The Herbert C. Kelman Seminar on International Conflict Analysis and Resolution presents:
Do Morals Matter?
Presidents and Foreign Policy from FDR to Trump
A virtual book talk with:
Joseph S. Nye, Jr.
University Distinguished Service Professor, Emeritus and former Dean,
Harvard Kennedy School
Wednesday, September 16, 2020
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm, EDT
Free and open to the public.
About the book:
In Do Morals Matter?, Joseph S. Nye, Jr., one of the world’s leading scholars of international relations, provides a concise yet penetrating analysis of the role of ethics in US foreign policy during the post-1945 era. Working through each presidency from Truman to Trump, Nye scores their foreign policy on three ethical dimensions: their intentions, the means they used, and the consequences of their decisions. Alongside this, he evaluates their leadership qualities, elaborating on which approaches work and which ones do not.
Since we so often apply moral reasoning to foreign policy, Nye suggests how to do it better. Crucially, presidents must factor in both the political context and the availability of resources when deciding how to implement an ethical policy–especially in a future international system that presents not only great power competition from China and Russia, but transnational threats as borders become porous to everything from drugs, infectious diseases, terrorism, cyber criminals, and climate change.
Books may be purchased here: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/do-morals-matter-9780190935962?q=do%20morals%20matter&lang=en&cc=us
About the speaker:
Joseph S. Nye, Jr. is University Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus and former Dean of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He received his bachelor’s degree summa cum laude from Princeton University, won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford, and earned a Ph.D. in political science from Harvard. Nye has served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Chair of the National Intelligence Council, and a Deputy Under Secretary of State. His most recent books include: The Powers to Lead; The Future of Power; Presidential Leadership and the Creation of the American Era; and Do Morals Matter? Presidents and Foreign Policy from FDR to Trump. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the British Academy, and the American Academy of Diplomacy.
In a recent survey of international relations scholars, Nye was ranked as the most influential scholar on American foreign policy, and in 2011, Foreign Policy named him one of the top 100 Global Thinkers. In 2014, Japan awarded him the Order of the Rising Sun.
About the Herbert C. Kelman Seminar Series:
The Herbert C. Kelman Seminar on International Conflict Analysis and Resolution series is sponsored by the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, The Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, and Boston area members of the Alliance for Peacebuilding. The theme of the Kelman Seminar is “Negotiation, Conflict, and the News Media”.
For more information, contact Donna Hicks at dhicks@wcfia.harvard.edu.
