Mission
We empower ethics by identifying and addressing the most critical ethical issues of today and tomorrow.
Founded by Andrew Carnegie over a century ago, Carnegie Council works to empower ethics across international relations and defend the moral principles of international cooperation, democracy, fidelity, and humanitarianism.
The Council’s Global Ethics Hub at 170 East 64th St in New York City is the only civic space with the sole purpose of empowering ethics in international affairs. It serves as a global gathering point for individuals, organizations, and institutions to convene in good faith to address humanity’s most pressing challenges
Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit institution.
"The Council is pressing forward with an agenda that centralizes a recommitment to values-based decision-making and ethical leadership defined by embracing the qualities of rigor, empathy, intellectual curiosity, and humility." – Carnegie Council President Joel Rosenthal
Work
We set the global ethical agenda and work for an ethical future from our Global Ethics Hub by:
Identifying emerging ethical issues across international affairs;
Convening leading practitioners, academics, and next-gen leaders to catalyze responses to global scale challenges;
Building active communities by embracing multilateralism and exploring shared values; and
Framing ethical perspectives by educating and engaging with audiences around the world.
Our Principles
- The commitment to international cooperation is a moral proposition because it goes to the essence of ethics—recognizing what is common for all, while managing the intrinsic and inevitable differences between and among people.
- The defense of democracy in the U.S. and globally requires confronting autocrats who discriminate based on ethnicity, gender, and religion, and who deny basic freedoms to their citizens.
- Fidelity means honesty, integrity, and a good-faith effort at serving the truth. Rhetoric certainly matters, and in an age of disinformation, leaders must fight against lies, willful deception, and deliberate misrepresentation of facts.
- The humanitarian imperative is the duty to save lives and alleviate suffering through humane and equal treatment. As violence and cruelty abound in conflict zones around the world, mounting effective humanitarian responses remains the essential moral imperative of our time.
Initiatives & Programs
Values & Interests
The Values & Interest podcast takes a deep dive into the ethical tensions and tradeoffs at the heart of decision-making across geopolitics, tech, philosophy, and business.
Carnegie Ethics Accelerator
The Carnegie Ethics Accelerator is a new kind of incubator designed to empower ethics in the face of swiftly evolving challenges in technology and public policies.
Carnegie Ethics Fellows
The Carnegie Ethics Fellows program (CEF) seeks to cultivate the next generation of ethical global leaders across business, policy, technology, NGOs, and academia.
Model International Mobility Convention
The primary goal of the Model International Mobility Convention (MIMC) is to formulate new rules for migration and asylum that can benefit both migrants and refugees as well as their states of origin, transit, and destination.
Ethics & International Affairs Journal
Ethics & International Affairs is the quarterly journal of Carnegie Council. It aims to close the gap between the theory and practice of ethics.
Global Ethics Day
Created by Carnegie Council, Global Ethics Day is an annual moment to empower ethics through the actions of individuals and organizations.