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Joseph S. Nye, Jr.

Joseph S. Nye, Jr.

Writing for PS since 2002
265 commentaries
3 videos & podcasts

Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Professor Emeritus at Harvard University, is a former US assistant secretary of defense and 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. What Are the BRICS Good For?
    nye265_GettyImages_modi_putin_xi Getty Images

    What Are the BRICS Good For?

    Jan 2, 2025 Joseph S. Nye, Jr. explains why the group of major emerging economies will not become the new fulcrum of world politics.

  2. Anticipating Trump’s Foreign Policy
    Pool/Getty Images

    Anticipating Trump’s Foreign Policy

    Dec 4, 2024 Joseph S. Nye, Jr. considers what can be gleaned from the president-elect’s past statements, recent appointments, and US history.

  3. Political Protest and the University
    nye263_JOSEPH PREZIOSOAFP via Getty Images_harvard protest JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images

    Political Protest and the University

    Oct 31, 2024 Joseph S. Nye, Jr. thinks the 1960s have a lot to teach university leaders about today’s campus protests.

  4. What Would Victory in Ukraine Look Like?
    haass167_ANATOLII STEPANOVAFP via Getty Images_ukrainesoldiers Anatolii Stepanov/AFP via Getty Images

    What Would Victory in Ukraine Look Like?

    Oct 8, 2024 Joseph S. Nye, Jr. considers what kind of peace settlement Ukraine might be able to accept in the near term.

  5. US Foreign Policy in 2025
    nye261_Kevin DietschGetty Images_us election Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

    US Foreign Policy in 2025

    Sep 5, 2024 Joseph S. Nye, Jr. compares the two presidential candidates’ attitudes and positions on major global issues.

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  1. fischer224_Chip SomodevillaGetty Images_trumpinauguration Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

    Trump at the Gates

    Joschka Fischer urges Europeans to recognize that they are now on their own in an increasingly dangerous world.
  2. stiglitz347_Kevin DietschGettyImages_bye_biden Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

    The End of Progress?

    Joseph E. Stiglitz

    Though the United States has long led the world in advancing basic science and technology, it is hard to see how this can continue under President Donald Trump and the country’s ascendant oligarchy. America’s rejection of Enlightenment values will have dire consequences.

    predicts that Donald Trump’s second administration will be defined by its rejection of Enlightenment values.
  3. varoufakis123_China PhotosGetty Images_chinayuandollar China Photos/Getty Images

    China’s Trump Dilemma

    Yanis Varoufakis

    Will the China hawks in Donald Trump’s administration railroad him into a confrontation that transcends tariffs and embraces financial sanctions of the type the US and the European Union imposed on Russia? If they do, China's leaders will have to decide whether to decouple from the dollar-based international monetary system.

    thinks the real choice facing Chinese leaders may be whether to challenge the dollar's hegemony head-on.
  4. lamy10_Badru KatumbaGettyImages_jackfruit_farmer Badru Katumba/Getty Images

    The Key to Narrowing the Development Gap

    Pascal Lamy, et al. explain how investments in African agri-food systems can advance many of the Sustainable Development Goals.
  5. galbraith39_rudall30Getty Images_businessmanforest rudall30/Getty Images

    Economists’ Way Out of the Wilderness

    James K. Galbraith argues that the continued dominance of nineteenth-century thinking has resulted in a catalogue of failure.
  6. benami221_Justin SullivanGetty Images_trump Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

    Trump the Revolutionary Isolationist

    Shlomo Ben-Ami hears echoes of the Monroe Doctrine in the US president's threats to acquire Greenland.
  7. hubbard4_Chen MengtongChina News ServiceVCG via Getty Images_scottbessent Chen Mengtong/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images

    How the Trump Administration Can Hit Its Growth Target

    Glenn Hubbard urges policymakers to focus on the three pillars of increased productivity.
  8. oneill129_Saul LoebGettyImages_us_treasury Saul Loeb/Getty Images

    Trump’s First Test Will Be the Bond Market

    Jim O'Neill wonders if recent market signals will keep the new administration’s radicalism in check.
  9. ahzhang19_Jaap ArriensNurPhoto via Getty Images_tiktok Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images

    The TikTok Boomerang

    Angela Huyue Zhang thinks the US government's ban on the app has left it in an untenable position.

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