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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
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    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?
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    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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    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.
  2. 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.
  3. silber3_William Thomas CainGetty Images_trumpplazahotel William Thomas Cain/Getty Images
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    Trump and the Risk of a US Debt Default

    William L. Silber thinks the former president would be even more reckless if awarded another term this year.
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    Europe’s Red Tape Is Helping Russia

    Laurence Boone & Nicu Popescu

    The European Union’s cumbersome and narrowly defined regulations for public procurement and spending are not simply inadequate; they are dangerous. They weaken the bloc’s ability to protect itself from a broad range of Russian hybrid attacks while prolonging Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.

     propose a European Defense Production Act to help fast-track processes for public procurement and spending.
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    What to Look for in Trump’s First Trial

    Eric Posner

    The intricate legal issues and colorful characters in Donald Trump's criminal trials will undoubtedly keep the media and the viewing public enraptured for months to come. But when it comes to the 2024 election, all that really matters is how the defendant appears to a narrow sliver of undecided voters.

     points out that optics, more than the law or the facts, will be what matters most for the election.
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    AI Holds the Key to Resilient Cities

    Justina Nixon-Saintil surveys the technology's foreseeable applications in promoting urban sustainable development.
  7. ito36_ KAZUHIRO NOGIAFP via Getty Images_boj KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP via Getty Images
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    How Risky Is Japan’s Monetary-Policy Normalization?

    Takatoshi Ito considers the implications of the central bank’s exit from negative interest rates and quantitative easing.
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    As Families Change, So Must the Safety Net

    Neha Bansal urges governments to implement policies that promote intergenerational integration and solidarity.
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    The Language of Political Control

    Robert Skidelsky views recent linguistic innovations as manipulative efforts to compel “correct” thought and perception.

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