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Joseph S. Nye, Jr.

Joseph S. Nye, Jr.

Writing for PS since 2002
256 commentaries
3 videos & podcasts

Joseph S. Nye, Jr., an emeritus professor at Harvard Kennedy School and a former US assistant secretary of defense, is the author of Do Morals Matter? Presidents and Foreign Policy from FDR to Trump (Oxford University Press, 2020) and A Life in the American Century (Polity Press, 2024).

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  1. How to Prevent a War Over Taiwan
    nye255_Pictures From HistoryUniversal Images Group via Getty Images_nixonmao Pictures From History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

    How to Prevent a War Over Taiwan

    Apr 8, 2024 Joseph S. Nye, Jr. explains what can be done to keep the peace between America and an increasingly assertive China.

  2. Joseph S. Nye, Jr., on nuclear risk, American hubris, great-power competition, and more
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    Joseph S. Nye, Jr., on nuclear risk, American hubris, great-power competition, and more

    Apr 2, 2024 Joseph S. Nye, Jr. calls for restoring the credibility of the US nuclear umbrella, highlights the role of nongovernmental agencies in international relations, worries that the US will play its cards poorly vis-à-vis China, and more.

  3. Is Nuclear Proliferation Back?
    nye253_TEH ENG KOONAFP via Getty Images_nuvclear TEH ENG KOON/AFP via Getty Images

    Is Nuclear Proliferation Back?

    Mar 5, 2024 Joseph S. Nye, Jr. considers lessons from his own work on preventing the spread of the technology in the 1970s.

  4. American Greatness and Decline
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    American Greatness and Decline

    Feb 1, 2024 Joseph S. Nye, Jr. warns that populist nationalism at home is by far the biggest threat to US power.

  5. What Killed US-China Engagement?
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    What Killed US-China Engagement?

    Jan 4, 2024 Joseph S. Nye, Jr. revisits the events and trends that led to the policy’s demise in the mid-2010s.

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  1. deryugina1_BEN BIRCHALLPOOLAFP via Getty Images_ukraineflagsoldier Ben Birchall/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
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    Ukraine Is Far From Doomed

    Tatyana Deryugina & Anastassia Fedyk

    When comparing Ukraine’s situation in 2024 to Europe’s in 1941, Russia’s defeat seems entirely possible. But it will require the West, and the US in particular, to put aside domestic political squabbles and muster the political will to provide Ukraine with consistent and robust military and financial assistance.

     compare Russia's full-scale invasion to World War II and see reason to hope – as long as aid keeps flowing.
  2. glennerster2_Scott OlsonGetty Images)_vaccines Scott Olson/Getty Images)
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    The Pandemic Financing Developing Countries Need

    Rachel Glennerster urges multilateral development banks to establish mechanisms that enable at-risk vaccine purchases.
  3. krueger74_AFP via Getty Images_nigercoup AFP via Getty Images
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    The Geopolitics of Africa’s Debt Crisis

    Anne O. Krueger urges developed countries to back efforts by the IMF and the World Bank to promote growth-enhancing reforms.
  4. palacio156_ Georg Moritzpicture alliance via Getty Images_immigation Georg Moritz/picture alliance via Getty Images
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    Why the EU’s New Migration Pact Matters

    Ana Palacio applauds the pragmatic coalition-building, especially by Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, that enabled the deal.
  5. kirchschlager1_Fatih AktasAnadolu Agency via Getty Images_AI Fatih AktasAnadolu Agency via Getty Images
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    AI Needs UN Oversight

    Peter G. Kirchschläger calls for the creation of a watchdog – similar to the IAEA – that employs a human rights-based approach.
  6. chellaney_VCGVCG via Getty Images_china military VCG/VCG via Getty Images
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    The West Is Hastening Its Own Decline

    Brahma Chellaney argues that the unprecedented US and European sanctions against Russia are backfiring.
  7. zizek29_Sebastian Gollnowpicture alliance via Getty Images_palestine congress germany Sebastian Gollnowpicture alliance via Getty Images
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    Canceling Palestine

    Slavoj Žižek

    Current debates about Israeli policy are rife with double standards, leading to absurd decisions like Germany’s recent cancellation of a pro-Palestinian gathering. By quashing legitimate speech and assembly, an Israel-aligned establishment risks inciting precisely the kind of anti-Semitism that it wants to prevent.

     worries that the double standards applied on Israel’s behalf will lead to an anti-Semitic backlash.
  8. ackerman2_Brian van der Brug Los Angeles Times via Getty Images_preschool Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
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    America’s Childcare Is Unfit for the Postmodern Age

    Bruce Ackerman urges US President Joe Biden to put universal preschool at the center of his re-election campaign.
  9. acemoglu72_ Hulton ArchiveGetty Images_cottonhandweaving Hulton Archive/Getty Images
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    History Already Tells Us the Future of AI

    Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson find policy lessons for the 2020s in the work of the early-nineteenth-century economist David Ricardo.

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