. W. Singer,
Joanne J. Myers
|
02/09/05
|
The ever-growing number of child soldiers across the globe is one of the world's most under-reported stories. "There are an estimated 300,000 child soldiers right now serving as active combatants," says Singer, "and another half-million who are serving in armed forces not at war."
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Thomas M. Nichols
|
02/03/05
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Nichols believes that the norm against preventive military action is rapidly being eroded and that we are headed into an era where preventive war will be an accepted feature of the international system.
|
Kenneth Roth,
Joanne J. Myers
|
02/03/05
|
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch, discusses Darfur, Abu Ghraib, and the role of the UN.
|
Stephen Flynn,
Joanne J. Myers
|
01/25/05
|
Flynn analyzes America's failure to address the reality that terrorism will continue as a form of warfare, and offers a prescription for making our networks more resilient to the inevitability of terrorist attacks.
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Noah Feldman,
Joanne J. Myers
|
01/13/05
|
Feldman, a constitutional expert and Arabic-speaker sent to Iraq by the Bush administration, argues that U.S. intervention in Iraq amounts to a moral promise. Unless asked to leave, he believes that we are morally bound to stay until a legitimately elected government can govern effectively.
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Jean-Marie Guehenno,
Joanne J. Myers
|
12/07/04
|
The demand for UN peacekeeping troops has risen at an unprecedented rate, says Guéhenno, Under-Secretary General for UN Peacekeeping Operations. This presents enormous challenges, such as mobilizing troops and resources, and deploying them in a timely manner.
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Lionel Barber,
Joanne J. Myers
|
11/30/04
|
Lionel Barber identifies several crucial tests that will determine the future of the transatlantic alliance.
|
Graham Allison,
Joanne J. Myers
|
11/16/04
|
A sobering assessment on why a nuclear attack on U.S. soil is inevitable unless we take immediate, well-concerted measures.
|
Natan Sharansky,
Joanne J. Myers
|
11/09/04
|
Sharansky argues that spreading democracy everywhere is not only possible, but essential to the survival of our civilization.
|
Baroness Emma Nicholson of Winterbourne
|
10/30/04
|
According to Baroness Nicholson, the Saddam regime's crimes against the Marsh Arabs from 1991 to 2003 constitute an incontrovertible case of genocide, which is in its turn "a 'macrocosm' of the constant military and secret police assaults against the Shi'a majority of Iraq."
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Rasheed Bander Al-Khayoun,
Anna Sophia Bachmann,
Joanne Bauer,
Joseph Dellapenna,
Sayyed Nadeem Kazmi,
Curtis J. Richardson,
Nik Wheeler
|
10/26/04
|
Edited transcript of panel discussion held at New York University. Cosponsored by Carnegie Council, Environment Conservation Education Program, NYU, the Al-Khoei Foundation (UK), and the Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies, NYU.
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Michael Walzer,
Joanne J. Myers
|
10/13/04
|
Walzer rejects the argument that the invasion of Iraq was justified: "It is only massacre or ethnic cleansing or mass enslavement in progress that justifies marching an army into someone else's country. That is what humanitarian intervention is, and that is not what the Iraq war was."
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Michael T. Klare,
Joanne J. Myers
|
09/30/04
|
"Because of the geographic shifts in the production of oil to areas of instability, growing competition for access to that oil, and the militarization of foreign oil policy, we are risking a very high level of violence emerging. We must move swiftly and systematically to develop a post-petroleum economy."
The success of the war on terror will ultimately depend on optimal respect for fundamental rights at home and abroad, not on curtailing them in the name of security, says William Schulz of Amnesty International.
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Gilles Kepel,
Joanne J. Myers
|
09/22/04
|
Kepel argues that Americans have committed a fundamental error in assuming that the followers of Osama bin Laden are waging a war on the American state.
|
Dennis Ross,
Joanne J. Myers
|
09/13/04
|
Dennis Ross explains why shattering deeply entrenched myths about the Middle East and facing up to reality is a precondition for the success of the Israel-Palestine negotiations.
|
Lewis Lapham,
Joanne J. Myers
|
06/28/04
|
Lewis Lapham criticizes the suppression of dissenting voices in the aftermath of September 11th and the complicity of the media in manipulating public opinion on the war against Iraq.
|
James Chace,
Joel H. Rosenthal
|
06/16/04
|
James Chace looks back at the 1912 presidential elections and their effect on U.S. foreign policy.
|
Thomas W. Lippman,
Joanne J. Myers
|
06/02/04
|
Veteran Middle East correspondent Thomas Lippman traces the history of the U.S.-Saudi relationship and discusses its current state post 9/11.
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Walter Russell Mead,
Joanne J. Myers
|
05/27/04
|
"We are creating new and ever more dangerous problems for ourselves simply by doing what it is that we like to do," says Mead, "And the idea that more capitalism necessarily creates more stability in the world is an illusion. . . ." We must get our foreign policy back on track.
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Francis Fukuyama,
Joanne J. Myers
|
05/19/04
|
According to Fukuyama, we know less than we think we do about building political institutions, designing constitutions, and bolstering civil society in failed or weak states.
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Ann Cooper,
Joanne J. Myers
|
05/05/04
|
Cooper says that the war on terrorism is producing new dangers and new restrictions for the press.
|
Niall Ferguson,
Joanne J. Myers
|
04/28/04
|
Ferguson argues that the United States would be better off embracing, rather than denying, its imperial destiny.
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Itamar Rabinovich,
Joanne J. Myers
|
04/21/04
|
Itamar Rabinovich discusses the current Palestinian-Israeli "war of attrition" following the failure of Camp David and the Oslo Process.
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Joseph S. Nye,
Joanne J. Myers
|
04/13/04
|
Hard power alone cannot deal with terrorism successfully, says Nye. We must use a combination of hard and soft power.
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Rony Brauman,
Christian Barry
|
04/12/04
|
Brauman insists that the goals of peace processes should not be mingled with the goals of humanitarian aid.
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Ian Buruma,
Joanne J. Myers
|
04/08/04
|
Buruma points out that the hatred animating Islamic radicals conforms to the classic counter-Enlightenment vision of Western society as rootless, timid, and soulless.
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Zbigniew Brzezinski,
Joanne J. Myers
|
03/25/04
|
To prevail in the war on terrorism and other looming geo-strategic crises, says Brzezinski, America needs serious allies, not just "coalitions of the willing."
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Robert M. Perito,
Joanne J. Myers
|
03/10/04
|
Perito argues the need for creating a new U.S. force that is trained to assist with post-conflict operations in places like the Balkans, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
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David M. Malone,
Kishore Mahbubani,
Ian Martin,
Joanne J. Myers
|
03/04/04
|
Malone points out that disagreements among the Permanent Five Security Council members have been confined to just three issues since the end of the Cold War: Israel-Palestine, Kosovo, and Iraq.
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Bernard Kouchner,
Joel H. Rosenthal,
Mary-Lea Cox
|
03/02/04
|
Kouchner argues that the globalization of compassion and human rights is a sign of substantial moral progress that can count some successes--most notably, in Kosovo and East Timor.
|
Steve Coll,
Joanne J. Myers
|
03/01/04
|
Coll spotlights the interactions among the CIA, Pakistani intelligence (ISI), Saudi intelligence, and other hidden networks (particularly al Qaeda and its affiliates) decades before 9/11/01.
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Larry Diamond,
Joanne J. Myers
|
02/26/04
|
Diamond insists that the United States and the international community have a moral obligation, as well as a political opportunity, to encourage, foster, and promote the global spread of democracy more systematically and effectively than at any point in the past thirty years.
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Dr. Reinhard Eroes,
Joanne J. Myers
|
02/24/04
|
Since the time of the Soviet occupation in Afghanistan, much of the Afghan population has endured enormous hardship. Dr. Reinhard Eroes, the founder of Children's Aid Afghanistan, discusses the current issues and challenges in humanitarian assistance.
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Sir Kieran Prendergast,
Joanne J. Myers
|
02/19/04
|
Sir Kieran Prendergast gives a progress report on the panel appointed by Kofi Annan to recommend changes that would enable the UN to respond more effectively to peace and security challenges—broadly interpreted to include threats of poverty, hunger, and disease.
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Robert Kagan,
Joanne J. Myers
|
02/04/04
|
The widening military gap between Europe and the United States has an unavoidable effect, says Robert Kagan. "It is a natural human phenomenon that if you have more power, you are more likely to use it. When you have less power, you are less likely to use it, and also less likely to consider it a legitimate activity."
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Michael Ignatieff,
Joanne J. Myers
|
01/23/04
|
Ignatieff says that while the battle against terrorism may sometimes require infringing international norms on the use of force, we must constantly guard against slipping from the lesser evil to the greater.
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John H.F. Shattuck,
Joanne J. Myers
|
11/20/03
|
Shattuck says that the forces unleashed against us on 9/11 were the very forces of disintegration that he witnessed in Rwanda, Bosnia, and Haiti, and are most powerfully evident in the Middle East. He also gives insight into how the Clinton administration's human rights policies evolved.
|
Benjamin R. Barber,
Joanne J. Myers
|
10/21/03
|
Benjamin Barber urges the United States to curb its militaristic impulses in favor of working for "global comity" within the framework of universal rights and law.
|
Niall Ferguson,
Joanne J. Myers
|
09/16/03
|
Niall Ferguson examines the rise and demise of the British world order and its lessons for the United States.
|
Cass R. Sunstein,
Joanne J. Myers
|
09/11/03
|
Based on research of group polarization, Cass Sunstein makes a convincing case that societies function better if they allow dissent.
|
Clyde Prestowitz,
Joanne J. Myers
|
06/10/03
|
Clyde Prestowitz sees American unilateralism, rooted in the claim to exceptionalism, as the main reason behind the growing anti-American sentiments around the world.
|
Michael Hirsh,
Joanne J. Myers
|
06/04/03
|
The world’s remaining superpower has failed to grasp the importance of its global leadership responsibilities, argues Michael Hirsch. Assuming a leadership position within a multilateral international system will serve best both American and the world’s security interests.
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Graham Fuller,
Joanne J. Myers
|
05/22/03
|
Fuller predicts that although unlikely to disappear altogether, radical Islamist groups will eventually learn to compromise as more modest groups spring up to compete with them.
|
Ross Terrill,
Joanne J. Myers
|
05/14/03
|
Our interests with China are peace, prosperity, and mutual exchange between two great countries and civilizations with openness for business, for students, for the professions. It is also in our interests that there be political liberalization, but it is not America’s business to bring this about.
|
H.E. Stuart Eizenstat,
Jeffrey K. Olick,
Elizabeth A. Cole
|
05/06/03
|
H. E. Stuart Eizenstat argues that WWII restitution cases faciliate reconciliation and advance the cause of human rights.
|
Shepard Forman,
Kishore Mahbubani,
David M. Malone,
Joanne J. Myers
|
04/24/03
|
How is U.S. unilateralism in foreign policy perceived from abroad? This panel of international affairs experts presents a range foreign perspectives and discusses the challenges the U.S faces by adopting a "go it alone" policy.
|
Paul Berman,
Joanne J. Myers
|
04/15/03
|
Paul Berman discusses the common ideological underpinnings of totalitarian movements, from fascism and communism to the radical Islamist movement. He observes that in every case it is liberal naïveté that allows totalitarianism to progress.
|
Andrew J. Bacevich,
Joel H. Rosenthal
|
04/09/03
|
A sole superpower in the aftermath of the Cold War pursuing an increasingly militarized foreign policy, America is no longer shy about its imperial ambitions, says Andrew Bacevich.
|
Donald P. Gregg,
Joanne J. Myers
|
04/01/03
|
Donald Gregg sees North Korea’s recent confessions to kidnapping Japanese citizens and reviving its nuclear program as “evidence that Kim Jong Il is trying to remove some of the obstacles of the past.” Gregg, who favors U.S.-North Korea dialogue, said he fears that a “perfect storm” is brewing on the Korean peninsula.
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William Kristol,
Lawrence Kaplan,
Joanne J. Myers
|
03/05/03
|
William Kristol and Lawrence Kaplan argue that a successful nation-building effort in Iraq will not only be a catalyst for change in the Middle East but also serve as proof that there is a compatibility between American interests and ideals.
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Charles Kupchan,
Joanne J. Myers
|
02/27/03
|
International relations authority Charles Kupchan argues that America ignores Europe at its own peril.
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Robert Kagan,
Joanne J. Myers
|
02/04/03
|
The widening military gap between Europe and the United States has an unavoidable effect, says Robert Kagan. "It is a natural human phenomenon that if you have more power, you are more likely to use it. When you have less power, you are less likely to use it, and also less likely to consider it a legitimate activity."
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Lt. Gen. Romeo A. Dallaire,
Joanne J. Myers
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01/29/03
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Dallaire recalls the agony of not being able to take action to halt the Rwandan genocide because he lacked the requisite authority as well as manpower and equipment. In essence, he lacked the support of the international community.
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Robert F. Drinan,
Joanne J. Myers
|
11/20/02
|
"We are on the wrong side of history," says Father Robert F. Drinan regarding the U.S. opposition to the International Criminal Court.
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Peter Maass,
Michael Walzer,
Joanne J. Myers
|
10/16/02
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Humanitarian intervention does not "belong in the shadows" because it has the moral urgency of self-defense, which puts it ahead of preventive war, say Walzer and Maass.
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Warren Zimmermann,
Joanne J. Myers
|
10/09/02
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The U.S. has always been an expansionist power, but between 1891-1909, it was exceptionally so, says Zimmerman. Five individuals in particular helped to drive the U.S. government in this direction: Theodore Roosevelt; naval strategist Alfred T. Mahan; Senator Henry Cabot Lodge; Secretary of State John Hay; and corporate lawyer turned colonial administrator Elihu Root.
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David Rieff,
Joanne J. Myers
|
10/02/02
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Humanitaniarism is losing its traditional function of relief provision and is increasingly used for political purposes, often with disastrous consequences, warns David Rief.
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Ahmed Rashid,
Joanne J. Myers
|
09/25/02
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Afghanistan is less stable today than it was six months ago because of U.S. reluctance to provide security outside Kabul and the international community's failure to deliver the full amount of the reconstruction aid it promised, says Ahmed Rashid.
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Ashutosh Varshney,
Joanne J. Myers
|
09/24/02
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Why are some cities in India rife with ethnic conflict whereas others are not? According to Varshney, a city's proneness to violence is directly linked to its level of civic integration.
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Barnett Rubin,
Joanne J. Myers
|
06/25/02
|
Afghanistan is "hard to rule" for the same reason it's hard to conquer: it does not have many resources, the settlements are far apart, and there is not much water, contends Barnett Rubin.
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Max Boot,
Joanne J. Myers
|
06/03/02
|
The United States has a long but largely uncelebrated history of fighting "small wars," and "if the past is a prologue of what is to come, small wars will be the main occupation of the American military for the foreseeable future," says Max Boot.
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John L. Esposito,
Joanne J. Myers
|
05/07/02
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The communications revolution of the late 20th century made Muslims around the world aware that they were part of a global community, a development that helped to "globalize" the idea of jihad, says John Esposito.
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Philip Jenkins,
Joanne J. Myers
|
04/17/02
|
Christian influence on world events is less likely to originate in the United States or Europe than in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, where a version of Pentecostalism has been spreading, says Philip Jenkins.
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Gilles Kepel,
Joanne J. Myers
|
04/17/02
|
Today, Islamist movements in the Middle East are fragmented, according to Gilles
Kepel, and no longer have the capacity to mobilize different social groups
simultaneously as they did in the 1970s and 1980s. Yet they remain dangerous
because they believe jihad is "the other superpower."
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Adel Iskander Farag,
Mohammed el-Nawawy,
Mark Pedersen
|
04/15/02
|
Journalists el-Nawawy and Farag give the inside story on the Qatar-based satellite TV station Al-Jazeera and the impact it has had on how Arab culture perceives the world.
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Samantha Power,
Joanne J. Myers
|
04/11/02
|
Why did the United States largely ignore the Rwandan genocide and yet devote endless time to the contemporaneous Bosnian crisis? According to Samantha Power, the reason is "politics, politics, politics."
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Zamir Akram,
Simon Henderson,
Rick Inderfurth,
Lisa Anderson
|
04/04/02
|
Whom do the terrorists speak for—do they speak for anyone? And do our answers to these questions affect what the U.S. and its allies may justifiably do in response?
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Bernard Lewis,
Joanne J. Myers
|
03/26/02
|
In the Middle East today, there are two prevailing opinions about why the Islamic world now lags behind the West, according to Bernard Lewis. The first is the Islamic world has simply failed to keep up with modernity. The second is almost the exact opposite: it has become too much "like the infidels" and abandoned its own heritage, tradition, and faith.
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Kenneth Roth,
Joanne J. Myers
|
03/14/02
|
Governments around the world are wrong to use the war on terrorism as an excuse to disregard human rights principles, says Kenneth Roth. "The war on terror must also be seen as a war on behalf of human rights if, in the long term, this campaign is going to be successful."
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Christian Barry,
Nicolas de Torrenté,
Elizabeth Neuffer,
Omar Noman,
Robert L. Bach
|
03/06/02
|
How should nation-states and other actors balance responsibilities to mitigate unnecessary suffering worldwide with obligations to promote security and ensure justice for victims of terrorist crimes?
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Joseph S. Nye,
Joanne J. Myers
|
03/06/02
|
Joseph Nye argues that U.S. leaders must create a framework that preserves American values congruent with those of other people in the world. "If you're going to play three-dimensional chess by looking at only one board, you're going to lose," he says.
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Sir Jeremy Greenstock,
Joanne J. Myers
|
02/27/02
|
What's the role of the UN in countering the threat of terrorism? Sir Jeremy Greenstock discusses the newly founded Counter-Terrorism Committee and the challenges in designing a collective response to terrorism.
|
Ian Bremmer,
James Chace,
J. Bryan Hehir,
Joel H. Rosenthal,
James Turner Johnson
|
02/20/02
|
The U.S. has set out to end terrorism. But can it achieve this objective while also maintaining a strategic balance in an area of ethnic conflict, impoverishment, and potential nuclear instability?
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Edward Luttwak,
Joanne J. Myers
|
02/13/02
|
The use of precision-guided weapons is a "revolution in military affairs," claims Edward Luttwak. They immediately shifted the focus in warfare from "hitting something" to "knowing what to hit" -- thus to military and cultural intelligence.
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Shepard Forman,
Stewart Patrick,
Joanne J. Myers
|
02/05/02
|
After analyzing a number of specific global policy issues, Forman and Patrick advise that when dealing with transnational challenges, "unilateralism is neither wise nor sustainable."
|
David P. Calleo,
Joanne J. Myers
|
01/31/02
|
With the end of the Cold War Europe is once again at a great historical watershed, says David Calleo in this discussion of the history and current state of the European Union. He argues that "Maastricht implies a future where the world is plural, rather than unipolar" and urges the U.S. to pay more attention to developments across the Atlantic.
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Kishore Mahbubani,
Joanne J. Myers
|
01/24/02
|
The world is nearing the end of a 500-year cycle of Western-dominated history that began with European colonization, says Mahbubani. The end of the cold war "unfroze" historical forces, but most Americans remain unaware that major changes are imminent.
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Bill Berkeley,
Joanne J. Myers
|
01/15/02
|
Tyrannical leaders in modern-day Africa create and stoke ethnic conflict so they can "divide and rule," according to Bill Berkeley. The absence of legitimate institutions and justice has allowed these leaders and their "mafia culture" to rise to a position of preeminence, he says.
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Robert D. Kaplan,
Joanne J. Myers
|
01/10/02
|
The teachings of ancient Greek, Roman and Chinese philosophers are relevant in today's foreign policy environment because every current and future challenge to civilization has some parallel in the ancient past.
|
Michael N. Schmitt
|
01/07/02
|
Professor Schmitt of the German-American Marshall Center discusses the intersection of law and ethics in the use of military force. He explores some important "stressors" where the law of armed conflict may need to be supplemented by the work of international ethicists.
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Ahmed Rashid,
Joanne J. Myers
|
12/17/01
|
Central Asia will remain precariously unstable until the repressive governments are forced to reform, asserts Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid. There is reason for optimism, he says, but also a need for vigilance -- especially as the U.S. war on Afghanistan has further embittered Islamic extremists.
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Richard A. Falk,
Fawaz A. Gerges,
George A. Lopez,
William L. Nash,
Ruth Wedgwood
|
12/17/01
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The attacks of September 11 have been described, variously, as "crimes," "acts of war," or "genocide." Does characterizing the attacks in these different ways change the laws and moral norms that apply to a response? Do established international norms provide an adequate framework?
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Walter Russell Mead,
Joanne J. Myers
|
12/12/01
|
Many have accused the United States of being negligent in the area of foreign policy, yet, according to Walter Russell Mead, almost no other country has had more success in international affairs over the last 225 years.
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Shashi Tharoor,
Joanne J. Myers
|
11/28/01
|
In this talk, Shashi Tharoor discusses his latest novel, based on a series of religious riots in India in the late 1980s and addressing issues of communal tension in that country.
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Peter Bergen,
Joanne J. Myers
|
11/19/01
|
Who is bin Laden? What drives him? Peter Bergen is one of the few Westerners who has interviewed bin Laden face to face. He has also interviewed his family and done extensive background research. Thus he gives us valuable insights into what makes bin Laden tick.
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Mark Malloch Brown,
Joanne J. Myers
|
11/19/01
|
The "real lesson of September the 11th was that states don't have the right to fail," asserts Brown. The international community should place priority on addressing the three principal reasons for state failure--democracy deficits, failing educational systems, and stagnant economies.
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Chris Patten,
Joanne J. Myers
|
11/14/01
|
Chris Patten explains Europe's role in the 21st century and why a multilateralist approach is needed to address "the dark side of globalization."
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General Henry Shelton
|
11/13/01
|
The U.S. needs new rules of force to fight President Bush's "war on terror" and 21st century threats, says General Shelton in his keynote address for the first Carnegie-Georgetown Forum.
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Michael Ignatieff,
Joanne J. Myers
|
11/02/01
|
Human rights scholar Michael Ignatieff happened to be in Kabul when the Taliban came to power. He has never forgotten his conversations with Afghan women during that time, who, he says, "taught me more about human rights than I have ever learned before or since." In this talk, Ignatieff discusses the poor human rights records in many Islamic countries and possible remedies.
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Jean De Ruyt,
Joanne J. Myers
|
09/26/01
|
How should the European Union respond to the threat of terrorism? Ambassador De Ruyt presents several concrete measures agreed upon by the member states.
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Arjuna Parakrama,
Mary-Lea Cox
|
04/19/01
|
Is there a condition that may be called collective trauma? Arjuna Parakrama thinks so. He has filmed his fellow Sri Lankans discussing the impact of nearly 20 years of civil war on their nation's sense of well-being.
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Paul Kennedy,
Joanne J. Myers
|
04/11/01
|
What will the future look like? Can we use history as a guide? Kennedy describes how the international political landscape changed after World War I, World War II and the collapse of the Soviet Union--and how it may change again in the 21st century.
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Anthony Lake,
Joel H. Rosenthal
|
01/21/01
|
Anthony Lake argues that the United States cannot afford to be lax about its security in a world plagued by episodes of high terrorism and political instability. He examines six scenarios that threaten America's safety and recommends steps to prevent them.
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Joel H. Rosenthal,
David A. Crocker,
David Little,
Margaret Popkin,
Paul van Zyl
|
05/20/99
|
Drawing from their observations of truth and reconciliation efforts in Bosnia, South Africa, Chile, Guatemala, and Cambodia, the panelists explore the challenges of confronting a violent past.
Audio
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Julian E. Zelizer,
Joanne J. Myers
|
02/02/10
|
According to historian Julian Zelizer, partisan fighting has always shaped American foreign policy, and the issue of national security has always been part of our domestic conflicts.
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Garry Wills,
Joanne J. Myers
|
02/02/10
|
Garry Wills traces how the atomic bomb transformed our nation down to its deepest constitutional roots, defined the presidency, and redefined the government as a national security state.
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George Friedman,
Joanne J. Myers
|
01/27/10
|
Elections and campaigns are about options. Governing is about constraints. For Obama--and every president--what happens when foreign policy options meet foreign policy constraints?
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Alexandra Harney,
Devin T. Stewart
|
01/22/10
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Harney (author of "The China Price") and Stewart discuss the human and environmental costs of China's cheap prices; Google in China; fake and dangerous Chinese products; U.S.-China relations; and the latest trends in Japan.
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Michael D. Gordin,
Joanne J. Myers
|
01/21/10
|
How does a state make a nuclear bomb? How does it hide its weapons program? How do other states detect nuclear proliferation? Gordin addresses important questions about how we think about nuclear weapons past and present.
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Daniel Gross,
Devin T. Stewart
|
01/19/10
|
Daniel Gross and Devin Stewart discuss Google's threat to pull out of China because of censorship and email hacking incidents. Posted with kind permission from Newsweek On Air.
America's global future seems in doubt with a frozen political process, mountains of debt, stagnant exports, global military commitments, and less secure friendships. Is the American Dream dead?
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Ian Bremmer,
Georg Kell,
Art Kleiner,
Thomas Stewart,
Michele Wucker
|
01/15/10
|
What's next? Using Eurasia Group's Top Risks as a starting point for identifying the major global challenges in 2010, the panelists identify what they see on the horizon and discuss the ethical issues involved.
The Eurasia Group identified ten top global risks for business this year, which should be understood not just as political and economic, but also as the basic choices they highlight. What do you think the fundamental issues are for 2010?
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Charles W. Kegley, Jr.
|
12/18/09
|
Taiwan has transformed itself into a prosperous, vibrant democracy, and recently tensions between Taiwan and China have lessened. As the balance of power between the U.S. and China shifts, what is the future for Taiwan, and what role will it play in the region?
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Avishai Margalit,
Joanne J. Myers
|
12/10/09
|
Compromise can be a political virtue, especially for the sake of peace. When is political compromise acceptable, and when is it fundamentally rotten? What if a rotten compromise is politically necessary? Are there moral limits to acceptable compromise, and what are those limits?
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Vali Nasr,
Joanne J. Myers
|
12/08/09
|
The real key to bringing economic and political change to the Muslim world is capitalism, says Vali Nasr. Entrepreneurial middle classes the world over have a stake in the system and are more interested in economic success than religious extremism.
In a difficult and protracted war democracies may accept a draw due to a lack of public support. If you were caught between bowing to public opinion and taking bold positions that may alienate the electorate, which would you choose?
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John Isaacs,
David C. Speedie
|
12/04/09
|
John Isaacs, Executive Director of the Council for a Livable World, discusses nuclear weapons treaties and their relevance for U.S. foreign policy, domestic politics, and the global arms control agenda.
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John Isaacs,
David C. Speedie
|
12/04/09
|
There are an estimated 23,000 nuclear weapons on the planet. Although they have faded from the public consciousness somewhat, they remain one of the greatest dangers we face. Obama has provided an opportunity for unprecedented progress on this issue. Will he succeed?
What is the U.S. role in the world? There are two extremes. Being an example, or employing forceful U.S. engagement and being a moral champion. Neither pole will or should prevail, but which might best drive America's interests?
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George Packer,
Joanne J. Myers
|
11/25/09
|
George Packer discusses some of his essays from the period of September 11, 2001 to November 4, 2008; the luxury of being able to write long, in-depth articles for "The New Yorker" magazine; and the uncertain future of print journalism.
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Adam Roberts,
Joanne J. Myers
|
11/25/09
|
Should civil resistance be seen as potentially replacing violence completely, or as a phenomenon that operates in conjunction with, and as a modification of, power politics?
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Michael J. Sandel,
Joanne J. Myers
|
11/20/09
|
Political philosopher Michael Sandel turns the Council into a classroom. Using questions such as military service, he engages the audience in a lively debate on what individuals owe society.
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David Rodin,
Joel H. Rosenthal
|
11/12/09
|
David Rodin explores the logic which governs how rights may be lost, acquired and transferred--how they 'move'--and examines in particular the implications this has for the way we justify and prosecute war.
Private contractors bring important skills to tasks outside the capability or mission of military personnel, but they are not accountable to the government or American people. Is this political cover valuable? What about the hidden costs?
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Michael Ancram,
Joanne J. Myers
|
11/04/09
|
In an increasingly interconnected world, soft power and engagement with all the world's players will become increasingly important--and that includes talking to Hamas and the Taliban, says Ancram.
|
Caroline Alexander,
Joanne J. Myers
|
11/03/09
|
The "Iliad" is usually seen as a martial epic glorifying war. Yet in fact, says Alexander, Homer was at pains to depict the Trojan war--and war in general--as a pointless catastrophe that blighted all it touched.
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Jeffrey D. McCausland,
Joel H. Rosenthal,
David C. Speedie
|
10/30/09
|
"Afghanistan makes Iraq look easy," says U.S. Army Colonel (Ret.) Dr. McCausland. His comprehensive and evenhanded briefing analyzes the situation on the ground and the possible consequences of sending more troops.
|
Thomas J. Miller,
David C. Speedie
|
10/30/09
|
President and CEO of the UN Association of the USA, Ambassador Miller discusses the U.S. role in the world and the power of grass roots commitment. Citizens can change policy by reminding leaders of their obligations on issues such as climate change.
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David L. Bosco,
Joanne J. Myers
|
10/27/09
|
What has been, is, and should be the role of the UN Security Council? Bosco chronicles its history—its successes and its failures—and concludes with some positive suggestions for the future.
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Robert Lacey,
Joanne J. Myers
|
10/23/09
|
After spending years in the Kingdom talking to people in all walks of life, Robert Lacey gives us a modern history of the Saudis in their own words, revealing a people attempting to reconcile life under religious law with the demands of a rapidly changing world.
When war is a foreign insurgency, balancing human risks and possibility of success is a fundamental ethical dilemma for leaders. What do you think should happen in Afghanistan?
|
Shirley Williams,
David C. Speedie
|
10/16/09
|
In a wide-ranging conversation, Baroness Williams discusses the Obama administration's foreign policy; the situation in Afghanistan and in Iran; U.S. and British politics, including voter representation and corruption; and her work on nuclear disarmament.
How can America build partnerships and coalitions to solve today's global problems? Will the nation continue to dominate world affairs, or are we fast approaching a "post-America" era?
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Michael E. O'Hanlon,
Joanne J. Myers
|
10/09/09
|
Michael O'Hanlon explains how military modeling and planning are done, taking as examples Desert Storm, the Iraq War, and the decisions to be made now about Afghanistan.
|
Daniel Jonah Goldhagen,
Joanne J. Myers
|
10/09/09
|
Rwanda, Bosnia, Cambodia, Darfur, Congo, and more--since World War II, genocide has caused more deaths than all wars put together. Goldhagen analyzes how and why genocides start and proposes steps the international community can take to stop them.
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Hilary Charlesworth,
Christian Barry,
Matt Peterson
|
10/07/09
|
What does a country gain by enacting a bill of rights? Do countries that lack bills of rights, like Australia, protect human rights as well as those, like the United States and Canada, that have them?
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Amartya Sen,
Joanne J. Myers
|
10/05/09
|
The traditional theory of social justice is out of touch with practical realities, says Amartya Sen. Instead he proposes a theory of comparative justice that is applicable to the real world.
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Bruce Bueno de Mesquita,
Joanne J. Myers
|
10/02/09
|
Iran, Iraq, Israel, and North Korea--all are rational players, acting in their own self-interest as they perceive it, and with game theory we can predict what they and other players will do next.
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Peter Maass,
Joanne J. Myers
|
10/02/09
|
From Ecuador to Nigeria, in most oil-producing countries oil has not brought any benefits to the poor and has often damaged people's health and ruined the environment, says Peter Maass. As for Iraq, although the war was not "all about oil," oil certainly played an important role.
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Joel H. Rosenthal
|
09/09/09
|
Remedies to global challenges are less about romantic dreams to improve the world and more about pragmatism and sustainability. The pragmatic and ethical thing to do is to recognize that our interests are tied up with those of others in new and potentially creative ways.
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Eric T. Olson,
Jeffrey D. McCausland
|
08/27/09
|
"I just couldn't conceive of a battlefield now without contractors," says Olson, former Major General in the U.S. army and now an independent defense contractor. He discusses the effect of contractors on the military profession, accountability issues, and the roles contractors play.
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Thomas X. Hammes,
Joel H. Rosenthal
|
08/27/09
|
Military contractors bring up many issues which have not been fully explored, says Hammes; loyalty, for example. While we can expect great loyalty from U.S. citizens when U.S. soldiers are in danger, what can we really expect from a Bangladeshi truck driver or a local Iraqi contractor?
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James Jay Carafano,
Jeffrey D. McCausland
|
08/14/09
|
Using contractors on the battlefield is not new for the U.S. What's more, it's a good option and it's here to stay, says Carafano. "For the U.S. it is a way of leveraging the capabilities of the modern world efficiently."
|
Thomas R. Pickering,
David C. Speedie
|
07/09/09
|
Ambassador Thomas Pickering discusses Russia's role in the unfolding events in Iran and other potential areas of cooperation between Russia and the United States, including missile defense and NATO enlargement.
|
Victor D. Cha,
Joanne J. Myers
|
06/04/09
|
There are no good options in negotiations with North Korea, says Bush's top advisor on North Korean affairs, Victor Cha. It's always a choice between a bad option and a worse option.
|
Richard H. Solomon
|
05/28/09
|
What are realistic processes of social change that should inform effective human rights policy and its implementation? Should human rights issues be pressed even if their primary effect is to assure domestic American constituencies that an administration's "heart is in the right place?"
|
Simon Schama,
Joanne J. Myers
|
05/28/09
|
In a dazzling display of learning and verbal virtuosity, Simon Schama takes us from Arlington Cemetery to the contrasts between the Jeffersonian and Hamiltonian worldview; to China and Afghanistan; and to many points in between.
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William J. Fallon,
Rory Stewart,
Joanne J. Myers
|
05/20/09
|
Rebuilding Afghanistan will be a long process, says Stewart, and so our presence there needs to be much lighter. It's inconceivable that for the next 30-40 years we can sustain annual investments of $85 billion and up and maintain 90,000 troops.
Historian John Lukacs discusses his close friend George Kennan. Kennan was an architect of the Cold War, but after 1950 he became one of its critics and recommended a dialogue with the Russians. Why the seeming contradiction?
|
Neil MacFarquhar,
Joanne J. Myers
|
05/14/09
|
Despite all the bloodshed in its recent history, the Middle East is still a place of warmth, humanity, and generous eccentricity. Within the turmoil there are those still pioneering political and social change. Will they continue wrestling with their region's future--on their own terms?
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Dominique Moisi,
Joanne J. Myers
|
05/14/09
|
What are the driving emotions behind our cultural differences? How do these varying emotions influence the political, social, and cultural conflicts that roil our world?
|
David Kilcullen,
Joanne J. Myers
|
05/08/09
|
Have U.S. actions in the "war on terror" blurred the distinction between local and global struggles? How can the U.S. develop strategies that deal with global threats, avoid local conflicts where possible, and win them where necessary?
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Ali A. Allawi,
Joanne J. Myers
|
04/30/09
|
What caused the decline of Islamic civilization and how can it be revived? Ali A. Allawi lays out key principles that could make it flourish in this age of globalization.
|
H.E. Mr. Sergey Kislyak
|
04/23/09
|
Russian Ambassador H.E. Mr. Kislyak's comprehensive talk includes his thoughts on U.S.-Russia relations, nuclear proliferation, and Russia today. He also gives us the Russian perspective on the conflict with Georgia.
John Lukacs argues that despite the different attitudes Winston Churchill took towards Russia over a 40-year period, there is an amazing consistency to his view of that nation, whether it was Tsarist or Soviet.
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Thomas P. M. Barnett,
Joanne J. Myers
|
03/13/09
|
The 21st century will see the rise of a global middle class for the first time, which is in the U.S. national interest. Therefore although we will have to make compromises, we should work to hasten this globalization process.
Do we respect the wishes of anti-Castro Americans, to restrict trade, or the wishes of agriculture and medical sales interests, to open Cuban markets? If we relax restrictions, do we reward repression? What do you think?
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David A. Hamburg,
David C. Speedie
|
03/12/09
|
David Speedie interviews David Hamburg on the prevention agenda of the Carnegie Corporation of New York and its legacy of preventing interstate conflict, genocide, and threats to global health.
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Emile A. Nakhleh,
Joanne J. Myers
|
03/06/09
|
In an informed assessment of the past, present, and future of America's relations with the Muslim world, the CIA's point person on Islam, Emile A. Nakhleh, makes a vigorous case for a renewal of American public diplomacy.
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Thomas P. M. Barnett,
Joanne J. Myers
|
03/05/09
|
In what has become the most profound reordering of the globe since the end of World War II, how does America become a leader again? Do we have the power to shape and redefine what comes next?
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Ann Dismorr,
Joanne J. Myers
|
02/26/09
|
Ambassador Ann Dismorr examines Turkey's troubled relations with the EU, its role in the Middle East, its complex relationship with the U.S., and the reforms initiated by the Justice and Development Party.
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Alex J. Bellamy,
John Tessitore
|
02/26/09
|
"This is just the beginning of the road for R2P," says Bellamy. "There are a lot of skeptics...but it is a principle that has commanded the support of 192 governments, and that creates a tremendous political impetus."
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Simon Dalby,
John Tessitore
|
02/19/09
|
"Peace-building is literally about building now," says Dalby. "It's about constructing buildings that don't need large quantities of energy, both because of climate change and so that they are not dependent on supplies from the other side of the planet."
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Jeffrey D. McCausland,
Thomas E. Ricks
|
02/13/09
|
Carnegie Council Senior Fellow Jeffrey McCausland talks to Thomas Ricks about his latest book, "The Gamble: General Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008."
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Martin Indyk,
Joanne J. Myers
|
02/13/09
|
What can the mistakes and missed opportunities of the past teach the new Obama administration about how to go forward with the Arab-Israeli peace process?
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Thomas E. Ricks,
Joanne J. Myers
|
02/12/09
|
Thomas Ricks predicts that the U.S. military presence in Iraq will continue for at least another five to ten years, and that Iraq will change Obama more than Obama will change Iraq.
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P. W. Singer,
Joanne J. Myers
|
02/06/09
|
Science fiction is fast becoming reality on the battlefield and robotics are already changing the way wars are being fought. How will they affect the politics, economics, laws, and ethics of warfare?
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Daniel P. Erikson
|
02/03/09
|
As Castro finally leaves the stage and a new president arrives in Washington, both the Cuban system and U.S.-Cuba relations could be on the brink of a new era. What will happen next?
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George Friedman,
Joanne J. Myers
|
01/30/09
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What's in store during this new century? Which nations will gain and lose power? How will new technologies alter the way we live? George Friedman, founder and CEO of Strategic Forecasting, Inc., has some predictions that may surprise you.
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Ian Bremmer,
Joel H. Rosenthal
|
01/29/09
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Ian Bremmer and Joel Rosenthal discuss the possible risks they see on the horizon for 2009, including the financial crisis, "black swans," security, and Russia, Iran, and Turkey.
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Jeff McMahan,
Christian Barry,
Matt Peterson
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01/28/09
|
Israeli officials insist that their attacks on Gaza were judiciously planned so as to minimize harm to civilians. What role do civilian casualties play in assessing the justice of war?
What is true for the individual may not be true for the group, the state, or the international system, and vice versa. Does this suggest that ethics is personal, not institutional or governmental? For you, at what levels does ethical choice live?
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Anne-Marie Slaughter
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01/22/09
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Was George W. Bush the true heir of Woodrow Wilson, the architect of liberal internationalism? Was the Iraq War a result of liberal ideas about America's right to promote democracy abroad?
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Gordon M. Goldstein
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01/15/09
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Based on his recently published book "Lessons in Disaster: McGeorge Bundy and the Path to War in Vietnam", Gordon Goldstein tells us how important it is for us to understand why and how American presidents take our country to war.
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Ian Bremmer,
Art Kleiner,
Michele Wucker,
Thomas Stewart
|
01/15/09
|
What dangers are lurking for 2009? Taking Eurasia Group's list of Top Risks as a starting point, this lively discussion examines the ethical aspects of these issues.
Should we observe Morgenthau's principles--avoid the crusading spirit and heed others' perspectives--or is promoting democracy and taking a forceful stand indispensable to U.S. foreign policy?
Can intelligent robot soldiers be designed to be more ethical in battle than human soldiers? Would you prefer a robot or a human deciding about the possibility of civilian casualties, about collateral damage?
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Robert Hunter,
David C. Speedie
|
12/10/08
|
The post-Cold War NATO has expanded, both in mission and membership. In each instance, problems have arisen with Russia. What are the lessons to be learned from these stresses, and what are NATO's prospects?
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Gilles Kepel,
Joanne J. Myers
|
12/01/08
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The neocons and al-Qaeda have both failed to reach their objectives, says Kepel. We are now facing one big power in the Middle East: Iran.
Are ethics primary questions that precede and surround practical leadership?
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Chong-Pin Lin,
Devin T. Stewart
|
11/19/08
|
Dr. Lin discusses Taiwan's current political crisis; relations with China; climate change; the future of democracy in East Asia; what Obama's presidency may mean for the region; and the surprising "detente" between China and Japan.
How will President Obama deal with the hopes and fears of people abroad? Will his priority be the interests of the United States or will the welfare of those beyond America’s borders also count?
We enter a slippery ethical slope when we begin to make distinctions between victims. When can an individual's rights be set aside?
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Gary Sick,
David C. Speedie
|
11/12/08
|
The Bush administration has been toying with the idea of talking to Iran for the last two years. With the arrival of Obama, now the question is not "should we," but how do we go about doing it?
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Ted Sorensen,
David C. Speedie
|
11/07/08
|
"A president who doesn't go to war may show more courage than one who does," said JFK. In a wide-ranging conversation, Sorensen discusses JFK, Cuba, and Vietnam; the 2008 Russia/Georgia conflict; McCain's idea of a League of Nations; and the promise of Obama.
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Andrew J. Bacevich,
Joanne J. Myers
|
11/04/08
|
"As the American appetite for freedom has grown, so too has our penchant for empire," writes expert in history and international relations and former U.S. Army Colonel Andrew Bacevich.
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Karl E. Meyer,
Shareen Blair Brysac,
Joanne J. Myers
|
11/03/08
|
How did the modern Middle East come about? Who were the British and Americans who shaped this region from the 1882 British invasion of Egypt to today's Iraq War?
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Oksana Antonenko,
David C. Speedie
|
10/28/08
|
Russia and Georgia expert Oksana Antonenko discusses the August 2008 conflict in Georgia, the history of the region, and what the future may bring.
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Larry May,
Christian Barry,
Matt Peterson
|
10/28/08
|
Are habeas corpus petitions, as Barack Obama put it, "the foundation of Anglo-American law"? Or are they just nuisance lawsuits, as John McCain claims?
Ted Widmer shows that from its beginnings, the United States, for all its shortfalls, has been by far the world’s greatest advocate for freedom.
The presidential candidates assert that America must renew its global moral authority, but they dance, offering no solutions. Let's take a closer look.
Should the opinions of the world be important in American elections? This is a crucial question in applied ethics as we choose a president.
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Oksana Antonenko,
David C. Speedie
|
10/16/08
|
Georgia and Russia expert Oksana Antonenko and Carnegie Council Senior Fellow David Speedie discuss the history behind the headlines and what the future may bring to this troubled region.
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James Traub,
Joanne J. Myers
|
10/08/08
|
According to James Traub, although Bush bungled his famous Freedom Agenda—that American liberty is dependent on liberty in other lands—the concept still holds true.
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Joseph S. Nye,
Joanne J. Myers
|
10/06/08
|
In an era when mistrust of leaders are on the rise, our ideas about leadership are clearly due for redefinition. What qualities make a leader succeed in business or in politics? To what standards should we hold our leaders?
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Michael W. Doyle,
Harold H. Koh,
Joanne J. Myers
|
09/26/08
|
Is the Bush Doctrine of aggressive preventive action a justified and legal recourse against threats posed by terrorists and rogue states? Does the United States have the right to defend itself by striking first, or must it wait until an attack is in progress?
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Philip Bobbitt,
Joanne J. Myers
|
09/19/08
|
The world is in the midst of a great transition from nation states to "market states", says Philip Bobbitt, and consequently almost every widely-held idea we currently have about 21st century terrorism is wrong.
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Jessica Wolfendale,
Christian Barry,
Matt Peterson
|
09/15/08
|
We now know that the U.S. officially sanctions and regularly employs interrogation tactics that push legal and moral boundaries. In this episode, Jessica Wolfendale sits down with Christian Barry to determine where those boundaries lie.
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Bing West,
Joanne J. Myers
|
09/12/08
|
There has been a fundamental disconnect between the Bush Administration and the reality in Iraq, says Bing West, but nevertheless, the U.S. army has managed to turn things around.
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Walter Russell Mead
|
09/03/08
|
In this 2004 talk, Mead discusses America’s future role in the world, explaining why he believes things have gone so terribly wrong and suggesting what needs to be done to get U.S. foreign policy back on track.
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Francis Fukuyama,
Joanne J. Myers
|
08/14/08
|
According to Fukuyama in this 2004 talk, we know less than we think we do about building political institutions, designing constitutions, and bolstering civil society in failed or weak states.
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Jack F. Matlock,
David C. Speedie
|
08/12/08
|
Senior Fellow David Speedie interviews former U.S. ambassador Jack Matlock on U.S. relations with Russia: how they evolved, current policy problems, and what is needed to get back on the right track.
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Charles Kupchan,
Joanne J. Myers
|
08/11/08
|
In a 2003 talk, international relations authority Charles Kupchan argues that America ignores Europe at its own peril.
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Susan Eisenhower,
David C. Speedie
|
08/06/08
|
Senior Fellow David Speedie interviews Susan Eisenhower, granddaughter of President Eisenhower and USSR and Russian specialist, about Russia's current place in the world and its relations with other countries.
In this 2004 talk, historian James Chace (1931-2004) looks back at the 1912 presidential elections and their effect on U.S. foreign policy.
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David Rodin,
David Luban,
Joel H. Rosenthal
|
06/30/08
|
"Understanding the relationship between values and authority helps us to understand the prohibition of torture and why it can and should be upheld as absolute," says David Rodin.
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Marwan Muasher,
Joanne J. Myers
|
06/20/08
|
"To be a moderate in the Arab world today," says Jordanian diplomat Marwan Muasher, "is to be a very, very tiny minority." The reason is that all the Arab Center's energies have been focused on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
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Marshall I. Goldman,
Joanne J. Myers
|
06/09/08
|
"'What is good for Gazprom is good for the world!' This emphatic claim by a prominent Russian energy official lies at the core of Marshall Goldman's timely and sobering new study of Moscow's petroleum industry." - Norman M. Naimark, Stanford University
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Ahmed Rashid,
Joanne J. Myers
|
06/05/08
|
"Almost every single important extremist leader is living on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan," says Ahmed Rashid. Compared to this threat, Iraq is a sideshow.
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Sir Lawrence Freedman,
Joanne J. Myers
|
05/20/08
|
Looking back over the last 30 years, historian Sir Lawrence Freedman analyzes the complex politics of the Middle East. He shows how America's policy choices in previous crises have led to the current dilemmas.
Kimberly Dozier, a veteran Middle East journalist who was critically wounded in a Baghdad bomb blast, talks about the difficulties of reporting from Iraq. It's dangerous, it's expensive, and people don't want to hear it.
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Noah Feldman,
Joanne J. Myers
|
05/13/08
|
In the West the idea of governance by Sharia law is radioactive, says Noah Feldman, yet for many in the Muslim world it represents their aspirations for rule of law. Can Islamic States succeed?
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Ashraf Ghani,
Joanne J. Myers
|
04/30/08
|
Drawing on his background at the World Bank and as the first post-Taliban finance minister of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani (and co-author Clare Lockhart) develops a comprehensive framework for understanding the problem of state-building.
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Quil Lawrence,
Joanne J. Myers
|
04/24/08
|
Quil Lawrence tells the story of the Kurds, the only Iraqi ethnic group that want the Americans to stay. Divided among Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria and numbering 25 million, the Kurds are the largest ethnic group without their own nation.
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Cesare P. R. Romano,
Stephen M. Schwebel,
Daniel Terris,
Joanne J. Myers
|
03/25/08
|
Who are the judges that sit on the International Court of Justice; what are the issues and challenges they face; and what is their approach to international law?
|
Darius Rejali,
Joanne J. Myers
|
03/20/08
|
In his exhaustive study, Darius Rejali traces the history of torture through the ages. He concludes that most "clean" tortures that leave no marks were actually born in democracies, especially imperial Britain and France.
|
Robin Wright,
Joanne J. Myers
|
03/18/08
|
What are the ideas and movements driving change in Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Morocco, the Gulf States and the Palestinian territories, and what are the obstacles they confront?
|
George A. Lopez,
Thomas E. McNamara,
Joanne J. Myers
|
03/12/08
|
George Lopez gives an overview of effective, multilateral counter-terrorism measures, and as an illustration, Ambassador McNamara analyzes how Libya went from rogue state to member of the Security Council.
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Martin Evans,
Joanne J. Myers
|
02/19/08
|
Nearly 50 years after its bloody and protracted war of independence, why has Algeria become a breeding ground for instability, violence, and Islamic terrorism?
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Peter Ackerman,
Larry Diamond,
Arch Puddington,
Jennifer L. Windsor,
Joanne J. Myers
|
02/12/08
|
Freedom House representatives and Larry Diamond discuss the findings of the FH annual survey, "Freedom in the World 2008," which shines a light on the decline in freedom around the world.
|
Mokhtar Lamani,
Joanne J. Myers
|
02/04/08
|
Appointed by the Arab League as Special Envoy to Iraq, Mohktar Lamani spent a year in Baghdad's dangerous Red Zone trying to bring about peace between Shiites, Sunnis, Kurds, and Christians.
|
Jean-Marie Guehenno,
Joanne J. Myers
|
01/18/08
|
The demand for UN peacekeeping troops has risen at an unprecedented rate, says
Guehenno, Under-Secretary General for UN Peacekeeping Operations. This presents
enormous challenges, such as mobilizing troops and resources.
|
Ahmed Rashid,
Joanne J. Myers
|
12/14/07
|
Created as a Muslim state 60 years ago this August, Pakistan is in crisis, wrestling with Draconian laws, the conflict between secularism and Islam, and an increasing terrorist threat. Ahmed Rashid, author of "Taliban," analyses the situation.
Levitt discusses the behind-the-scenes work that Treasury is doing to cut off funds for terrorism, with particular focus on Iran.
It's time to finish the work that Reagan and Gorbachev began and get rid of all the nuclear weapons in the world, says Rhodes. And led by George Shultz, a group of Reagan-era hawks have a step-by-step proposal on how to do it.
|
Robert D. Kaplan,
Joanne J. Myers
|
09/19/07
|
As a nation's economic power increases it naturally steps up its military power, says Kaplan, since it has more interests to protect. So it is not surprising that we are seeing the military rise of
China and to a lesser extent, India. Inevitably, we are moving towards a multipolar world.
|
Noah Feldman,
Joanne J. Myers
|
09/13/07
|
Feldman, a constitutional expert and Arabic-speaker sent to Iraq by the Bush administration, argues that U.S. intervention in Iraq amounts to a moral promise, and unless asked to leave, we are morally bound to stay until a legitimately elected government can govern effectively.
|
Anthony F. Lang, Jr.
|
09/05/07
|
Anthony F. Lang, Jr. explores what rules can and cannot do in the war on
terrorism, pointing toward a possible world order that emphasizes
constitutionalism as a way to reorder international security.
|
Lt. Gen. Romeo A. Dallaire,
Joanne J. Myers
|
08/31/07
|
Dallaire recalls the agony of not being able to take action to halt the Rwandan genocide because he lacked the requisite authority as well as manpower and equipment. In essence, he lacked the support of the international community.
|
P. W. Singer,
Joanne J. Myers
|
08/27/07
|
The ever-growing number of child soldiers across the globe is one of the world's most under-reported stories. "There are an estimated 300,000 child soldiers right now serving as active combatants and another half-million who are serving in armed forces not at war," says Singer.
|
Thomas W. Lippman,
Joanne J. Myers
|
08/23/07
|
Veteran Middle East correspondent Thomas Lippman traces the history of the U.S.-Saudi relationship and discusses its current state post 9/11.
|
Larry Diamond,
Joanne J. Myers
|
08/06/07
|
Soon after a 2005 visit to Iraq, Larry Diamond, a specialist in democracy development, reflects sadly on how we have allowed the situation "to slip into a state of severe insecurity, stalemate, and economic disarray."
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Graham Allison,
Joanne J. Myers
|
07/30/07
|
Nuclear security expert Graham Allison gives a sobering assessment on why a nuclear attack on U.S. soil is inevitable unless we take immediate, well-concerted measures.
|
Kishore Mahbubani,
Joanne J. Myers
|
07/26/07
|
In this 2005 talk, Mahbubani observes that much of the world is disappointed with America's leadership, and yet would like it to take the lead in creating a stable world order. But can America revive the kind of leadership necessary to do this?
|
Zbigniew Brzezinski,
Joanne J. Myers
|
07/24/07
|
To prevail in the war on terrorism and other looming geo-strategic crises, says Brzezinski in this 2004 speech, America needs serious allies, not just "coalitions of the willing."
|
Peter Bergen,
Joanne J. Myers
|
07/16/07
|
Who is bin Laden? What drives him? Peter Bergen is one of the few Westerners who has interviewed bin Laden face to face. In this November 2001 talk, he gives valuable insights into what makes bin Laden tick.
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Andrew J. Bacevich,
Joanne J. Myers
|
07/10/07
|
In this 2005 talk, Bacevich argues that military force has increasingly become the preferred instrument of American foreign policy, a process that began not with 9/11, but with the end of the Cold War.
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Major General John D. Altenburg (U.S. Army ret.),
Joanne J. Myers
|
06/20/07
|
While military commissions may be a useful policy option in the current war against international terrorism, they cannot negate the most fundamental rights in which Americans believe. Is there a viable solution?
|
Gregory A. Raymond
|
05/30/07
|
Drawing parallels between today's situation in Iraq and the wars of ancient Greece and Persia, Raymond shows how a great power's hubris can lead to its nemesis.
|
Ali A. Allawi,
Joanne J. Myers
|
04/11/07
|
Ali A. Allawi, until recently a senior minister in the Iraqi government, discusses the Iraq crisis. How did it get to this point, and what will be the longterm repercussions on Iraq and the rest of the world?
|
General Sir Rupert Smith,
Jeffrey D. McCausland
|
01/24/07
|
"War no longer exists," says General Smith. "Confrontation, conflicts, and combat certainly do." He discusses the difference between these terms--too often used interchangeably--and the challenges we face in using force to our best advantage.
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General Sir Rupert Smith,
Joanne J. Myers
|
01/24/07
|
Why do we use military force to solve our political problems? And how is it that our armies can win battles but fail to solve these problems?
Coordinating global financial policy in the age of terror requires skill,
leadership, and cooperation. What steps did the U.S. government take to
freeze terrorist assets worldwide, plan the financial reconstruction of
Afghanistan, and oversee the development of a new currency in Iraq?
|
Joseph Cirincione,
Joanne J. Myers
|
12/05/06
|
The threat of nuclear proliferation is one of the major challenges we face
today. How can we in the United States respond most efficiently, without
compromising our values and vital interests?
|
Joseph Cirincione,
Jeffrey D. McCausland
|
12/05/06
|
Joseph Cirincione discusses the tricky mix of force, sanctions, threats, incentives, and diplomacy required to deal with the growing nuclear threats from Iran and North Korea.
|
Alberto J. Mora,
Dan Rather,
Joel H. Rosenthal
|
11/02/06
|
Former Navy General Counsel Alberto Mora fought to stop policies that authorized cruelty toward terror suspects. "Cruelty harms our nation's legal, foreign policy, and national security interests," says Mora. "I can't put it any plainer than that."
|
Alberto J. Mora,
Dan Rather
|
11/02/06
|
"The cruel treatment of any detainee, whether at home or abroad, in Europe is a per se criminal act," notes Alberto Mora, as he and Dan Rather discuss the consequences of institutionalizing a policy of cruelty.
|
Niall Ferguson,
Joanne J. Myers
|
09/26/06
|
The twentieth century was by far the bloodiest in all of human history. How can we explain the astonishing scale and intensity of its violence when, thanks to the advances of science and economics, most people were better off than ever before—eating better, growing taller, and living longer?
|
Gordon Corera,
Joanne J. Myers
|
09/07/06
|
"Khan has wreaked havoc on attempts to restrain the spread of nuclear
technology," says Corera. "He has lowered the barriers of entry for the nuclear
game. He has irreversibly changed the mechanics of supply and demand, and left a
really damaging legacy."
|
Ahmed S. Hashim,
Joanne J. Myers
|
06/06/06
|
In one of the most detailed analyses yet of the insurgency and America's efforts to squash it, Ahmed Hashim presents a grim view of the violence in Iraq from inside the American camp.
|
Vali Nasr,
Fatemeh Haghighatjoo,
John Tirman,
Joanne J. Myers
|
05/17/06
|
Iranian human rights advocate Fatemeh Haghighatjoo says that Iranian political parties and individuals critical of their government’s handling of the nuclear issue " have joined the debate [and] believe that the ultimate pressure that can change Iran’s nuclear policy will come from within, not from without."
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Vali Nasr,
Jere Van Dyk
|
05/17/06
|
"For the Iranians, the Taliban and Saddam were a problem, and the United States removed both of them," says Nasr. "So, actually, if there is an opportunity for Iran to become a regional power, it came because of the 2001 attack on Afghanistan and the 2003 fall of Saddam. So they benefited from what the United States did."
|
Joseph E. Stiglitz,
Jere Van Dyk
|
04/03/06
|
"I firmly believe that aid and trade have to work together," says Dr. Stiglitz. "If we provide assistance to help people to take advantage of the new opportunities, we can get real growth, and they won’t need the handouts as much as in the past."
|
Barnett Rubin,
Jere Van Dyk
|
03/14/06
|
"It's very difficult to be optimistic," says Dr. Rubin, one of the world's foremost experts on Afghanistan. "Still, five years ago we could never have imagined having the good fortune to confront the kind of problems that we are dealing with today."
|
Barnett Rubin,
Joanne J. Myers
|
03/14/06
|
Recent elections mark the last formal step towards democracy in Afghanistan. Yet the past year has seen a steady increase in political violence. What is being done to ensure that democracy and stability take hold?
|
Gary Hart,
Joanne J. Myers
|
03/03/06
|
Gary Hart outlines the fundamental changes that America must grapple with
when confronting elusive terrorist threats. The new security regime will require
a shield for the homeland as well as a cloak of non-military protections.
|
Michael Walzer,
Joanne J. Myers
|
02/28/06
|
For the first time since his classic "Just and Unjust Wars" was published almost three decades ago, Professor Michael Walzer has again collected his most provocative arguments about contemporary military conflicts and the ethical issues they raise.
|
P. W. Singer,
Joanne J. Myers
|
12/01/05
|
P. W. Singer examines the Pentagon's policy of contracting private security and logistics firms for tasks ranging from combat to catering in the Iraq War. What are the ethical dilemmas and conflicting incentives of outsourcing a traditional state function to essentially mercenary groups?
|
Dr. Kurt Campbell,
Joanne J. Myers
|
10/19/05
|
American attention is focused on the "war on terror. " But 20 years from now we may look back and realise that the rise of China and the new Asian dynamics that resulted were actually far more significant, says Kurt Campbell.
|
J. Douglas Beason,
Joanne J. Myers
|
10/06/05
|
"Directed-energy weapons"—lasers, high-powered microwaves, and particle beams—used to be the stuff of science fiction, says J. Douglas Beason. But now they're a reality, and will transform the nature of warfare.
|
Robert D. Kaplan,
Joanne J. Myers
|
09/27/05
|
Robert D. Kaplan provides an insider's account of our current involvement in world affairs, as well as painting a vivid picture of how defense policy is implemented at the grassroots level.
|
Admiral John Hutson,
Michael Posner,
Joanne J. Myers
|
05/03/05
|
The abuses at Abu Ghraib, Guantánamo, and elsewhere, have undermined our standing around the world, say Hutson and Posner.
Video
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Michael D. Gordin
|
02/03/10
|
How does a state make a nuclear bomb? How does it hide its weapons program? How do other states detect nuclear proliferation? Gordin addresses important questions about how we think about nuclear weapons past and present.
|
Julian E. Zelizer
|
02/02/10
|
According to historian Julian Zelizer, partisan fighting has always shaped American foreign policy, and the issue of national security has always been part of our domestic conflicts.
How has the atomic bomb transformed our nation down to its deepest constitutional roots, defined the presidency, and redefined the government as a national security state?
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Zachary Karabell
|
01/28/10
|
In a witty and astute talk, Karabell describes and explains what he calls 'superfusion'--how the economies and capital flows of China and the U.S. became inextricably entwined to the point where neither can survive without the other.
How can America build partnerships and coalitions to solve today's global problems? Will the nation continue to dominate world affairs, or are we fast approaching a "post-America" era?
Elections and campaigns are about options. Governing is about constraints. For Obama--and every president--what happens when foreign policy options meet foreign policy constraints?
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Ian Bremmer,
Georg Kell,
Art Kleiner,
Michele Wucker,
Thomas Stewart,
Devin T. Stewart
|
01/21/10
|
What's next? Using Eurasia Group's Top Risks as a starting point for identifying the major global challenges in 2010, the panelists identify what they see on the horizon and discuss the ethical issues involved.
|
Daniel Jonah Goldhagen
|
01/20/10
|
Rwanda, Bosnia, Cambodia, Darfur, Congo, and more--since World War II, genocide has caused more deaths than all wars put together. Goldhagen analyzes how and why genocides start and proposes steps the international community can take to stop them.
|
Michael E. O'Hanlon
|
01/13/10
|
Michael O'Hanlon explains how military modeling and planning are done, taking as examples Desert Storm, the Iraq War, and the decisions to be made now about Afghanistan.
|
Avishai Margalit
|
01/06/10
|
Compromise can be a political virtue, especially for the sake of peace. When is political compromise acceptable, and when is it fundamentally rotten? What if a rotten compromise is politically necessary? Are there moral limits to acceptable compromise, and what are those limits?
|
Charles W. Kegley, Jr.
|
12/14/09
|
Taiwan has transformed itself into a prosperous, vibrant democracy, and recently tensions between Taiwan and China have lessened. As the balance of power between the U.S. and China shifts, what is the future for Taiwan, and what role will it play in the region?
The real key to bringing economic and political change to the Muslim world is capitalism, says Vali Nasr. Entrepreneurial middle classes the world over have a stake in the system and are more interested in economic success than religious extremism.
|
John Isaacs,
David C. Speedie
|
12/01/09
|
John Isaacs, Executive Director of the Council for a Livable World, discusses nuclear weapons treaties and their relevance for U.S. foreign policy, domestic politics, and the global arms control agenda.
|
Jeffrey D. McCausland
|
12/01/09
|
In his Presidential Address to the Nation, President Obama officially announced his plan to send additional troops to Afghanistan to fight al-Qaeda. Council Senior Fellow and CBS News Military Analyst Colonel Jeff McCausland (Ret.) and David Mark, Senior Editor for Politico, weigh in.
George Packer discusses some of his essays from the period of September 11, 2001 to November 4, 2008; the luxury of being able to write long, in-depth articles for "The New Yorker" magazine; and the uncertain future of print journalism.
|
Michael J. Sandel
|
11/19/09
|
Political philosopher Michael Sandel turns the Council into a classroom. Using questions such as military service, he engages the audience in a lively debate on what individuals owe society.
|
Caroline Alexander
|
11/18/09
|
The "Iliad" is usually seen as a martial epic glorifying war. Yet in fact, says Alexander, Homer was at pains to depict the Trojan war--and war in general--as a pointless catastrophe that blighted all it touched.
David Rodin explores the logic which governs how rights may be lost, acquired and transferred--how they 'move'--and examines in particular the implications this has for the way we justify and prosecute war.
|
Jeffrey D. McCausland,
Joel H. Rosenthal,
David C. Speedie
|
11/11/09
|
"Afghanistan makes Iraq look easy," says U.S. Army Colonel (Ret.) Dr. McCausland. His comprehensive and evenhanded briefing analyzes the situation on the ground and the possible consequences of sending more troops.
In an increasingly interconnected world, soft power and engagement with all the world's players will become increasingly important--and that includes talking to Hamas and the Taliban, says Ancram.
|
Thomas J. Miller,
David C. Speedie
|
10/28/09
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President and CEO of the UN Association of the USA, Ambassador Miller discusses the U.S. role in the world and the power of grass roots commitment. Citizens can change policy by reminding leaders of their obligations on issues such as climate change.
After spending years in the Kingdom talking to people in all walks of life, Robert Lacey gives us a modern history of the Saudis in their own words, revealing a people attempting to reconcile life under religious law with the demands of a rapidly changing world.
What has been, is, and should be the role of the UN Security Council? Bosco chronicles its history--its successes and its failures--and concludes with some positive suggestions for the future.
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Bruce Bueno de Mesquita
|
10/15/09
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Iran, Iraq, Israel, and North Korea--all are rational players, acting in their own self-interest as they perceive it, and with game theory we can predict what they and other players will do next.
|
Shirley Williams,
David C. Speedie
|
10/09/09
|
In a wide-ranging conversation, Baroness Williams discusses the Obama administration's foreign policy; the situation in Afghanistan and in Iran; U.S. and British politics, including voter representation and corruption; and her work on nuclear disarmament.
From Ecuador to Nigeria, in most oil-producing countries oil has not brought any benefits to the poor and has often damaged people's health and ruined the environment, says Peter Maass. As for Iraq, although the war was not "all about oil," oil certainly played an important role.
The traditional theory of social justice is out of touch with practical realities, says Amartya Sen. Instead he proposes a theory of comparative justice that is applicable to the real world.
In the West the idea of governance by Sharia law is radioactive, says Noah Feldman, yet for many in the Muslim world it represents their aspirations for rule of law. Can Islamic States succeed?
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Jeffrey D. McCausland
|
09/04/09
|
An increase in forces may be necessary to secure the Afghan population, says McCausland. But it remains to be seen whether or not U.S. objectives can be achieved before support for the ongoing war runs out.
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H.E. Mr. Sergey Kislyak
|
08/26/09
|
Russian Ambassador H.E. Mr. Kislyak's comprehensive talk includes his thoughts on U.S.-Russia relations, nuclear proliferation, and Russia today. He also gives us the Russian perspective on the conflict with Georgia.
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David A. Hamburg,
David C. Speedie
|
08/12/09
|
David Speedie interviews David Hamburg on the prevention agenda of the Carnegie Corporation of New York and its legacy of preventing interstate conflict, genocide, and threats to global health.
|
Daniel P. Erikson
|
08/05/09
|
With the exit of Castro and the entrance of Obama, both the Cuban system and U.S.-Cuba relations could be on the brink of a new era. What will happen next?
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Alex J. Bellamy,
John Tessitore
|
07/22/09
|
"This is just the beginning of the road for R2P," says Bellamy. "There are a lot of skeptics...but it is a principle that has commanded the support of 192 governments, and that creates a tremendous political impetus."
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Joel H. Rosenthal,
William C. Vocke Jr.,
Madeleine Lynn
|
07/01/09
|
Carnegie Council president Joel Rosenthal discusses three pillars of ethics--pluralism, rights and responsibilities, and fairness--with Council staff members Madeleine Lynn and William Vocke.
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Jeffrey D. McCausland,
Thomas E. Ricks
|
06/24/09
|
Carnegie Council Senior Fellow Jeffrey McCausland talks to Thomas Ricks about his latest book, "The Gamble: General Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008."
|
Joshua S. Fouts,
Rita J. King
|
06/18/09
|
In an interview for "The Autograph," a program on Iran's PressTV hosted by Susan Modaress, Council Senior Fellows Joshua Fouts and Rita King discuss the potential of virtual worlds for cultural dialogue; better communication between the West and Islamic communities worldwide; and more.
What qualities make a leader succeed in business or in politics? Joseph Nye contends that modern leadership requires "smart power," which is a judicious situational balance of hard power and soft power.
In a dazzling display of learning and verbal virtuosity, Simon Schama takes us from Arlington Cemetery to the contrasts between the Jeffersonian and Hamiltonian worldview; to China and Afghanistan; and to many points in between.
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William J. Fallon,
Rory Stewart
|
05/19/09
|
Rebuilding Afghanistan will be a long process, says Stewart, and so our presence there needs to be much lighter. It's inconceivable that for the next 30-40 years we can sustain annual investments of $85 billion and up and maintain 90,000 troops.
|
Anne-Marie Slaughter
|
05/14/09
|
Was George W. Bush the true heir of Woodrow Wilson, the architect of liberal internationalism? Was the Iraq War a result of liberal ideas about America's right to promote democracy abroad?
|
Neil MacFarquhar
|
05/12/09
|
Despite all the bloodshed in its recent history, the Middle East is still a place of warmth, humanity, and generous eccentricity. Within the turmoil there are those still pioneering political and social change. Will they continue wrestling with their region's future—on their own terms?
What are the driving emotions behind our cultural differences? How do these varying emotions influence the political, social, and cultural conflicts that roil our world?
Have U.S. actions in the "war on terror" blurred the distinction between local and global struggles? How can the U.S. develop strategies that deal with global threats, avoid local conflicts where possible, and win them where necessary?
|
Chong-Pin Lin,
Devin T. Stewart
|
05/06/09
|
Dr. Lin discusses Taiwan's political situation; relations with China; climate change; the future of democracy in East Asia; what Obama's presidency may mean for the region; and the surprising "detente" between China and Japan.
What caused the decline of Islamic civilization and how can it be revived? Ali A. Allawi, former government official in post-war Iraq, lays out key principles that could make it flourish in this age of globalization.
|
Gary Sick,
David C. Speedie
|
04/22/09
|
The Bush administration has been toying with the idea of talking to Iran for the last two years. With the arrival of Obama, now the question is not "should we," but how do we go about doing it?
|
Emile A. Nakhleh
|
03/05/09
|
Nakhleh, the CIA's former point person on Islam, argues that the majority of Muslims strongly oppose terrorism and that an engagement with the Muslim world benefits the national interest of the United States.
Ambassador Ann Dismorr examines Turkey's troubled relations with the EU, its role in the Middle East, its complex relationship with the U.S., and the reforms initiated by the Justice and Development Party.
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Ian Bremmer,
Joel H. Rosenthal
|
02/24/09
|
Are the US and China truly co-dependent, as many claim? What is the future of the US-China relationship, both economically and politically? What are the most problematic issues?
|
Ian Bremmer,
Joel H. Rosenthal
|
02/24/09
|
Are we on track with diplomatic engagement with Iran? Are the Israelis going to attack Iran to slow down the Iranian nuclear program? How will our relations with Russia and Cuba evolve under Obama?
|
H.E. Mr. Heraldo Muñoz
|
02/19/09
|
In his first-hand account of the brutal Pinochet years and their aftermath, H.E. Mr. Heraldo Muñoz asks, "The agonizing question is: Was Pinochet necessary? Could Chile have reached its present prosperity without him?"
What's next for Iraq? Thomas Ricks predicts that the U.S. military presence there will continue for at least another five to ten years, and that Iraq will change Obama more than Obama will change Iraq.
What can the mistakes and missed opportunities of the past teach the new Obama administration about how to go forward with the Arab-Israeli peace process?
Once the stuff of science fiction, robotics are already changing the way wars are being fought, says P.W. Singer. How will they affect the politics, economics, laws, and ethics of warfare?
What's in store during this new century? Which nations will gain and lose power? How will new technologies alter the way we live? Friedman's forecasts may surprise you.
|
Ian Bremmer,
Joel H. Rosenthal
|
01/15/09
|
Ian Bremmer and Joel Rosenthal discuss the possible risks they see on the horizon for 2009, including the financial crisis, "black swans," security, and Russia, Iran, and Turkey.
|
Joel H. Rosenthal,
Ian Bremmer
|
01/15/09
|
Is the financial crisis going to force us to take our eye off the big global issues like poverty and the environment?
|
Ian Bremmer,
Joel H. Rosenthal
|
01/15/09
|
Are the biggest risks to our public security overseas, in places like Iraq and Afghanistan? What about domestic risks? How would you evaluate the various security risks for 2009?
|
Ian Bremmer,
Joel H. Rosenthal
|
01/15/09
|
What does the U.S. need to know about Russia, Iran and Turkey for 2009? Are U.S. issues the same as those of other countries?
|
Ian Bremmer,
Joel H. Rosenthal
|
01/15/09
|
What are the potential "black Swans"--unexpected threats--for 2009?
|
Ian Bremmer,
Joel H. Rosenthal
|
01/15/09
|
If we look around and see all the different threats and we had some money to spend on insurance, where should we be investing against risk?
|
Gordon M. Goldstein
|
01/13/09
|
Based on his recently published book "Lessons in Disaster: McGeorge Bundy and the Path to War in Vietnam", Gordon Goldstein explains how important it is for us to understand why and how American presidents take our country to war.
|
Robert Hunter,
David C. Speedie
|
12/10/08
|
The post-Cold War NATO has expanded, both in mission and membership. In each instance, problems have arisen with Russia. What are the lessons to be learned from these stresses, and what are NATO's prospects?
|
Elbridge A. Colby,
Arthur S. Hulnick,
William R. Keylor,
Joel H. Rosenthal,
Joseph Wippl
|
12/09/08
|
This symposium hosted by Boston University and the Carnegie Council discusses "Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA," Tim Weiner’s exposé on the CIA's mismanagement and failures.
|
Elbridge A. Colby,
Arthur S. Hulnick,
William R. Keylor,
Joel H. Rosenthal,
Joseph Wippl
|
12/09/08
|
This symposium hosted by Boston University and the Carnegie Council discusses "Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA," Tim Weiner’s exposé on the CIA's mismanagement and failures.
The neocons and al-Qaeda have both failed to reach their objectives, says Kepel. We are now facing one big power in the Middle East: Iran.
|
Ted Sorensen,
David C. Speedie
|
10/30/08
|
In a wide-ranging conversation, Ted Sorensen discusses John F. Kennedy, Cuba, and Vietnam; the 2008 Russia/Georgia conflict; McCain's idea of a League of Nations; and the promise of Obama.
|
Karl E. Meyer,
Shareen Blair Brysac
|
10/29/08
|
Who were the British and Americans who shaped the region we call the Middle East, from the 1882 British invasion of Egypt to today's Iraq War? Karl E. Meyer and Shareen Blair Brysac tell their stories.
|
Laurent Cohen-Tanugi
|
10/24/08
|
French intellectual Laurent Cohen-Tanugi argues that economic globalization exists in a complex dialectic with the traditional geopolitics that it has, ironically, helped to revive.
Ted Widmer shows that from its beginnings, the United States, for all its shortfalls, has been by far the world’s greatest advocate for freedom.
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Oksana Antonenko,
David C. Speedie
|
10/14/08
|
Russia and Georgia expert Oksana Antonenko discusses the August 2008 conflict in Georgia, the history of the region, and what the future may bring.
|
Oksana Antonenko,
David C. Speedie
|
10/14/08
|
Georgia and Russia expert Oksana Antonenko and Carnegie Council Senior Fellow David Speedie discuss the history behind the headlines and what the future may bring to this troubled region.
According to James Traub, although Bush bungled his famous Freedom Agenda—that American liberty is dependent on liberty in other lands—the concept still holds true.
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Michael W. Doyle,
Harold H. Koh
|
09/23/08
|
Is the Bush Doctrine of aggressive preventive action a justified and legal recourse against threats posed by terrorists and rogue states? Does the United States have the right to defend itself by striking first, or must it wait until an attack is in progress?
The world is in the midst of a great transition from nation states to "market states", says Philip Bobbitt, and consequently almost every widely-held idea we currently have about 21st century terrorism is wrong.
There has been a fundamental disconnect between the Bush Administration and the reality in Iraq, says Bing West, but nevertheless, the U.S. army has managed to turn things around.
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Susan Eisenhower,
David C. Speedie
|
07/28/08
|
Senior Fellow David Speedie interviews Susan Eisenhower, granddaughter of President Eisenhower and Russian specialist, about Russia's current place in the world and its relations with other countries.
|
David Rodin,
David Luban
|
06/26/08
|
Rodin's premise is that if we have a commitment against torture, then it leads to an absolute prohibition on torture. Luban worries that our commitment is not strong enough.
Prominent Jordanian diplomat Muasher explains why moderates in the Arab world have made so little headway, and why current Western tactics for dealing with Islamic groups are doomed to fail.
|
Marshall I. Goldman
|
06/04/08
|
"'What is good for Gazprom is good for the world!' This emphatic claim by a prominent Russian energy official lies at the core of Marshall Goldman's timely and sobering new study of Moscow's petroleum industry." - Norman M. Naimark, Stanford
"Almost every single important extremist leader is living on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan," says Ahmed Rashid. Compared to this threat, Iraq is a sideshow.
|
Sir Lawrence Freedman
|
05/19/08
|
Looking back over the last 30 years, historian Sir Lawrence Freedman analyzes the complex politics of the Middle East and shows how America's policy choices in previous crises have led to the current dilemmas.
|
Kimberly Dozier,
Jeffrey D. McCausland
|
05/12/08
|
Kimberly Dozier, a veteran Middle East journalist who was critically wounded in a Baghdad bomb blast, talks about the difficulties of reporting from Iraq. It's dangerous, it's expensive, and people don't want to hear it.
Ashraf Ghani played an instrumental role in the design and implementation of the post-Taliban settlement in Afghanistan. He argues that only an integrated approach can fix failing states worldwide.
Quil Lawrence tells the story of the Kurds, the only Iraqi ethnic group that want the Americans to stay. Divided among Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria and numbering 25 million, the Kurds are the largest ethnic group without their own nation.
|
Cesare P. R. Romano,
Stephen M. Schwebel,
Daniel Terris
|
03/19/08
|
Who are the judges that sit on the International Court of Justice; what are the issues and challenges they face; and what is their approach to international law?
What are the ideas and movements driving change in Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Morocco, the Gulf States and the Palestinian territories, and what are the obstacles they confront?
|
Peter Ackerman,
Larry Diamond,
Arch Puddington,
Jennifer L. Windsor
|
02/06/08
|
Freedom House representatives and Larry Diamond discuss the findings of the FH annual survey, "Freedom in the World 2008," which shines a light on the decline in freedom around the world.
Economist and North Korea expert Marcus Noland discusses scenarios for North Korea’s nuclear disarmament, maintaining that the DPRK is becoming increasingly vulnerable to outside pressure.
Long before Bhutto's assassination, Pakistan already was in crisis, wrestling with Draconian laws, the conflict between secularism and Islam, and an increasing terrorist threat. Ahmed Rashid, author of "Taliban," analyses the situation.
Matthew Levitt discusses the behind-the-scenes work that the Treasury is doing to cut off funds for terrorism, with particular focus on Iran.
|
General Sir Rupert Smith,
Jeffrey D. McCausland
|
01/24/07
|
"War no longer exists," says General Smith. "Confrontation, conflicts, and
combat certainly do." He discusses the difference between these terms--too often
used interchangeably--and the challenges we face in using force to our best
advantage.
|
General Sir Rupert Smith
|
01/24/07
|
"The new paradigm is war amongst the people," says General Smith, "where the strategic objective is to win hearts and minds, and the battle is for the people's will, rather than the destruction of an opponent's forces."
|
Joseph Cirincione
|
12/05/06
|
We are at a nuclear tipping point, says Joseph Cirincione, and the policy decisions the United States makes over the next 3-5 years will decide whether or not we launch another great wave of nuclear proliferation.
|
Joseph Cirincione,
Jeffrey D. McCausland
|
12/05/06
|
Joseph Cirincione discusses the tricky mix of force, sanctions, incentives, and diplomacy required to deal with the growing nuclear threats from Iran and North Korea.
|
Alberto J. Mora,
Dan Rather
|
11/02/06
|
"The cruel treatment of any detainee, whether at home or abroad, in Europe is a per se criminal act," notes Alberto Mora, as he and Dan Rather discuss the consequences of institutionalizing a policy of cruelty.
|
Alberto J. Mora,
Dan Rather,
Joel H. Rosenthal
|
11/02/06
|
Former Navy General Counsel Alberto Mora fought to stop policies that authorized cruelty toward terror suspects. "Cruelty harms our nation's legal, foreign policy, and national security interests," says Mora. "I can't put it any plainer than that."
|
Vali Nasr,
Fatemeh Haghighatjoo,
John Tirman
|
05/17/06
|
Iranian human rights advocate Fatemeh Haghighatjoo says that Iranian political parties and individuals critical of their government’s handling of the nuclear issue "have joined the debate [and] believe that the ultimate pressure that can change Iran’s nuclear policy will come from within, not from without."
|
Vali Nasr,
Jere Van Dyk
|
05/17/06
|
"For the Iranians, the Taliban and Saddam were a problem, and the United States removed both of them," says Nasr. "So, actually, if there is an opportunity for Iran to become a regional power, it came because of the 2001 attack on Afghanistan and the 2003 fall of Saddam. So they benefited from what the United States did."
Nobel-Prize-winning author and activist Wole Soyinka discusses the current crisis in Nigeria as President Obasanjo tries to subvert the constitution to give himself a third term, and also calls for immediate UN intervention in Darfur.
Briefly Noted
This section contains a round-up of recent notable books in the field of international affairs.
What is the contribution of religious discourse to a productive and reconciliatory response to mass atrocities? In this wide-ranging book, scholars address the philosophical, ethical, sociological, and religious approaches to post-violence politics and societies.
This volume provides a fresh and engaging set of discussions, approaches, and case studies on how rules established to promote peaceful international order can instead result in conflict.
Traditional international relations scholarship has concentrated on war, but has not provided deep theoretical consideration of the concept of peace.While the focus of each of these three books differs, they share a common goal: to better place "peace" into the study of international affairs.
The core proposition of this article is that reconciliation, both as a process and an end state, is a concept of justice. Its animating virtue is mercy and its goal is peace. These concepts are expressed most deeply in religious traditions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
This symposium is comprised of three key articles from a 2008 conference to honor Michael Walzer. Each article discusses one of the most fundamental aspects of Walzer's philosophy: the moral significance of statehood.
|
Charles R. Beitz
|
12/15/09
|
"The Moral Standing of States" is the title of an essay Michael Walzer wrote in response to four critics of the theory of nonintervention defended in "Just and Unjust Wars." It states a theme to which he has returned in subsequent work. Beitz offer four sets of comments.
Faced with the political, economic, and social challenges of a globalized planet, are we bereft of any coherent political guideposts or do we still possess realistic and robust idea-systems? Steger, a prolific scholar of globalization, adopts a cautiously optimistic version of the second position.
Drawing on his own UN experience and studying it from outside, Weiss clears away a lot of the debris of superficial critiques to uncover the deeper explanations for why the more world problems become interconnected and global in scope the less the UN seems able to cope with them.
This edited collection is an excellent addition to the literature on the torture policy of the Bush administration during its war on terror. The contributors explore the history and practice of torture beyond the U.S. and what these non-American examples say about the U.S role in this area.
Most of the large-scale violence in the world will continue to occur within societies rather than between or among states. Yet the international community still has not developed the ethical-legal consensus or the institutions required to manage this terrible problem.
|
John J. Davenport
|
08/28/09
|
Davenport argues for a federation of democracies to replace the United Nations Security Council. This new level of government, he says, is necessary to achieve the international cooperation needed to manage a global economy and address global problems.
|
Alexandra Gheciu,
Jennifer Welsh
|
06/24/09
|
This collection of articles focuses on the ethical assumptions that underpin views of postwar reconstruction, in particular on the question of whether (and under what circumstances) outsiders can legitimately take over the reins of government.
|
Amy Zalman,
Jonathan Clarke
|
06/24/09
|
This essay focuses on how the global war on terror was constructed and how it has set down deep institutional roots both in government and popular culture. The war on terror represents an "extraordinarily powerful narrative," which must be rewritten in order to change policy dynamics.
"This is one of the finest books on the normative dimension of global governance published in the past decade," writes reviewer Samuel Makinda. "[It] should serve as a resource for a wide range of readers."
The authors seek a legal foundation for humanitarian intervention without Security Council authorization squarely within the UN Charter's Article 51, which grants UN members an "inherent right of individual or collective self-defense" in response to armed attack.
This article discusses various approaches to "shared responsibility" in recent international reconstruction efforts in war-torn societies and speculates about how best to ensure a timely transition toward full domestic ownership of governance.
The inclusion of jus post bellum in just war theory may be justified. But, according to Evans, it becomes problematic when confronted with tenets of "just occupation," namely that sovereignty or self-determination should be restored to the occupied people as soon as is reasonably possible.
|
Alexandra Gheciu,
Jennifer Welsh
|
06/24/09
|
In view of the recent growth of peacebuilding and reconstruction missions, and the serious challenges and crises that have plagued them, the authors construct a map for understanding and evaluating the different ethical imperatives advanced by those who attempt to rebuild war-torn societies.
This section contains a round-up of recent notable books in the field of international affairs.
In order to participate effectively in international relations, this essay argues that international actors of all kinds, including states, international organizations, corporations, and individuals, have to acquire the skills necessary to protect freedom and diversity in the modern world.
A morally significant distinction between full torture and torture lite, says Sussman, would attend to the role that fear and hope play in the experience. Full torture would thus be treatment that aims to make its victim feel absolutely vulnerable and utterly powerless.
|
Jessica Wolfendale
|
03/26/09
|
Although the term "torture lite" is frequently used to distinguish between physically mutilating torture and certain interrogation methods that are supposedly less severe, the distinction is not recognized in international law.
|
Kishore Mahbubani
|
03/26/09
|
A "League of Democracies," according to Mahbubani, will divide the world at the very time that a new global consensus needs to be created to address pressing global challenges.
|
James M. Lindsay
|
03/26/09
|
Over a whole range of challenges, the world is essentially undergoverned. New institutions are needed that recognize how much the world has changed and that mobilize those states most capable of meeting the dangers we confront.
The idea that democratic states should establish exclusive venues for international cooperation provides an opportunity for reflection on the global role of the U.S. and other liberal democracies, and on the future of multilateralism and the UN system.
This edited collection takes stock of the state of the Western alliance, seeking both to improve our theoretical understanding of conflict and crisis and to examine the relevance of theories of politics and international relations.
A caucus of democracies and liberal states within the UN could aim to crosscut the UN's deeply entrenched hegemonic voting patterns and support and celebrate the purposes and claims of democracy.
|
Allen Buchanan,
Robert O. Keohane
|
|
Allen Buchanan and Robert O. Keohane reply to Steven Lee's critique of their previous essay on the preventive use of military force.
Steven Lee critiques an essay by Allen Buchanan and Robert Keohane on the preventive use of military force.
The first question that we have to ask about promoting democracy is the question of agency: Who are the promoters? Most recent arguments have focused on the state, but states are not the only or the most important agents of regime change.
Booth aims to illuminate a "New 20 Years' Crisis" that global society is now entering. His central thesis is that in order to respond, we need a critical theory of world security.
Legal debates about humanitarian intervention tend to assume that its legitimacy is irrelevant to its legality, while political theorists often assume the inverse. This paper defends an alternative account, which sees the legality and legitimacy of humanitarian intervention as intertwined.
Given the moral stigma and its supposed dubious effectiveness, why does the targeting of civilians occur? Both authors contribute to the still nascent mapping of violence against civilians during armed conflicts of the past and of the present, outlining the reasons that justify or enable such violence.
Peskin's analysis focuses on "virtual trials": the battles by ad hoc criminal tribunals to secure state cooperation in the enforcement of international law. Concentrating on this under-explored theme, this book is a major contribution to the literature on transitional justice.
Hurd argues that perceptions of legitimacy undergird how states act, both vis-à-vis one another and in relation to international institutions; in other words, legitimacy creates international order.
|
Elizabeth A. Cole
|
12/30/08
|
These works provide a rich introduction to some of the processes needed in transitions from injustices to more humane relationships. They address different levels of moral repair—between individuals, between individuals and groups, and between political collectives.
This timely book takes a critical look at the history of scholarship on Morgenthau's formulation of political realism, with an eye toward synthesizing his theories with contemporary topics and theoretical debates.
An important insight, with consequences for foreign policy and the practice of world politics, is that in the "global village" changing technology invites and even compels the notion of political organization and "union" at the global level.
Aydin challenges popular assumptions that non-Western ideological movements are always hostile to Western values, on the one hand, and that such movements emerge as a function of either anticolonial struggles or conservative and religious reactions to global modernity, on the other.
|
Paul D. Williams
|
10/08/08
|
Instead of searching for "African solutions" which have proved problematic so far, policymakers should focus on developing effective solutions for the complex challenges raised by the issue of armed conflict in Africa.
Segev argues for a theory of distributive justice and considers its implications. This theory includes a principle of responsibility that was endorsed by others within an account of defensive force (self-defense and defense of others). Kaufman criticizes this account, which he refers to as the "distributive justice theory of self-defense" (DJ theory). In this paper, Segev responds to this criticism.
This book is important as an analysis of some of the least-discussed dilemmas related to warfare. But its value extends beyond its novel subject matter to include its innovative methodology.
|
Fionnuala Ní Aoláin
|
07/07/08
|
This essay examines "Justice as Prevention: Vetting Public Employees in Transitional Societies," Alexander Mayer-Rieckh and Pablo de Greiff eds., and "What Happened to the Women? Gender and Reparations for Human Rights Violations," Ruth Rubio-Marin, ed.
Private military companies are taking over a growing number of roles traditionally performed by the regular military. This article uses the framework of just war theory to consider the central normative issues raised by this privatization of military force.
The idea of world government is returning to the mainstream of scholarly thinking about international relations. Will the world-government movement become a potent political force, or will it fade away as it did in the late 1940s?
|
Petr B. Romashkin,
Pavel S. Zolotarev
|
06/19/08
|
According to two Russian military experts, the current state of Russian-U.S. relations in the area of missile defense cannot be evaluated without taking a retrospective look at the problem.
|
Lt. Gen. Henry A. Obering III
|
05/30/08
|
"Coyle and Samson systematically misrepresent or ignore key facts to bolster their arguments against deploying defenses in Europe to protect our allies and forces in that region against an emerging intermediate and long-range Iranian ballistic missile threat," says Lt. Gen. Obering.
|
Philip Coyle,
Victoria Samson
|
04/23/08
|
The U.S. proposal to establish missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic has exacerbated relations with Russia to a degree not seen since the Cold War, despite the fact that the system has no demonstrated capability to defend the U.S., let alone Europe.
This section contains a round-up of recent notable books in the field of international affairs.
The goal of this feature is to demonstrate that distributive justice is a flawed theory of self-defense and must be rejected, thus undercutting the argument that torture can be justified as self-defense.
|
Richard B. Miller
|
04/23/08
|
This paper critically assesses three claims on behalf of the Iraq war made by the Bush administration and by various defenders of the war. Then it steps back from the specifics of these three rationales to ask whether they are in fact of the same sort.
Kosovo captured the attention of policy makers, ethicists, journalists, peace and human rights activists, military analysts, and international relations scholars. Something new happened there. This review covers books by Noam Chomsky, Howard Clark, Michael Ignatieff, and others.
These three books show how the enduring principles of just war theory can be applied insightfully and fruitfully to even the latest kinds of conflict, weaponry, and tactics; and they show how just war theory
raises significant issues of the background political context, out of which all wars develop.
Sadly, discussions of the pricklier issues of law, terrorism, and security rarely follow a cool, pragmatic approach. Richard Posner provides just such a perspective on the relationship of the Constitution to the terrorist threat. Undaunted by controversy, he forthrightly addresses detention, harsh interrogation methods, limits of free speech, ethnic profiling, and the boundaries of privacy rights, among other hot-button topics.
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Barbara Crossette
|
09/26/07
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With a new secretary-general now in charge and the memories of the bitter final years of his predecessor still vivid, a timely procession of books on the UN has been appearing to offer some fresh appraisals and insights into how things got this way and what, if anything, can be done.
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Yvonne Terlingen
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06/12/07
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Kofi Annan did more than any UN secretary-general before him to stress the close
link between human rights and peace and security. With the creation of the Human
Rights Council, said Annan, "a new era in the human rights work of the United
Nations has been proclaimed."
Jennifer Pitts asserts that imperialism was not essential to the liberal project, as is so often alleged by its critics, most recently and systematically by Uday Singh Mehta in his important study "Liberalism and Empire".
This volume of collected essays by Michael Walzer seeks to bring a more concentrated focus on specifically Jewish outlooks regarding three key themes: "Political Order and Civil Society"; "Territory, Sovereignty, and International Society"; and "War and Peace."
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Marcus A. Roberts
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06/01/07
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Peter Beinart's new book offers the Democratic Party a "new liberalism," a vision he bases on the party's history of moral leadership and success in combating totalitarianism in the post–World War II era.
The International Criminal Court's intervention into the ongoing civil war in northern Uganda evoked a chorus of confident predictions as to its capacity to bring peace and justice to the war-torn region. However, this optimism is unwarranted.
These two books are the inaugural releases in Norton's Issues of Our Time series, but they are linked by much more than this fact. Each is a measured attack on the cultural separatism prevalent in many academic and policy circles.
This paper is a response to Jeff McMahan's "Just Cause for War" (EIA, 19.3, 2005). It defends a more permissive, and more traditional view of just war liability against McMahan's claims.
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Anthony F. Lang, Jr.
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06/01/07
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Should states be held responsible and punished for violations of international law? This article argues that they can and should be.
A riddle in the ethics of war concerns whether lethal defensive force may be justifiably used against aggressing soldiers who are morally innocent.
The Iraq tribunal is an odd creature. It is an Iraqi-led mechanism designed and supported by foreigners. It is based on international law but relies heavily on Iraqi legal tradition and procedures. And it is a postconflict initiative in the midst of escalating war.
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Kingsley Chiedu Moghalu
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09/07/06
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Despite legitimate concerns, Saddam Hussein has received an appropriate and fair trial, both in light of the specific details of the judicial proceedings and in light of the political nature of war crimes justice in an anarchic system of states.
The present concerns about threats to international security from nonstate actors may lead to some significant strengthening of global governance.
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Nancy E. Soderberg
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07/28/06
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Most Americans would say the most significant threat the world faces today is terrorism. For citizens of developing countries who live in conflict and poverty, the concerns are more about peace, and about addressing poverty, HIV/AIDS, and the burden of sovereign debt.
When considering the threats to collective security in the twenty-first century outlined by the report of the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, two issues stand out.
Today, there is no greater threat posed by nonstate actors than that of bioterrorism.
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Robert O. Keohane
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07/28/06
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The central institutions of the United Nations have substantially lost moral authority since the Millennium Summit of 2000.
John Keane’s book is an important intervention in the debate on the persistent proliferation of violence and its role in political life, especially in democracies.
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Sara L. Zeigler,
Gregory G. Gunderson
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07/28/06
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Although international security studies tend to focus on the nature of armed conflict and how nations fare in the face of such conflicts, our attention has been drawn to the challenge of managing the peace.
This article examines how consensus was reached on the responsibility to protect, given continuing hostility to humanitarian intervention expressed by many (if not most) of the world’s states and whether the consensus will
contribute to avoiding future Kosovos and Rwandas.
This article explores issues concerning accountability and global governance by
looking at three cases involving Iraq: the economic sanctions imposed by the
Security Council; the operation of the Oil for Food Program; and the US-led
occupation authority and its management of Iraqi funds.
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Jens Meierhenrich
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04/24/06
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One of the most important challenges for the occupation of Iraq has been making decisions about the status of people who were either responsible for or who passively benefited from the regime’s past injustices.
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Kenneth A. Rodman
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04/24/06
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The critics of the ICC in the Bush administration and its supporters within the human rights community have one thing in common: they assume that the ICC can evolve into an institution independent of states, either to constrain American power or to prosecute to end impunity for perpetrators.
This article outlines the two central theories in the ethics of secession and examines whether or under what conditions these normative theories would be satisfied in a post-invasion Iraq.
In Bosnia-Herzegovina, Eastern Slavonia, Kosovo, and East Timor, the UN or international ad hoc bodies did not just keep the peace. They embarked on the formidable task of rebuilding political authority while acting as de facto governments until that goal was achieved.
The categories of "civilian" or "soldier,” “combatant" or “noncombatant,” are thought to be stable. Yet, the case of the naked soldier taking a bath challenges such stability in a way that illustrates the serious conceptual and normative problems with identifying such social groups.
A just cause for war is a type of wrong that may make those responsible for it morally liable to military attack as a means of preventing or rectifying it. This claim has implications that conflict with assumptions of the current theory of just war.
The question of the legitimacy of preventive war has been at the center of the
debate about the proper response to terrorism and the legitimacy of the Iraq
War.
Tesón's “humanitarian rationales” for the war in Iraq strain the traditional understanding of humanitarian intervention: The first, that the war was fought to overthrow a tyrant. The second, that it was a defense strategy establishing democratic regimes peacefully, but by force if necessary.
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Fernando R. Tesón
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07/13/05
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"If being a humanitarian imperialist means advocating that the hegemon use its might to advance freedom, human rights, and democracy, then I am a humanitarian imperialist."
It is about time someone reminded us that civil wars are not an entirely internal affair, that the international environment in which they occur matters too. Protracted conflicts, Hironaka argues, result from three factors: state weakness, the Cold War, and the international climate.
Burke thanks Professor Elshtain for her response "and the editors for inviting me to make some clarifications and engage in what is emerging as a profound normative dispute about the underlying hopes and worldview of 'just war' thinkers and various post-Kantian tendencies."
What does the world’s engagement with the unfolding crisis in Darfur tell us about the impact of the Iraq war on the norm of humanitarian intervention? Is a global consensus about a “responsibility to protect” more or less likely? There are at least three potential answers to these questions.
"In this article, I explore the possibilities for developing a realist-informed normative framework for humanitarian intervention in the context of the post–September 11 international concern with transnational threats."
Burke sees the challenges facing international society after the invasion of Iraq: During global demonstrations against the war, a young woman stands against a row of police holding a placard upon which she has written a question: “Perpetual war for perpetual peace?”
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Jean Bethke Elshtain
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07/13/05
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There is much that is interesting in Anthony Burke’s essay. Unfortunately, Burke is unable to resist hyperbolic language and too readily substitutes rhetorical onslaught for compelling argument.
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Fernando R. Tesón
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07/13/05
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President George W. Bush surprised many observers in his second inaugural address when he promised to oppose tyranny and oppression, and this in a world not always willing or ready to join in that fight. Humanitarian intervention is again on the forefront of world politics.
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Gilles Kepel,
Carolyn M. Warner
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03/30/05
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Gilles Kepel writes a complex, nuanced, and illuminating analysis and description of the ideological currents and historical events that have created the present-day "war for Muslim minds," or, in the original French title, the "war at the heart of Islam."
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Frances V. Harbour
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03/30/05
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Historically, the moral reasoning behind the reactions against chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons has not always been clearly articulated. This collection traces ethical arguments about WMD and war.
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Simon Chesterman
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12/16/04
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The law of military occupation, a doctrine developed at a time when war itself was not illegal, became something of an embarrassment after the UN Charter established a broad prohibition on the use of force.
In South Africa, journalists by and large emerged from many years of fighting against state, corporate, and political pressures under apartheid in the 1990s with a fierce commitment to independence.
Julian Bourg reviews Multitude: War and Democracy in the Age of Empire, by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri; Negri on Negri, by Antonio Negri and Anne Dufourmantelle; Time for Revolution, by Antonio Negri; Debating Empire, edited by Gopal Balakrishnan; and Empire’s New Clothes: Reading Hardt and Negri, edited by Paul Passavant.
These analyses consider not only the practical, technical response to crises but also the moral, ethical, and political dilemmas caused by these conflicts and the ways in which they challenge internationally held notions of peace and security.
Such has been his administration's impact on U.S. domestic and international politics that the assembly line of criticism often resembles polemical pamphleteering rather than solid academic argument. Singer examines the Bush administration on its own terms.
Can a disastrous policy of illegally invading and occupying a distant country without a legitimate casus belli nevertheless have some good as its unintended consequence? Yes, but one should not generally count on it.
The idea of humanitarian assistance—delivering medicine, food, and other supplies to relieve suffering and save lives—appears to be a simple one. But there is a debate among humanitarian organizations, official donors, governments, and the UN about the operational approach.
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Anthony F. Lang, Jr.
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09/28/04
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Bain's short but insightful monograph contrasts the idea of trusteeship with liberty, both of individuals and of communities. This sets his work apart, for most other analyses of trusteeship consider it in terms of civilization and barbarism.
In their introduction, the editors ask: Is the frequent practice of humanitarian intervention in the 1990s the beginning of a long-term trend or a historical aberration? Perhaps these essays were written too close to 9/11 to have the perspective needed to answer this question.
The overriding challenge faced by policy-makers in the post–Cold War era is not, as many would have us believe, the achievement of integration of humanitarian action into the prevailing politico-military context. It is rather the protection of its independence.
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Anita Menghetti,
Jeff Drumtra
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09/24/04
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The Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) was created in 1964 to provide emergency nonfood humanitarian assistance in response to international crises and disasters, in order to save lives and alleviate human suffering and to reduce the economic impact of those disasters.
The integration of humanitarian action into intervention operations, and particularly the inclusion of a military component, carries risks—but none so great as to be worth sacrificing integration on the altar of humanitarian purity.
In 1994, in the refugee camps of Goma, Zaire, there was widespread manipulation of aid resources by armed groups implicated in the genocide in Rwanda. This experience highlighted a wider concern that, rather than doing good, emergency aid can fuel violence.
In the UN humanitarian response in Afghanistan post–September 11 we see a dangerous level of contraction that compromises the application of its basic principles for the sake of pursuing nationbuilding activities in the service of political agendas.
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Nicolas de Torrenté
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09/24/04
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In recent years there have been concerted efforts to ensure that the different components of the international response to crisis-affected countries are integrated in pursuit of a stated goal of comprehensive, durable, and just resolution of conflict.
Tzvetan Todorov’s book, originally published in 2000 in French and now available in a superb translation, paused at the end of a violent century to attempt to assess how to remember it and what lessons we might learn.
Martha Finnemore sheds light on the ways in which both international society and its conceptions of the legitimate use of force have evolved historically.
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Allen Buchanan,
Robert O. Keohane
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02/03/04
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Accountability is the key to ensuring the fairness of rules governing the preventive use of force. Buchanan and Keohane propose a scheme that would make those promoting and those rejecting the preventive use of force more accountable.
Building on Rodin's analysis, Ryan raise further issues about self-defense as a justification of modern nation state war. Principal among these is what he calls the "conscription paradox."
Rodin attempts "to generate a dilemma for the just war theory by arguing that the right of national defense cannot be reduced to personal rights of self-defense, nor can it be explained through an analogy with them."
How can the right of self-defense be legitimately invoked when no prior aggressive attack has occurred and there is no evidence that one is imminent? How exactly is it that the concept of self-defense can provide a justification for war?
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Jeffrey K. Olick
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09/30/03
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Olick considers Sebald's examination of the memory of German suffering, and asks "How legitimate is this new interest in German suffering, previously associated with nationalist revanchism and discreditable positions? The answer depends on the purpose. . . ."
Sontag's photos of Sarajevo question "the notion of the CNN effect" because "[t]he political context into which the pictures were being inserted was already set, with military intervention not an option, and no amount of horrific photographs was going to change that."
The aim of this essay is not to define empire for all purposes, but to examine the most plausible and, arguably, influential arguments for a new imperial policy, chiefly in the realms of political and military power.
Our contributors explore the recent historical developments that have made the idea of empire seem perhaps less objectionable after a long period in which it was used as a term of insult or as an argument stopper.
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Neta C. Crawford
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03/03/03
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The character of potential threats becomes extremely important in evaluating the legitimacy of the new preemption doctrine, and thus the assertion that the United States faces rogue enemies who oppose everything about the United States must be carefully evaluated.
The International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty's effort to revisit intervention and the lessons of the 1990s have
resulted in a conception of intervention as a “responsibility to protect.” But its effort to ensure that past failures are not repeated may go unfulfilled.
Armed Palestinians are not combatants according to any known legal definition. They are civilians and can only be attacked for as long as they actively participate in hostilities.
In his address at West Point on June 1, 2002, President George W. Bush appeared to be signaling America’s willingness to regard the mere possession of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) by potential enemies as grounds for an anticipatory war.
Many of the United States’ allies are reluctant to cooperate with and participate in military actions that cannot be justified under international law - and supportive allies do make the military option easier to pursue.
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Anthony F. Lang, Jr.
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03/02/03
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Under what conditions does the existence of risk and uncertainty about possible threats license the use of military force? What consultative procedures should be required in order to legitimate the preventive or preemptive use of force?
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Richard K. Betts
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03/02/03
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Although much of this roundtable focuses on the legal status of preemptive war, international law has rarely, if ever, constrained governments from initiating hostilities.
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Thomas M. Nichols
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03/02/03
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Neither prevention nor preemption can have any moral standing in the abstract, since it is the circumstances, not the concepts, that inform their qualities as strategies. The question, rather, is whether the decision to engage in a new war against the Iraqi regime is just.
So long as the Palestinian Authority is incapable or unwilling to halt terrorist attacks, most interpretations of international law, Israeli law, and just war tradition support Israel’s efforts to stop these murderous attacks before they can be carried out.
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David C. Hendrickson
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03/02/03
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The most transparent prevarication in the Bush strategy lies in the assumption that the U.S. is in favor of a balance of power. In fact, the world order that Bush wishes to build looks not toward equilibrium but toward a massive imbalance of power in favor of the U.S.
This article suggests that purely nationalist policies, whether pursued through
unilateral or multilateral means, will become increasingly untenable and
illegitimate as world politics becomes institutionalized and as humanity becomes
integrated, albeit slowly, into a single cosmopolitan community.
The policy is consistent with international law because Israel is engaged in armed conflict with terrorists, those targeted are usually killed by conventional military means, and the targets of the attacks are not civilians but combatants.
Alexander Laban Hinton, a Cambodia specialist, divides this fine edited collection into five parts: genocide and indigenous peoples; the role of anthropology in National Socialism; three case studies of genocide; instances of post-genocidal reckoning; and “critical reflections” on the chapters.
In the aftermath of violence and oppression, social justice and moral regeneration must begin with institutions of moral accounting, such as trials and truth commissions, that, however imperfectly, revitalize notions of individual, social, and political responsibility.
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Mira Johri,
Christian Barry
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11/25/02
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In a recent global survey commissioned for the Millennium Summit of the United Nations, people around the world consistently mentioned good health as what they most desired.
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Joel H. Rosenthal
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11/25/02
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The persistent strength of nonstate actors in world politics makes it necessary to rethink or at least elaborate on the state-centered model of international affairs. If ethics is about choice and responsibility, then who or what entity should be the target of our analysis?
A normatively adequate public health ethics needs to be anchored in political philosophy rather than in ethics. Its central ethical concerns are likely to include trust and justice, rather than autonomy and informed consent.
Everyone wants to be healthy, but many of us decline to act in healthy ways. Should these choices have any bearing on the ethics of clinical practice and health policy? How may personal responsibility for health be manipulated in health policy debates.
There is an oft-neglected perspective which the topic of health equity raises: As imposers of the rules, we are inclined to think that harms we inflict through the rules have greater moral weight than like harms we merely fail to prevent or mitigate.
Meister argues for a renewal of the politics of victim and beneficiary that avoids moral pitfalls of the revolutionary project. These pitfalls inhere in a politics of victimhood.
The problem with the politics of victimhood, as conducted by revolutionaries and counterrevolutionaries engaged in ideological conflict, is that it creates a morally arbitrary hierarchy of victims that can then be used to justify the worst moral transgressions against the "other."
"While Lu invokes Shklar's 'liberalism of fear' as a 'transcendence' of the politics of friend and foe, I regard it as an attempt to give liberalism political purchase by identifying its true foe, those whose political convictions make them insensitive to cruelty, and especially to physical cruelty."
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Samantha Power,
Peter Ronayne
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11/25/02
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In her Pulitzer Prize winning book, Samantha Power reveals with forceful, regretful, and even angry prose, the stark record: the United States has rarely missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity to stand against genocide.
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Paige Arthur,
Omar Noman,
Sima Wali,
Robert L. Bach,
James D. Ross,
Nicolas de Torrenté
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11/13/02
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Since it seems that the leaders of the antiterrorist campaign are scripting their objectives to fit as they go along, the public should be more careful in deciding which policies it wants to support.
Nardin examines the moral principles underlying the idea of humanitarian intervention from the perspective of international law and from that of the natural law tradition.
Drawing on the concepts and values of the just war tradition, this article presents an account of jus post bellum as applied to the Persian Gulf War, Bosnia and Kosovo, and the war against terrorism in Afghanistan.
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Douglas Klusmeyer,
Astri Suhrke
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05/02/02
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The article focuses on the Bush Administration's attempts to frame its policy around this term in the current campaign against terrorism, and recent uses of the term in the growing literature on war crimes, genocide, and domestic repression.
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Richard A. Falk,
Ruth Wedgwood,
William L. Nash,
Fawaz A. Gerges,
George A. Lopez
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04/13/02
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The authors discuss the political, moral, cultural, and legal aspects of the United States' response to the attacks of September 11.
To claim that institutions can act as relevant moral agents in international relations, we must consider the disparate circumstances within which states—those that exercise positive sovereignty and those that are sovereign only in name—are expected to act.
Some have argued that the UN or the Security Council can exercise agency on behalf of IS, but in view of the "underinstitutionalization" of IS in the UN, groups of states may authorize themselves to act on the behalf of IS as "coalitions of the willing."
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Rebecca E. Wittmann
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11/19/01
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Moeller clearly states that this is a book about the popular representation of the war's effect on Germany and the way that this representation shaped a selective memory of suffering in which German victimhood was the overarching theme.
If efforts to deal comprehensively with the supply and demand factors fueling the trade in small arms and light weapons are sustained and expanded over the next decade, rampant small arms proliferation can be contained.
The language of human rights is increasingly used as a framework for policy dialogue. But, indicators must be developed that may hold the state accountable for its policies, guide and improve policy, and acknowledge both local contexts and the universality of rights. Possible?
U.S. nuclear weapons policy remains mired in Cold War paradigms; the major powers no longer entirely set the agenda in the global arms control process; and arms control must focus on environmental, medical and humanitarian consequences of weapons, not just national security.
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J. Peter Scoblic
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05/04/01
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Because of the extreme military advantage that nuclear weapons grant their possessors, no nuclear weapons state can afford the relative loss of power that would come from disarming while another state did not.
Fitzgerald analyzes Reagan and his Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), attempting to answer the question of how the United States committed itself to a multibillion dollar missile defense program that was technically infeasible and threatened U.S.-Soviet relations.
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Khaled Abou El Fadl
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12/20/00
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To avoid a clash of civilizations competing traditions must engage in discourse and search for grounds of commonality. Understanding differences and overcoming points of dissonance are essential for peaceful coexistence.
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Carl Cavanagh Hodge
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12/04/00
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A disturbing question is whether NATO’s action implies that states endowed with the advanced military assets that were brought to bear against Serbia will adopt a casual policy on the conduct of limited war, a policy at odds with the lessons of the twentieth century.
Assuming that this is, indeed, a historic opportunity for the United States to exercise its power on behalf of liberal, democratic values how can it do so in a morally responsible fashion?
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David A. Chandler
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12/04/00
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A procedure targeting a few Khmer Rouge leaders seems likely in 2000, but Cambodian government control of the proceedings means that nothing like a truth commission or a wide-ranging inquiry will result.
Two types of Judeo-Christian perspective stress the imperative to act to relieve suffering and transcend violence: liberation theology and the "religious humanitarian perspective." Both link ethics and action; both influence political debate.
When, where, and how should the promotion of human rights and democracy abroad figure in American foreign policy? A compelling way for liberals to influence this debate is to underscore a Wilsonian agenda's relevance to national security.
NATO's member states put aside their concerns for national sovereignty in favor of humanitarian considerations, acting without UN authorization. European states are rethinking historic prohibitions against humanitarian intervention after Kosovo.
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Margaret Popkin,
Nehal Bhuta
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12/04/99
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Throughout Latin America during the past 15 years, new democratic or postwar governments have faced demands for transitional justice following the end of authoritarian rule or the conclusion of internal armed conflicts.
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David A. Crocker
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12/04/99
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This essay formulates eight goals that have emerged from worldwide moral deliberation on "transitional justice" and that may serve as a useful framework when particular societies consider how they should reckon with violations of internationally recognized human rights.
In "transitional societies" like South Africa and Bosnia, which are currently moving from authoritarianism, and often violent repression, to democracy, questions arise about the appropriate way to deal with serious human rights offenders.
The rhetoric of reconciliation is common in situations where traditional judicial responses to past wrongdoing are unavailable because of corruption, large numbers of offenders, or anxiety about the political consequences. But what constitutes reconciliation?
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Robert E. Goodin
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12/04/98
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Rather than base social welfare policies on contractual bargaining, policies should focus on the duties the strong members of society have toward the weak: the poor should clearly receive more, and the rich pay more, than either group has bargained for.
A group of statesmen known as the InterAction Council, in consultation with theologians and philosophers representing many cultures, has drafted a proposed Universal Declaration of Human Responsibilities.
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Carl Cavanagh Hodge
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12/04/98
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The Kohl government sought a policy on the Balkan crisis that would both appeal to the self-conscious pacifist-internationalist strain in German public opinion and avoid direct German and European responsibility for the largely unknown consequences of that policy.
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John Barkdull,
Paul G. Harris
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12/04/98
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Barkdull examines the land ethic in the contexts of just war theory, economic liberalism, and international environmental law, offering a new outlook for the behavior of states in matters affecting ecosystems.
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Kenneth A. Rodman
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12/04/98
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This essay poses the question of whether grassroots organizations can provide an alternative center of authority to the state in inducing multinational corporations to incorporate human rights criteria in their investment and trade decisions.
This essay presents an overview of the TRC— its establishment, procedures, and operating principles — and examines the way in which the commission emphasizes forgiveness rather than retribution for past wrongs.
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Michael J. Smith
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12/04/98
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The capacity to focus on the issues of humanitarian intervention signals the maturation of the field of ethics and international affairs.
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Michael J. Smith
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12/04/98
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This essay analyzes the arguments justifying or opposing the notion of humanitarian intervention from realist and liberal perspectives and considers the difficulties of undertaking such interventions effectively and consistently.
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Oliver P. Ramsbotham
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12/04/98
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This essay compares Christian and Islamic teaching on the question of forcible humanitarian intervention and concludes that the traditions are sufficiently similar to enable agreement on how and when to intervene in a humanitarian crisis.
Sherman presents a slightly revised definition of empathy, in which empathy is the cognitive ability to place oneself in the world of another, imagining all of the realities, feelings, and circumstances of that person in the context of their world.
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Neta C. Crawford
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12/04/98
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International ethics scholars have argued that because postmodern, poststructural, and critical theorists view ethics as contextual, these approaches have little to offer to the consideration of ethics and international affairs.
Korey provides a description of the long struggle for ratification of the Genocide Convention, detailing decades of work by a committee of fifty-two nongovernmental organizations lobbying the Senate and the American Bar Association, the treaty's key opponent.
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Michael J. Smith
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12/04/97
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Smith provides a summary of Walzer's work, with particular emphasis on his method of moral argument. Walzer's argument emphasizes the importance of moral judgment based on the principle of human rights rather than on utilitarian calculation.
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David C. Hendrickson
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12/04/97
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Hendrickson takes issue with Walzer's treatment of intervention, self-determination, and the legitimate aims of war, stating that Walzer's framework is permissive and ambiguous and using such a just war theory may lead to significant problems.
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Theodore J. Koontz
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12/04/97
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Issues of immunity from attack and the assignment of responsibility for civilian deaths are central to the modern war convention. Koontz addresses several difficulties with Walzer's treatment of noncombatant immunity in Just and Unjust Wars.
Joseph Boyle discusses deontology, which derives precepts from moral principles, particularly making a case with reference to Alan Donagan's The Theory of Morality, which appeared the same year as Just and Unjust Wars.
Responding to the critiques of the four previous authors, Walzer opens with a statement of the inherent imperfection of any theory of war. He reminds us that theories are merely frameworks for decisions and cannot provide answers in and of themselves.
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Amir Pasic,
Thomas G. Weiss
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12/04/97
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Asserting that humanitarian intervention is a highly ambiguous principle, Pasic and Weiss warn of the dangers of politically driven rescues that often force trade-offs between the pursuit of rescue and political order.
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Andrew S. Natsios
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12/04/97
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In a response to Pasic and Weiss, Natsios supports the authors' critique of the unintended political consequences of relief interventions but takes issue with their portrayal of the International Committee of the Red Cross, asserting that the authors misrepresent the doctrine of the ICRC.
In his response to "The Politics of Rescue," Winston argues that the real dilemma facing the international system is not a question of what form intervention will take, but rather a question of the existence of political will to act on the humanitarian impulse.
Destexhe expands upon the discussion begun in " The Politics of Rescue," stating that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, in choosing a humanitarian route rather than a political one, further enabled ethnic cleansing and prolonged the conflict in the Balkans.
Arguing that humanitarian agencies cannot always actively pursue political agendas, Mapel argues that in deciding whether there is an obligation to intervene, the nature of the conflict, the costs and risks of intervention, and other factors must all be taken into consideration.
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Thomas M. Franck
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12/04/97
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Appeals to nationalism based on a common sociocultural, geographic, and linguistic heritage are reactions against expansions of trade, information, and power - and anomie and xenophobia can be countered by giving substatal ethnicities, minorities and political parties a voice and a vote.
Donnelly asserts that Ames has misrepresented his arguments, creating a straw man from Ames's own preconceived notion of the Western liberal tradition while ignoring the substantive debates.
Paden finds Rawls's new theory inadequate in its response to communitarian criticisms advocating a different theory of good than that of liberal societies. Paden goes back to "A Theory of Justice" to state that all societies seek one good - the protection of their just institutions.
As the following papers demonstrate, Michael Walzer’s Just and Unjust Wars continues to provoke thought and debate two decades after its publication. The book remains widely taught in college courses and is cited whenever the morality of war is discussed.
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Mahmood Monshipouri
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12/04/97
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Monshipouri examines three paradoxes in the conflict between the legal-political global order and the growth of civil society in the international system: state-building vs. democratization; economic liberalization vs. political liberalization; and human rights vs. state sovereignty.
Analyzing Morgenthau's Politics Among Nations, Myers provides a point-by-point discussion of his theory, concluding that the relevance of realism will be seen particularly in the search for a new balance of power in the post-Cold War world.
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William F. Felice
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12/04/96
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Felice argues that individual human rights, which have proven to be of enormous value in the twentieth century, must be extended to communities ranging from the family unit to the entire human community.
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Emanuel Adler,
Michael N. Barnett
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12/04/96
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Adler and Barnett demonstrate how changes occurring in international politics create the nostalgia of security communities, a concept made prominent by Karl Deutsch nearly forty years ago.
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Albert C. Pierce
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12/04/96
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Pierce challenges the argument that economic sanctions are always morally preferable to the use of military force. He argues that such sanctions inflict suffering and physical harm on noncombatants and that small-scale military operations are sometimes preferable.
Dr. Myers challenges the legitimacy of the traditional concept of the "just war," revived during the Vietnam War and with the publication of Michael Walzer's Just and Unjust Wars in 1977.
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John Lewis Gaddis
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12/04/96
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"National History Standards" and the Smithsonian's abortive effort to mount a fiftieth anniversary exhibit on the decision to drop the atomic bomb suggest the need for historians to rethink some of their academic approaches to this subject.
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Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
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12/04/96
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The U.S. rejected isolationism during the standoff with the Soviet Union during the Cold War because of the perceived direct threat to U.S. security. Schlesinger argues that we must now both reexamine the Wilsonian doctrine of collective security and focus on preventive diplomacy.
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Zbigniew Brzezinski
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12/04/96
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Brzezinski predicts that the interface between ethics and science will be the new frontier of politics, and it will place on the shoulders of democratic leaders and those concerned with human rights, the obligation to be at least part-time scientists and philosophers.
Review of "Ethics, Killing and War" (Norman); "The Ethics of War and Peace: Religious and Secular Perspectives" (Nardin, ed.); "The Laws of War: Constraints on Warfare in the Western World" (Howard, Andreopoulos, and Shulman, eds.); and "War and Law Since 1945"(Best).
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Michael J. Green
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12/04/96
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Review of "One For All: The Logic of Group Conflict," by Russell Hardin; "On Nationality," by David Miller; and "Liberal Nationalism," by Yael Tamir.
McMahan challenges the assumption that respect for self-determination requires an almost exceptionless doctrine of nonintervention by first defining the notions of "intervention" and "self-determination," and then analyzing Walzer's doctrine of nonintervention.
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Charles W. Kegley, Jr.
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12/04/96
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Kegley argues that the greatest obstacle to the creation of a mechanism for multilateral peacekeeping is an absence of a moral consensus in a world where the nature of rapidly changing threats to global peace make it difficult to share a common vision.
Roth argues that much of the current discourse on the diffusion of democratic norms is misleading and that only a realistic assessment of the progress of societies in transition will focus attention on the problems that remain to be solved.
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Fernando R. Tesón
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12/03/95
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Teson critiques a recent article by John Rawls in which Rawls extends his acclaimed political theory to include international relations.
In this essay Lee examines three questions:1) Is nuclear proliferation dangerous? (2) Is it morally permissible for a state to acquire nuclear weapons? (3) What are morally permissible actions for states trying to keep other states from acquiring nuclear weapons?
Hardin discusses the forms that moral reasoning might take—from rationalist actor theory to Kantian proceduralism to ad hoc Kantianism—and the relation of Kant's dictum to the institutional nature of much of international affairs.
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Thomas Donaldson
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12/03/95
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Donaldson argues that agreeing with Hardin to banish deontological justifications from international discussion amounts to abandoning the power of deontology to interpret political intent and to establish hard limits on political behavior.
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Frances V. Harbour
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12/03/95
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Without some form of objectivity, Harbour argues, there is no firm grounding other than taste for criticizing whatever constitutes another culture's values, or even for reforming one's own—and there is no firm grounding for moral objections to someone such as Hitler or Idi Amin.
As Smith points out, Reinhold Niebuhr's political ethic is closely linked to his philosophy of history. This view of history blends a dualistic understanding of human nature and rigorous contingency of experience - all sobered by a creative sense of tragedy.
Review essay of "Diplomacy," by Henry Kissinger; "Truman," by David
McCullough; and "The Downing Street Years," by Margaret Thatcher.
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Kristen Renwick Monroe
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12/03/95
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Review of Final Solutions: Biology, Prejudice, and Genocide, (Lerner); Genocide Watch, (Fein, ed.); Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland, (Browning); Survivors: An Oral History of the Armenian Genocide, (Miller); The Path to Genocide: Essays on Launching the Final Solution, (Browning); and Why Genocide? The Armenian and Jewish Experiences in Perspective, (Mazian).
This leadoff piece examines the ethics of intervention in light of recent policy and academic debates on the subject.
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Michael N. Barnett
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12/03/95
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Barnett argues that the United Nations, by operating on the principle of the consent of the parties, can encourage the development of a more stable and cooperative security architecture.
Lynch addresses the return to Immanuel Kant—a "prophet of progressive international reform"—and examines the relationship between the Kantian system of ethics and the development of international law in the post-Cold War era.
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Lori Fisler Damrosch
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12/03/94
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The UN Security Council adopted sanctions as a means of addressing unrest in Haiti, Iraq, the former Yugoslavia, and Somalia. Damrosch examines this shift from unilateral to collective enforcement and assesses the moral legitimacy and conclusive results of this policy.
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Dorothy V. Jones
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12/03/94
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Despite its short life and the nonexistence of either troops or strong authority, the League of Nations did manage to generate positive developments in the establishment of international protection.
Donnelly's essay reconstructs the scholarly discourse on human rights that began with the initial mid-1970s "innovative and controversial" approach of linking human rights to foreign policy.
Korey addresses the increased social dislocation of minority groups that accompanied freedom in post-totalitarian Europe. He argues that glasnost and the revolutions of 1989 legitimized new brands of nationalism that included threads of anti-Semitism, racism, and xenophobia.
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Mick Moore,
Mark Robinson
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12/03/94
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Since 1990, the allocation of foreign development aid has come to be shaped by donors' concerns about promoting "good government" in developing countries. Yet the aid donors adopt a wide variety of implicit and actual definitions of "good government."
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Stephen A. Garrett
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12/03/94
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Garrett assesses the morality of leaders' political choices. Does the nature of leadership force us to tolerate or even accept marginally moral acts? Do acts considered unethical in one's private life become ethical when performed by a public servant for the good of the public?
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Donald J. Puchala
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12/03/94
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Citing Kenneth Thompson, Puchala warns that American international relations students have mistakenly emphasized the study of interstate relations at the expense of studying intercultural relations.
Miller places in context three important new books that purport to show the shape of world politics in the coming decade(s). She highlights what they do or (more often) do not tell us about the realm of moral choice at the end of the century.
Weiss examines the moral choices that accompanied the military, humanitarian, and diplomatic dilemmas of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia and offers prescriptions for reconciling moral imperatives with political and operational constraints.
Welch's essay addresses the complicated issue of whether to hold leaders accountable for their ethical decisions and conduct. Are there minimal standards for ethical behavior?
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David C. Hendrickson
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12/03/93
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Does multilateral action always succeed in creating a Pax Universalis? On the contrary, it may lead to war. With arguments from the U.S. perspective and examples from the Gulf War, Hendrickson sees both collective and unilateral action as neither good nor bad.
This article looks at some major goals that have been set for sanctions and evaluates how effective sanctions have been at reaching those goals. It also examines the costs of sanctions, i.e., the impact on civilians and on international support for sanctions.
Seth suggests that the transformation of the international system from a system of states to a system of nation-states has had profound consequences for international relations, consequences not fully grasped in international relations theory.
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Vladimir Benevolenski,
Andrei Kortunov
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12/03/93
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Benevolenski and Kortunov discuss the array of moral, ethnic, and nationalistic questions emerging after the disintegration of the Soviet Union. They suggest that the cause for the collapse was not poor economic performance, but a moral bankruptcy the people could no longer endure.
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Allen L. Springer
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12/03/93
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Springer focuses on the nature and challenges of "leadership" in contemporary environmental diplomacy since the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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David P. Forsythe
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12/03/93
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ICRC has coordinated relief for victims who are ignored by the world, in more places than all the UN agencies combined. When law is silent, as often during war time it is, human rights policies must be built on ethical choice.
Buultjens examines the utility of history as a paradigm on which to build a prognosis of the future.
In this analysis of Reinhold Niebuhr's 1932 classic Moral Man, Little reviews some of the book's fundamental conclusions. He observes that, when moral language is used in international politics without self-criticism, it diverts attention from the real motives of the statesmen who use it.
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Robert B. Westbrook
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12/03/93
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Using Dewey's critics' own arguments that purport to show Dewey intentionally, or naively, disregarded the role of power in the relations of communities, Westbrook brings examples to reinforce the contrary view.
Nolan reviews three works describing the influence of ethics on modern international relations, namely Code of Peace: Ethics and Security in the World of the Warlord States (Dorothy V. Jones); The Age of Rights (Louis Henkin); and Morality and American Foreign Policy: The Role of Ethics in International Affairs (Robert W. McElroy).
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Charles W. Kegley, Jr.
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12/02/92
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Kegley asks whether in a culturally pluralistic global community it is possible to find a common normative principle that statesmen from diverse ethical traditions might embrace to discipline democratic behavior.
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James Turner Johnson
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12/02/92
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Turner is optimistic that democracy does indeed "travel," but only if individuals recognize their own responsibilities within the democratic society and exercise their freedoms.
Buultjens discusses the future prospects for democracy by asking whether the present "democratic starburst" can be translated into durable systems and working institutions.
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Steve Brinkoetter
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12/02/92
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Brinkoetter investigates the potential role that shared moral standards—and international ethics in general—may play in this new world order. But the role that one finds for international ethics in the new world order depends upon whose version of it is being evaluated—in this case George Bush's.
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Irving Louis Horowitz
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12/02/92
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This article examines the present bifurcation of policy-making into domestic and foreign components, and urges a theoretical effort aimed at unifying national policy by integrating its various components.
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Jarat Chopra,
Thomas G. Weiss
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12/02/92
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Chopra and Weiss address perhaps the fundamental issue in international relations today: the sacrosanct sets of sovereignty. The word "sovereignty" explains why the international community has difficulty countering human rights violations.
Farrenkopf argues that Western triumphalism, precipitated by the crisis of Communism, is symptomatic of the failure in the U.S. to reflect upon the prospects for ameliorating the tragic nature of international political developments in the twentieth century.
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John Patrick Diggins
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12/02/92
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Diggins brings Reinhold Niebuhr into the post-structuralist dialogue, and demonstates that his writings are the more constructive about the human predicament. "[I]n Niebuhr power and morality meet in one, with a suspicious glance at the disavowal of power and the pretensions of morality."
Anderson explores the ramifications for the Middle East of the profound transformations in global politics at the end of the Cold War and the birth of a new, American-dominated world order.
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Michael J. Smith
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12/02/92
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The three books reviewed in this essay, Morality Among Nations: An Evolutionary View (Mary Maxwell), Righteous Realists: Political Realism, Responsible Power, and American Culture in the Nuclear Age (Joel H. Rosenthal), and Securing Europe (Richard H. Ullman), in some sense represent a reaction to Reagan's ideological policies.
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James N. Rosenau
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12/02/92
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Rosenau writes that the history of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is the story of convergence around political entities in order to preserve individual values in the context of collective needs and wants; but today the process of community building has been reversed.
Nardin uses the Eastern European experience of the late 1980s and the works of Adam Michnik and Vaclav Havel to demonstrate the traditional cosmopolitan Kantian notion of morality in the "appeal to universal human values."
The Confucian concept of morality and ethics, which dictated both domestic and international policies, maintained that through good government and internal peace and prosperity, China would play a leadership role in the world and serve as a universal paradigm for other nations.
Coll clearly advocates the Aristotelian notion that "moral principles are ultimately realized only in specific acts which human beings choose to carry out." He cites Washington, Lincoln, and Churchill as examples of leaders whose moral wisdom in political reasoning led to a statecraft explicitly derived from prudence.
Brown attempts to clarify Hegelian ideas of absolute knowledge and self-knowledge that lead to the model of the modern state as "the vehicle for the self-expression of spirit...governed only by the requirements of reason" upon which Hegel grounds international ethics.
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James H. Billington
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12/02/91
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Russia's struggle to find its new identity in the aftermath of Communism's collapse is analogous to America's historical experience of drawing on religious and cultural roots in moving toward democracy.
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Charles W. Kegley, Jr.
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12/02/91
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Kegley argues for a focus on promoting the success of Russia while using the relative success of European integration as grounds to work within a transnational collaboration framework based on Kennan's initial recommendations.
Russell probes Morgenthau's realist ethics and the underpinnings of the nuclear threat in a technologically evolving modern world with increasingly obsolescent national boundaries.
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Robert L. Phillips
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12/02/91
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Phillips traces the history of communitarianism through Aristotelian and Judeo-Christian writings, clarifying the proper function of the community in helping individuals help themselves by mobilizing church resources and countering anti-religious movements such as Nazism and communism.
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David A. Crocker
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12/02/91
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Crocker concludes that international and regional progress are closely interrelated. Universalists and ethnocentrists must converge to "think and act globally, regionally, nationally, and locally."
The author advocates that governments ensure the involvement of the poor not only in the market reforms but most importantly in the policy-making process. The poor will demonstrate a higher level of success in the emerging economies than many expect.
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Thomas G. Weiss,
Larry Minear
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12/02/91
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The authors argue that, while all historical situations are in some sense unique, Sudan is not so idiosyncratic that the lessons and the precedents cannot be replicated elsewhere to protect civilians caught between warring sides in civil wars.
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Jerrold D. Green
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12/02/91
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Green evaluates the efficacy of USAID against the ethical and practical issues likely to influence its future success.
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Kenneth W. Thompson
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12/02/91
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With the world looking to the U.S. for strategic leadership in ethics and power, Americans cannot afford to deny American youth a strong foundation and education in international studies.
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John E. (Jack) Becker
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12/01/91
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In response to Charles Taylor's book "Sources of the Self: The Making of the Modern Identity," Becker defends the Western view of ethical conceptions based on our unique identity, reasoning, and historical heritage.
External debt, poverty, and the use of natural resources are inextricably linked. Annis argues that the direction in which a country's economic resources are transferred—from poor to rich, or rich to poor—also sets the pattern for the flow of natural resources.
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Augustus Richard Norton
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12/02/90
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Deliberate and indiscriminate targeting of civilians, most particularly in a non-war environment, is an unjustifiable form of violence that can be defeated most effectively through multilateral efforts, according to Norton.
The PLO practice of hiding behind civilians has produced severe tests for the Israeli Defense Force (IDF). Have Israeli soldiers abandoned their moral obligations in war during the time of Intifada?
Realist thinkers who once rejected the moral claims of the possibility of a lasting world peace now take the position that the goal of attaining it is clearly worth striving for, "however utopian it seemed when first advocated."
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Kenneth W. Thompson
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12/02/90
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The author cites prominent academicians currently examining this trend and presents the case for accepting grass-roots social activism as a crucial link to the closed world of policy-making elites.
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James Turner Johnson
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12/02/90
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Can history serve to uphold democracy as an ethical standard of governance? The author suggests that the basic and cross-temporal cornerstones of morality, the family and religion, serve as "intermediate" social structures in attaining the central virtues of a moral democracy.
The author highlights the different ways in which countries measure standards of human rights and social justice within their borders and in other countries.
Korey focuses on the U.S. delegation to the Commission on Security and Cooperation (CSCE) in Europe and credits the success of the Helsinki Accord to U.S. adroit negotiation strategies, beginning with the Carter administration.
Why was it not until the mid-1980s that the intellectuals, the "democratic elite" of China, initiated a public dialogue about "inalienable" rights in the Western sense? The reason may lie in the impact of events in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
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Robert E. Goodin
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12/02/90
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Goodin outlines specific ways to overcome the crisis through international means, requiring each nation to reduce its own hazardous production, and enjoining a collective effort to confront the challenge of global environmental deterioration.
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Robert O. Keohane
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12/02/89
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The author argues that all governments are morally obliged to support international institutions that advocate crosscultural and global public goods to advance the fairness principle.
In this analysis of the Iran-Iraq war, Sick asserts that two major naturally wealthy regional powers consciously chose to forego diplomatic means to resolve their disputes.
Dower observes mounting tension in U.S.-Japan relations. He identifies two factors as contributing to mutual fear: differences in capitalism on national and international levels, and stereotypical perceptions based on racial phobias.
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Thomas Donaldson
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12/02/89
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Donaldson argues that major changes are necessary in the decision-making process as well as in the conduct of multinational corporations in order to exercise moral obligations and meet culture-specific needs of host countries.
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Seymour Martin Lipset
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12/02/89
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Lipset concludes with an assessment of the current global movement toward classical liberalism: "We are all liberals-even the socialists and communists, " he asserts. . . [and] predicts a return to the state-centric world in the not-so-near future.
The author urges the United States to "become the ally of its allies rather than their managing protector," as it has been historically, leaving Europe to take responsibility for its own security.
Sigmund examines aspects of democratic transformation in Latin America, emphasizing that these transitions occurred despite the absence of the accepted cultural and economic preconditions for democracy.
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John R. Chamberlin
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12/02/89
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Chamberlin insists on its validity (Game Theory) in contributing to our thinking about the place of ethics in international affairs and in clarifying both the dangers and potential areas of cooperation inherent in many international relationships.
This article uses two episcopal texts published by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops during the 1980s as a case study of the role of ethics in the foreign policy process.
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Kenneth W. Thompson
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12/02/89
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This article compares reflections from four sources on the state of the American
democracy in the international community: The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers:
Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000 (Paul Kennedy); 1999:
Victory Without War (Richard Nixon); and "Communism at Bay," The Economist;
Long Cycles in World Politics (George Modelski).
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Michael J. Smith
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12/02/89
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The moral complexity surrounding intervention is influenced by a broad spectrum of both ethical and practical assumptions and considerations.
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Gregory F. Treverton
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12/02/89
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The author urges presidents to abstain from implementing covert operations,
which often result in nothing more than domestic and international controversy.
Such decisions are the domain of the legitimate agency designated for such
purposes, the CIA.
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Charles R. Beitz
|
12/02/89
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Whether "any form of accountability is likely to be sufficient to bring the unauthorized use of executive power under control" is the crucial issue to be addressed when examining the practicality of covert actions by the executive branch.
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William E. Colby
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12/02/89
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Exploitation of the executive exercise of covert operations has presented a dilemma, but Colby maintains that even in peacetime a "democratic society must have and respect some secrets."
India has promoted its power through intervention in neighboring countries under the cloak of morality. The United States, Great Britain, and Russia have nonetheless tacitly endorsed India's role as the policing force in the region. Does this recognition justify India's actions toward its weaker and smaller neighbors?
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Charles W. Kegley, Jr.
|
12/02/88
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Kegley's primary intent is to show that neo-realism ignores factors that influence international actors, and that a theory is needed that expands the notion of self-interest to include the moral sphere.
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Russell Sizemore
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12/02/88
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Reinhold Niebuhr's Cold War stance, which he applied to both the USSR and to China, was a middle ground between the harsh amorality of the realists and the overly hopeful liberal view. Sizemore explicates Niebuhr's Chinese position to provide a skeptical criticism of Reagan's Central American policies.
Bruce Nichols explores the way in which the concept of humanitarian aid has been stretched beyond recognition for political ends.
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Robert L. Phillips
|
12/02/87
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Phillips suggests ways to reaffirm the rule of law and the commitment to social justice and to build such values into Western foreign policy, rather than use them as public relations tinsel.
A feature of American political consciousness is a desire to propagate democracy throughout the world. In our enthusiasm to share what we enjoy, Barzun notes that little attention is paid to exactly what we are trying to distribute.
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William O. Beeman
|
12/02/87
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Beeman uses Islamic history to show how contentious stances have evolved towards the West and how ignorance of that history has handicapped the United States in developing effective policies towards Iran.
Global Ethics Corner (Multimedia )
Is U.S. foreign policy determined by individual policy-makers and core values, or by external threats and domestic pressures?
America's global future seems in doubt with a frozen political process, mountains of debt, stagnant exports, global military commitments, and less secure friendships. Is the American Dream dead?
The Eurasia Group identified ten top global risks for business this year, which should be understood not just as political and economic, but also as the basic choices they highlight. What do you think the fundamental issues are for 2010?
In a difficult and protracted war democracies may accept a draw due to a lack of public support. If you were caught between bowing to public opinion and taking bold positions that may alienate the electorate, which would you choose?
What is the U.S. role in the world? There are two extremes. Being an example, or employing forceful U.S. engagement and being a moral champion. Neither pole will or should prevail, but which might best drive America's interests?
Private contractors bring important skills to tasks outside the capability or mission of military personnel, but they are not accountable to the government or American people. Is this political cover valuable? What about the hidden costs?
When war is a foreign insurgency, balancing human risks and possibility of success is a fundamental ethical dilemma for leaders. What do you think should happen in Afghanistan?
When are elections legitimate? What about Iran? Elections assume that losers accept results. Because many disagree, can they overturn an election? Should we believe authorities that declare elections valid?
Do we respect the wishes of anti-Castro Americans, to restrict trade, or the wishes of agriculture and medical sales interests, to open Cuban markets? If we relax restrictions, do we reward repression? What do you think?
Should we observe Morgenthau's principles--avoid the crusading spirit and heed others' perspectives--or is promoting democracy and taking a forceful stand indispensable to U.S. foreign policy?
Can intelligent robot soldiers be designed to be more ethical in battle than human soldiers? Would you prefer a robot or a human deciding about the possibility of civilian casualties, about collateral damage?
Will our responses to the financial crisis be constructive, or will panic cloud our judgments?
Are ethics primary questions that precede and surround practical leadership? Are these daily questions that inform each political decision?
How will President Obama deal with the hopes and fears of people abroad? Will his priority be the interests of the United States or will the welfare of those beyond America’s borders also count?
We enter a slippery ethical slope when we begin to make distinctions between victims. When can an individual's rights be set aside?
The presidential candidates assert that America must renew its global moral authority, but they dance, offering no solutions. Let’s take a closer look.
Should the opinion of the world be important in American elections? This is a crucial question in applied ethics as we choose a president.
Carnegie Ethics Online
Although Obama has largely avoided the term democracy assistance, in fact he has delivered a considered and astute response to overcoming Bush's tarnished legacy--a response which promises to deliver a more sophisticated and coherent brand of democracy assistance.
The sudden downfall of the Communist regimes in 1989 and the opening of the Berlin Wall are sometimes depicted as the inevitable result of a lengthy process of systemic decay. But in fact there was nothing inevitable about the outcome.
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David C. Speedie
|
10/26/09
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"He that hunts two hares will catch neither," runs an old proverb. In the current unruly security environment, with challenges aplenty for the Obama administration, the hare to be pursued remains the reduction of the global nuclear threat, says David Speedie.
The debates about withdrawing from Iraq have excluded what would seem to be a self-evident point of contention: how best to repair the damage that Iraqis have suffered as a result of the war.
A U.K. court case brought by participants in the U.K.'s nuclear testing program raises a moral dilemma for governments, writes David Willcox.
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David C. Speedie
|
02/02/09
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In a possible letter from the United States to Iran, David Speedie writes of the two nations' shared interests, the causes that divide them, and on moving beyond past grievances. (Originally published May 2008)
It's time to go back to President Eisenhower's original goal of space for peaceful purposes and ditch America's position that it has the right to militarily dominate outer space.
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William C. Vocke Jr.
|
09/25/08
|
Hidden in the U.S. presidential election is the promise of a renewed emphasis on public diplomacy. But how will America renew a lost love affair with the rest of the world?
|
Devin T. Stewart,
Nikolas K. Gvosdev,
David A. Andelman
|
08/29/08
|
The nation-state is an anachronistic myth which should be shed once and for all, declares Devin Stewart. Gvosdev and Andelman disagree.
The international community could act to stop the genocide in Darfur. For example, it could pressure China and enact an EU trade and investment moratorium. But it's more likely that we will continue to stand by and watch.
Wadlow suggests three points that the world community should press the U.S. to include in the upcoming conference: Hamas should be invited; a wider economic zone is needed; and an Organization for Security and Cooperation
in the Middle East should be established.
The temptation to focus on regime change as the solution to all the problems posed by Pyongyang is strong. But attempts to overthrow the regime or squeeze it into submission risk doing more evil than good for ordinary North Koreans.
Is isolationist unilateralism (the "Israelization" of America) an acceptable U.S. response to globalized terrorism? No, argues Spring, for both practical and ethical reasons.
The danger Kurdistan faces is overwhelming. Their peripheral region falls between two hostile capitals, Ankara and Tehran. Below, what is now known as the world’s deadliest capital, Baghdad. What can Kurdistan possibly do to keep from being buried alive?
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Ashley Bommer,
Asad Rahman,
Jere Van Dyk
|
12/18/06
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Is the rugged province of Baluchistan a haven for al-Qaeda and the Taliban? How do Pakistanis and Afghans view the situation there?
|
Devin T. Stewart
|
09/07/06
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National trade deficits usually get worse before they get better.This pattern resembles a "J" on graphs and so economists call it the J curve. Ian Bremmer noticed that countries also follow a J curve, which describes the relationship between a country's openness and its stability.
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Anthony F. Lang, Jr.
|
08/07/06
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While democratic states tend to protect their own citizens and tend to be more peaceful, does it follow that democratic systems ought to be imposed on communities by the use of military force?
Articles, Papers, and Reports
Dr. Morozov identifies several key points regarding both the existing problems and challenges of the Arctic region, as well as possible ways to overcome them through joint efforts by the actors operating in the region.
Thanks to international law, there is no race for Arctic resources, nor any appetite for military confrontation. The Arctic has become a zone of quiet cooperation, as countries work together to map the seabed, protect the environment, and guard against new, non-state security threats.
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Jeffrey D. McCausland
|
09/01/09
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August 2009 may be a turning point in the war in Afghanistan, according to McCausland, due to a dramatic increase in violence and a national election. But the future of the country, and U.S. involvement there, remain unclear.
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Jeffrey D. McCausland
|
08/17/09
|
As President Obama and his administration lead the nation and their coalition partners in a renewed effort in the war in Afghanistan, what can be learned from the past and what are the challenges that must be overcome if his new strategy and team are to be successful?
In Afghanistan, NATO is proving itself the wrong alliance, fighting an enemy that defies precise definition in a war for which it is ill suited and for which support is rapidly eroding. How will NATO adapt to guarantee that its storied past can endure an uncertain future?
This paper proposes several ways that the United States and Russia can expand their cooperation in Central Asia, particularly in Afghanistan, in order to neutralize security challenges in the region.
This article is an attempt to define the possibilities for changing the disconnect between the U.S. and Russia which limits the potential for cooperation between the two nations on Afghan, Pakistani and Iranian issues.
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David C. Speedie
|
08/05/09
|
The "reset button" has become the metaphor for restoring U.S.-Russia relations. But is it working? Despite the progress made, a number of critical arms control issues have simply not been addressed, plus there has been a series of missteps.
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David C. Speedie
|
07/21/09
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This set of four papers focuses on arms control in the context of the critical and evolving U.S.-Russia relationship.
Should the START Treaty expire in December without a new treaty (or accord) that has counting rules and verification procedures spelled out, it will be impossible to ensure that Russia and the U.S. fulfill their obligations to reduce the number of nuclear warheads on deployed strategic delivery vehicles.
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Pavel S. Zolotarev
|
07/21/09
|
Despite the good intentions of the newly-elected American and Russian presidents and the leadership of the two nations, it is essential to recognize the effect of objective factors left over from Cold War times, in particular the continuing state of mutual nuclear deterrence between Russia and the United States.
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John Isaacs,
Travis Sharp
|
07/21/09
|
This paper reviews the history of missile defense since World War II in search of insights that can be applied to the current situation. Obama retains two viable options for missile defense in Europe: "The Bargaining Chip" or "The Gas Mask."
The case for nuclear weapons abolition recently advanced by President Obama is built not on the familiar refrain of disarmament advocates that nuclear weapons are inherently morally unjustifiable and destabilizing, but on pragmatic grounds.
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Amy Zalman,
Jonathan Clarke
|
06/08/09
|
Despite Obama's promises of change, U.S. defense policy is geared almost exclusively to a dangerous counter-insurgency posture designed to prevent a new 9/11. It's time to mount a full frontal attack on the crass ignorance inherent in the GWOT concept.
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Jonathan Cristol
|
04/08/09
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As part of a future two-state solution, Jonathan Cristol proposes making Jerusalem a "free city," fully open to both Israeli and Palestinian passport holders.
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David C. Speedie
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03/13/09
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The Obama mantra for U.S.-Russia relations is "hit the 'reset button,'" yet the Clinton years (1992-2000) were a mixed bag. We should aim for a "reset button plus," one that engages Russia on a host of issues that would directly serve America's self interest.
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Shalendra D. Sharma
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03/04/09
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Despite their mutual antipathy, Pakistan's stability is in India's national interest. A stable Indian subcontinent is in America's strategic interest. And for all its limitations the new Pakistani government is a potential partner in this process.
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Jeffrey D. McCausland
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02/23/09
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With violence now subsiding in Iraq, some policy-makers seem to assume that we can now turn our attention back to the Afghan "timeline" and pick up where we left off. This is misplaced. We must not mistake a timeline for a time window.
As the Chinese gradually rediscover the need to introduce ethical considerations into their foreign policy, what will those considerations be?
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Jeffrey D. McCausland
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11/03/08
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Can the CFE Treaty assist in reestablishing security in the North Caucasus or has both its credibility and utility been undermined permanently?
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David C. Speedie
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08/13/08
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In the war between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia the inevitable inclination is to assign black and white, blame and innocence. The truth is more complex, and is rooted in history.
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Devin T. Stewart
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08/08/08
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The current system may be Cold War Lite in which noncooperation is the new mutual assured destruction (MAD). Yet if we fail to cooperate, our destruction is mutually assured. Welcome to the new MAD world.
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Jeffrey D. McCausland
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08/06/08
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Treatment of detainees has severely damaged America's reputation, yet there is still no true strategy for dealing with them as part of an overall counter-terrorism approach.
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David C. Speedie
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05/29/08
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A new U.S. foreign policy based on cooperation and engagement is not just morally appealing, but strategically smart, declares David Speedie.
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David C. Speedie
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04/09/08
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There are two essential truths concerning the current state of the U.S.-Russia relationship: it is bad, as bad as at any time since the Cold War's end; and it is getting worse.
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Neta C. Crawford,
Catherine Lutz,
Robert Jay Lifton,
Judith L. Herman,
Howard Zinn
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01/22/08
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While overall violence declined in Iraq in the last few months, civilian deaths at U.S. hands in both Iraq and Afghanistan were up approximately 70 percent in 2007 compared to 2006.
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Jeffrey D. McCausland
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11/11/07
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Is the "surge" working? McCausland analyzes its results in four different areas of Iraqi life: political, military, diplomatic, and economic. He goes on to discuss the way forward, which seems to be a choice between several bad alternatives.
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Jeffrey D. McCausland
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10/03/07
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Not all the news from Iraq is bad. Three years ago, Soham lost both her legs in a terrorist attack. American soldiers fly her to a U.S. army hospital for treatment and vow to see her walk one day.
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Jeffrey D. McCausland
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07/03/07
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"If we are to survive as a nation with our values intact, then we must find leaders willing to make the call. Leaders who will call us to serve each other, to serve in our towns and cities, churches and schools and, if needed, in the military..."
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Richard K. Betts,
Ian Bremmer,
Nikolas K. Gvosdev,
Cliff Kupchan,
Gideon Rose,
Joel H. Rosenthal,
Fareed Zakaria
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05/03/07
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Is Iran's goal to achieve hegemony in the Persian Gulf and throughout the Middle East? Is that possibility sufficient cause for the U.S. to act, and to strike Iran militarily? And finally, should it be a guiding principle of U.S. foreign policy to militarily neuter countries inimical to our interests?
Despite an American military presence here, the Taliban are back and Khost is more dangerous than it was a few years ago. There are suicide attacks, killings in the streets, and corruption is rife. A newspaper predicts that the Taliban will regain complete control by 2010.
Baluchistan borders on Afghanistan and Iran. In the past it was a haven for the Mujahideen; now it harbors the Taliban and perhaps al-Qaeda.
Jere Van Dyk reports on the mood in Pakistan and the situation in the border
areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan, scene of several aerial attacks on villages
by the CIA and the Pakistan government.
Preventive war and democracy promotion are the two main prongs of the neocon challenge to traditional UN norms governing the use of force. Farer criticizes the neocon project and offers suggestions for shoring up the UN Charter in the face of new global threats.
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Scott A. Silverstone
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03/28/05
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The purpose of this research is to examine if there is in fact a general democratic anti-preventive war norm, to what extent this norm might be present among American citizens (at both the congressional and public levels), and to determine if there are any patterns in the distribution of this norm within the population.
"Are all humans human, or are some more human than others?" asks Roméo Dallaire.
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Joel H. Rosenthal
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01/26/05
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"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 force or special commission--to review senior-level policy misjudgments that resulted in systematic abuses in at least three separate locations: Guantanamo Bay, Afghanistan, and Iraq (Abu Ghraib)."
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Elizabeth A. Cole
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01/21/05
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"Ghost town, ghost train, ghost writer, and now "ghost detainees"--one of the most chilling phrases to enter our language emerged from revelations about torture at Abu Ghraib Prison in Baghdad and other sites."
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Joel H. Rosenthal
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11/02/04
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"The old rules are fine. They give us all the normative guidance we need. But that said, these old rules and the principles they instantiate do need to be considered in light of new circumstances—specifically the challenge presented by a nonstate actor with an avowed goal of violating just about any rule that we hold dear."
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Elizabeth Oglesby
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09/01/04
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Carnegie Council Fellow Elizabeth Oglesby investigates to what degree the findings of the Guatemalan Historical Clarification Commission [CEH], have been integrated into secondary school history programs, how this happened and what are the politics of post-war and post-Commission education in Guatemala today.
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Arnold E. Resnicoff
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06/28/04
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"Ethics is a complex issue, and more so in war when our nation rightly sanctions deadly force in ways unacceptable in peace. But, . . we must control our outrage before rage takes control of us. We must defend the values and beliefs that make us what we are, and who we must remain."
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Paul W. Blackstock
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06/23/04
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First published in May 1970 during the Vietnam War, this WORLDVIEW magazine article is just as relevant today.
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Kai Erikson,
Elizabeth A. Cole
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04/05/04
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Distinguished sociologist Kai Erikson described his many journeys to the town of Pakrac, in the former Yugoslavia, beginning during the war in 1992, and the interviews he conducted with current and former residents of the town.
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Aryeh Neier,
Andrew Kuper,
Richard Goldstone
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03/31/04
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Failing to draw adequately on international law, the model of democracy promoted by the Bush administration is neither effective nor legitimate in the eyes of local populations and the international community. Actions are proposed by which the U.S. may regain its position as a standard-bearer on civil and political rights.
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Eric Davis,
Elizabeth A. Cole
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02/17/04
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Report of an 2/17/04 "Beyond History and Memory" seminar, a series cosponsored by the Council's History and the Politics of Reconciliation Program and Columbia University.
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Ira Katznelson,
Gayatri Spivak,
Elizabeth A. Cole
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02/02/04
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The "desolation" of the 20th century--the total war of the two World Wars, the totalitarian regimes of both the right and left, and the Holocaust--has raised questions that scholars are still struggling to answer. For example, how did major political philosophers in the post-war period
account for the failure of the European Enlightenment?
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Thomas Carothers,
John Cavanagh,
Michael W. Doyle,
Sakiko Fukuda-Parr,
Andrew Kuper,
Adam Przeworski,
Mary Robinson,
Joseph E. Stiglitz
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01/27/04
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A panel of high-level peers meet at the Council to discuss multilateral strategies for democracy promotion. Impatient with the usual critique, they begin with two questions: What is the state of democratization in the world today? How have democracy promotion strategies changed since 9/11, given the transformed U.S. agenda of war on terror?
What role does history play in political reconciliation, and what role can historians play in public debates about the past? What can they contribute to the search for state and institutional accountability for historical injustices? Could the work of historians brought together from across the national or ethnic lines of old conflicts be a complement to the work of other institutions such as truth commissions and tribunals? Summary Report on a Meeting for a Historical Commission Project, April 3-5, 2003.
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Carolyn Boyd,
David A. Crocker,
Elizabeth A. Cole
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06/25/03
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Boyd and Crocker discuss Spain as a case study of the problems raised by the process of development and democratization in a country that must also contend with a difficult past.
What form does the Spanish collective memory about the civil war take today, and how can we assess the Spanish attempt to reckon with the past in light of the nation's successful transition to a modern European democracy? At this workshop, presentations by Carolyn Boyd and David Crocker explore these issues against the backdrop of Spanish history.
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Anthony F. Lang, Jr.
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04/17/03
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This report draws on a conference held at the Carnegie Council headquarters on February 15, 2001. The conference, co-sponsored by the Begin-Sadat
Center for Strategic Studies, was attended by Israelis, Arabs, Europeans, and Americans.
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Scott A. Silverstone
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02/27/03
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During his commencement address to West Point graduates in June 2002, President Bush set in motion an extraordinary national and international debate over waging war with Iraq. What makes this debate particularly important in terms of both American foreign policy and international relations theory is that it represents the first time the United States, or any democracy, has so openly debated and approved of fighting a preventive war. Moreover, this case would represent the first time a democracy has actually fought a preventive war.
Kosovo was not the first military campaign termed a "humanitarian intervention." But it did rekindle debate on whether and when a state or group of states may use force with the stated aim of preventing or ending widespread and grave violations of fundamental human rights of individuals other than their own citizens.
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Anthony F. Lang, Jr.
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11/13/02
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Rules for distinguishing between civilians and soldiers during armed conflict have been around since the medieval period, but the debate surrounding recent civilian deaths in Afghanistan and the Gaza Strip suggest that, while legal principles exist that govern these areas, the moral debate is far from over.
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Joel H. Rosenthal
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06/19/02
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Can Bush and his team enter the next phase of the war on terrorism without
falling victim to the hazard of excessive moralizing?
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Elizabeth A. Cole,
Paige Arthur
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05/13/02
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The revelation that former senator Bob Kerrey murdered innocent women and children in Vietnam has exposed a sharp division in American public opinion over questions of military ethics and one of the sharpest divisions in American reactions is between generations.
Debates over political expressions of regret, apology, reparations, and historical injustice have become increasingly important around the world. Do we share a common framework and vocabulary for this search across cultures and national boundaries? Levy considers how the Holocaust plays such an important role.
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Anthony F. Lang, Jr.,
Leonard Hammer,
Bahman Baktiari
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11/19/01
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How and where should we try the world's most infamous criminals? Does the trial of Slobodan Milosevic at The Hague provide support for trying al Qaida members in an international court?
Should Rights NGOs Ever Advocate Armed Intervention in Human Rights Crises? Has September 11 adversely affected relations between international and local rights NGOs? What is the proper role of international NGOs in shaping post-conflict institutions?
At the October 25-26 Carnegie Council conference "The Search for a Usable Past," a group of scholars discusses the question "What ought we elect to remember?"
From the perspective of the Western just war tradition—which includes the requirement that the use of force be proportionate to the threatened danger—nuclear retaliation for a chemical attack would raise serious problems.
Human rights advocates and conflict resolution specialists working in war-torn societies share the common goal of constructing stable societies based on the rule of law, but their approaches are often at odds. On July 16-17, 2001, the Carnegie Council, with the support of the United States Institute of Peace, held a workshop aimed at fostering dialogue, bringing together approximately 20 representatives from the two communities.
Report on an International Faculty Development Seminar held From June 3-5, 2001, in Lublin, Poland, sponsored by the Carnegie Council, Jagiellonian University, and Brama Grodzka.
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J. Peter Scoblic,
Nina Tannenwald
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05/11/01
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Public panel in Washington, D.C., cosponsored with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and The Century Foundation.
Participants examine the social costs of the conflict in Afghanistan -- exacerbated by the policies of the ruling Taliban regime -- and the local, regional, and international communities' responses. The symposium considers U.S. and international policy options and mechanisms to support reconstruction.
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Joel H. Rosenthal
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04/19/01
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Is American policy drifting toward an approach that could be labeled "willing to kill but not to die?" If we consider ourselves a moral nation, our next task ought to be a serious reassessment of our professed goals in relation to the price we are willing to pay to achieve them.
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John L. Washburn
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04/19/01
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The International Criminal Court will indict individuals, not governments, and it will try only those accused of especially horrible crimes that "shock the conscience of humankind," such as genocidists, mass rapists, and war criminals. The U.S. is now the only democratic country in open opposition to the court.
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Mohamed Sacirbey,
Paul van Zyl
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03/27/01
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This report on the Balkans Forum held on Capitol Hill by the Carnegie Council's Conflict Prevention Program includes annotated links to primary source information, special reports, thought-provoking online articles, online debates, and video/audio features on the ethical issues surrounding the question of aid to Serbia and the punishment of Milosevic.
Is a deepening clash between human rights and national security inevitable?
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Anthony F. Lang, Jr.
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02/15/01
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When it comes to issues such as imposing sanctions, pursuing assassination, overthrowing regimes, and waging war, the moral questions may be the most important ones.
The current war in Colombia has been raging for at least four decades, but civil conflict has been present in Colombia at least since the time of colonization. Economic inequalities, political marginalization, a lack of a viable national development model, and the absence of the rule of law are some of the key underlying causes that have led to the now seemingly uncontrollable violence that has engulfed this country at the northern tip of South America.
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Harold H. Koh,
Aleksa Djilas
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10/16/00
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Balkans forum participants discuss Kostunica's surprise victory and the next steps towards democratic consolidation in Serbia.
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Warren Zimmermann
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09/18/00
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For the last ten years the succession of crises in the Balkans has challenged the international community to devise a long-term policy aimed at resolving and preventing conflict in the region. At the inaugural meeting of the Council's Balkans Forum, keynote speaker Warren Zimmermann exhorted the United States and its European allies to meet that challenge over the coming decade.
Security issues do not justify many of the inconsistencies in how Israel treats its Arab minority.
#19 (2000): India's Nuclear Tests: The Consequences for International Security
Nuclear testing in South Asia broke the global norm against proliferation and testing. How did India's rejection of the NPT and CTBT impact the cause of disarmament? What can the international community do to further disarmament?
Why was Somalia selected for intervention, when so many areas are in crisis? The realist argues that the U.S. must be selective; the globalist that global order and standards are essential to national interest.
For the international community to recognize the legitimacy of a successor state, that state must be held accountable for its political crimes. For Russia, the ethical imperative is full disclosure regarding the Wallenberg kidnapping.
This case study raises the question: What is the moral and political responsibility of the international community if the Greek and Turkish Cypriots resume the "ethnic cleansing" practices of the 1960s and 1970s?
In an imaginary dialogue about the Kurds between officials from the State, Treasury, Defense departments, CIA, and National Security Council staff, the Bush administration policy is that "a serious human rights policy is inconsistent with diplomacy."
In this first major challenge to the post-Cold War visions of a "New World Order," the U.S. task was to balance the allure of traditional military force and great power diplomacy with attempts to define the concept of common security.
This case study confronts the question of "American purpose" in light of the Gulf War. Will the U.S. continue to be the world's policeman, and how will it determine what is a violation of its interests and what is not?
Miller examines the questions of moral choice posed for U.S. policy makers by the evolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the grappling of the Carter, Reagan, and Bush administrations with a "conflict of rights" of legitimate nationalisms.
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Rhoda E. Howard,
Jack Donnelly
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From 1977 to 1989, the period of the Carter and Reagan administrations, Canada did not support the U.S.-backed Contra rebels; their policy rested on differing views about human rights and their place in foreign policy.
The U.S. ratified the Geneva Protocol on January 22, 1975, the last major industrial power to do so. Harbour discusses the importance of ethical argument in policy making and in the legislative process.
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Terry Nardin,
Kathleen D. Pritchard
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This case study considers the non-intervention principle with respect to Grenada and raises questions about the ethical issues at the heart of efforts to justify or place limits on armed intervention.
This case analyzes the "ritualistic" nature of terrorism by the PIRA and counterterrorism by the British authorities, the meaning of nationalism, justification of the use of force, and the cycle of "justice" and "revenge."
Lecture followed by symposium, in which a select group of people who have long been concerned with U.S. foreign policy joined Dr. Morgenthau in a discussion of issues that were central to his presentation. PDF available, click on title.
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Alberto J. Mora,
Dan Rather,
Joel H. Rosenthal
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11/02/06
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Former Navy General Counsel Alberto Mora fought to stop policies that authorized cruelty toward terror suspects. "Cruelty harms our nation's legal, foreign policy, and national security interests," says Mora. "I can't put it any plainer than that."
Archeologists estimate that there are 20,000-100,000 ancient sites in Iraq, most of them not yet excavated. The removal of artifacts from these sites could prove even more devastating than the loss of museum pieces, many of which have been catalogued and studied, making them easier to track down or identify once recovered.
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John E. (Jack) Becker
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10/01/04
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Should we have gone to war with Iraq? Having gone, were we at all prepared for the reception we got? What do we need to do when what we are doing seems to make no sense at all? We need what these two books, each in its own forceful and important way, help us to do. We need to step back, look into the past, and see how we got into this mess.
As of this writing, the 2003 Iraq war is in many ways incomplete, as is
lingering conflict in Afghanistan and other far corners not in daily news
reports. Questions remain about ends and means, targets and tactics. Gray areas
have emerged. Moral principles are being tested.
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Joel H. Rosenthal
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05/06/04
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"For me, the way into the study of ethics and international affairs begins with the concept of choice", says Rosenthal. "Ethics is a reflection on the choices one makes and the values that come into play when making those choices: how do you justify your decisions? It’s the weighing up of competing moral claims."
Nowadays a red cross, a white flag, or a blue helmet is as likely to be a target as a shield--as tragically evidenced by the bombing of the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and UN mission in Baghdad in August 2003.
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Sayyed Nadeem Kazmi,
Stuart Leiderman
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04/27/04
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Saddam Hussein drained Iraq's southern marshlands as part of a deliberate strategy to destroy the lives of the region's indigenous inhabitants. As Sayyed Nadeem Kazmi and Stuart M. Leiderman explain, restoring this fragile ecosystem should be a fundamental imperative in the new Iraq.
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Joel H. Rosenthal
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03/04/04
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Carnegie and Morgenthau make an instructive pair, explains Council President Joel Rosenthal. Carnegie, an idealist, stood for "never again war," while Morgenthau stood for "never again genocide."
Democracies survive if per capita GDP surpasses $6,000, but developing countries have little chance of crossing this threshold. To make democracy work in such contexts, multiple international stakeholders must become involved in local communities. Without such support, democracy may be swept away by tides of militancy and militarism.
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John E. (Jack) Becker
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11/03/03
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Bacevich argues that America is an empire on the basis of the events of recent decades. His narrative argument is nicely complemented by Chua’s thoughtful evidence of the impossible task confronting an American imperium. The satisfying clarity of the argument in both cases leaves us wondering if, being an empire, we understand our limits, or whether there can ever be an empire
which understands its limits.
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Elizabeth A. Cole
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10/23/03
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In the early days of reconstruction, might Iraq in fact be better off focusing on its distant rather than recent past? An effort to restore the looted Iraq National Museum, with its wealth of ancient treasures attesting to the region’s glory days, might do more to restore a sense of national pride and belonging than an atrocity museum, with all of its potential to divide rather than unify.
The most distinguishing feature of the "new war" on terrorism is the moral framework in which it has been cast. Following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the Bush administration abandoned its rhetoric of arch-realism--emphasizing core national interests over humanitarian concerns--for one of robust moralism.
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Scott A. Silverstone
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08/19/03
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As Rosenthal pointed out, the initial stages of the American-led war on terrorism--in particular, the war on al-Qaeda and the Taliban--enjoyed broad international support, whereas the 2nd phase, Operation Iraqi Freedom, destroyed this sense of collective purpose. I take issue, however, with Rosenthal’s statement that key European allies disagreed with the United States "over means, not ends."
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Joel H. Rosenthal
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08/19/03
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The projection of American power inspires the great debate of our time. Is the United States a twenty-first century empire, and if so, what kind? If “empire” is not the right term, what is?
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General Wesley K. Clark (ret.),
Joel H. Rosenthal
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05/28/03
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Describing the experience of leading NATO to victory in Kosovo, General Wesley K. Clark (ret.) notes that, when he returned to the United States the following summer, "many people didn't even know there had been a fight."
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Joel H. Rosenthal
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04/22/03
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The war on terrorism began with moral clarity and a widely accepted road map for immediate action. For 18 months there was strong international consensus on three issues: global condemnation of terrorist tactics, relentless pursuit of the al-Qaeda network, and the need for regime change in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. All of this changed on March 19, 2003, with the launching of
Operation Iraqi Freedom--a dramatic new turn in the new war.
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Elizabeth A. Cole
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02/20/03
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In the first-ever Japan-North Korea summit last September, North Korean leader
Kim Jong Il apologized for the forced abductions of thirteen Japanese nationals
who were taken to North Korea in the late 1970s and early 1980s. North Korea had
previously denied responsibility for these--and many other--disappearances; and
for years the issue has soured relations between the two countries.
In “Justice After War,” Lang and Cox are right to look beyond a potential war with Iraq to contemplate what will--and should--come after the current regime is gone. Nevertheless, they fail to identify the primary consideration that should govern the rebuilding of Iraq and its institutions, and that is security.
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Anthony F. Lang, Jr.,
Mary-Lea Cox
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12/13/02
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On October 11, 2002, President Bush back-pedaled from a suggested plan to install an American-led military government in Iraq, stating that the United States "would never seek to impose our culture or our form of government on another nation." Yet an administration that was elected on a platform of "no nation-building" now finds itself involved in rebuilding Afghanistan even as it contemplates "regime change" in Iraq.
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Jehan Perera,
Alan Keenan,
Jeevan Thiagarajah
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03/25/02
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When the conflict is divided along ethnic lines, coordination of groups on the ground becomes all the more complicated, reports Jehan Perera. Alan Keenan and Jeevan Thiagarajah offer comments.
