Blog
Further on Pandemics, Solidarity and Narratives
Building on an earlier piece in Ethics and International Affairs on the erosion of international solidarity in a time of pandemic, the Carnegie Council held a webinar this past week to explore the question of dissolving ethics at a time when globalization is fracturing. A point raised in that discussion: My sense is that when […]
Senator Sanders Departs … But What of His Foreign Policy Narrative?
Senator Bernie Sanders has ended his campaign to obtain the Democratic Party’s nomination for the Presidency, but said that he will remain on primary ballots continue to amass delegates in an effort, as he put it, to shape the direction of the party. For his part, the presumptive nominee, former Vice President Joe Biden, has […]
Covid-19: Eroding the Ethics of Solidarity?
One reason why I have never been a fan of the term “international community” is because I am not sure that the politicians and pundits who use the term have fully accepted the ethical commitments that come from naming something as a community. A community, if understood in the context of the classical Greek term […]
Narratives, Priorities and Defense Spending
Is the experience of the Covid-19 pandemic, more than any reports issued by think tanks and platforms developed by candidates, going to have major changes in how Americans perceive foreign policy? David Barno and Nora Bensahel make the following critical observation in a recent essay for War on the Rocks: A poll taken in February […]
Hungary and the Values Test
In the wake of the Hungarian parliament’s vote to allow the executive to rule by decree, Fred Kaplan argues that it is time to consider expelling Hungary from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on the grounds that the country no longer upholds the liberal-democratic values that should form the basis of the security association. He […]
Borders in the Time of COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us of the significance of borders. While much attention has been paid to debates surrounding Donald Trump’s campaign promise to build an “impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful southern border wall,” the current crisis reveals that governments seeking to restrict mobility rely only partly (and increasingly rarely) on brick and mortar.
Does Covid-19 Change International Relations?
Does a global pandemic change the nature of international affairs? Is it likely to foster international cooperation, or will it promote disintegrative tendencies within the global system–as nations seek to disconnect themselves? Could we see renewed efforts at “decoupling” countries and rethinking global supply chains and transport networks? Moreover, will different nations see the pandemic […]
What Do Americans Think …
The U.S. Global Engagement Project at the Carnegie Council has been conducting a survey of attitudes about U.S. foreign policy with an eye to understanding where Americans are prepared to accept risks or prioritize tradeoffs with competing clusters of values and interests. While the survey is still running, I’d like to share some preliminary tabulations. […]
