Carnegie Council Podcasts

Robert D. Kaplan, author and distinguished senior lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin, visited Carnegie Council in October to deliver the Third Charles W. Kegley, Jr. Annual Lecture, titled "Getting China Right: The Ultimate Moral Dilemma." The United States has a long history of misreading China. Whether misjudging the outcome of the Chinese Civil War in the 1940s, underestimating the severity of Mao Zedong's rule, or expecting that membership in the World Trade Organization would encourage a shift toward free markets and democracy, American assessments have often diverged from reality. The stakes are now higher. Similar miscalculations today could carry consequences on the scale of World War I. Bestselling author Robert D. Kaplan, who has spent decades studying and reporting on China and East Asian geopolitics, addresses one of the central ethical questions for realism in our time: How can the U.S. avoid miscalculating again in its approach to China? Following the lecture, Kaplan was joined by Stephen D. Hibbard, former chair of Carnegie Council, for further discussion of this topic and reflections on his career covering some of the most significant geopolitical events in recent history. For more, please go to: https://carnegiecouncil.co/kegley-lecture-robert-d-kaplan

Asha Rangappa, a former FBI special agent and current senior lecturer at the Yale Jackson School of Global Affairs, joins "Values & Interests" to discuss how the weaponization of institutions has tested American democracy, why she still believes in public service, and the need to rediscover political courage as a moral imperative. This episode was recorded on October 21, prior to the U.S. midterm elections. Be sure to subscribe to "Carnegie Council" wherever you stream your podcasts. Access all "Values & Interests" episodes: https://carnegiecouncil.co/values-interests-podcast

Over two years, our Carnegie Ethics Fellows have been meeting with professionals across the international affairs field to learn about ethical decision-making, develop their capabilities, and become examples of values-driven responsible leadership. The Fellows have also been working on group projects around emerging ethical issues: water ethics, AI in healthcare, ethics of economic and national security, and the ethics of AI in humanitarian response.  For their culminating experience, the Fellows hosted the Carnegie Ethics Fellows Symposium on October 15, 2026, a day-long conference to discuss their projects, alongside experts working on these topics.  For more, please go to: https://carnegiecouncil.co/cef-symposium-2026

How does ethics shape the way we understand and respond to the defining challenges of our time? For Global Ethics Day 2026, experts from across disciplines convened to examine what it means to re-center ethics in a fragmented and rapidly changing world at Carnegie Council's flagship event, attended virtually by people from 69 different countries. The discussion spanned finance and governance, climate change, the impact of emerging technologies, and more. How do different sectors weigh questions of responsibility, accountability, and judgment?

How do we explain breakthroughs in international cooperation that seem to defy the odds, especially during periods of great power competition and geopolitical tension? The answer centers on social power: the capacity of transnational networks—groups of individuals who transcend national boundaries at the societal or elite levels—to champion transformational ideas that reshape global norms and move governments, without coercion or payment. This event showcases insights from "Transnational Political Networks and the Future of Global Order," a multi-year research initiative funded by the Andrew Carnegie Foundation and led by Northeastern University's Professor Mai'a K. Davis Cross. The project's core finding is that networks oriented toward the common good, operating at a global or regional scale, and pursuing transformational rather than transactional goals are consistently more likely to achieve cooperative breakthroughs. The convening brought together five key contributors to the project for a focused panel conversation running counter to geopolitical pessimism, with topics ranging from AI to human rights to Russia's war against Ukraine to environmental protection. This event was generously supported by the Andrew Carnegie Foundation.