In Memory of Joseph S. Nye, Jr.
This week, our beloved Co-Founder Joseph S. Nye, Jr. passed away at the age of 88. One of our “founding three,” Joe, along with Brent Scowcroft and William J. Perry, created the Aspen Strategy Group in 1984.
For tributes from our Co-Chairs Nicholas Burns and Condoleezza Rice, our Executive Director Anja Manuel, Aspen Institute President Daniel Porterfield, and other friends of the Aspen Strategy Group, please see here.
As we celebrate his lifetime of public service, we reflect on Joe’s profound impact on national security and foreign policy.
The Origins and Culture of the Aspen Strategy Group
“…[T]he Aspen Strategy Group has managed to develop and maintain an all too rare culture of bipartisan listening. Long may it flourish!” — Joe Nye
Read “The Origins and Culture of the Aspen Strategy Group” here.
Joe Nye’s Contributions Aspen Strategy Group Publications
“AI and National Security” for Intelligent Defense: Navigating National Security in the Age of AI (2024)
“Not Destined for War” for Rapid Technological Change and Its Impact on U.S. National Security Strategy (2023)
“America’s China Challenge” for Towards a New Rules-Based Order (2022)
“The United States, China, and Democracy” for Democracy’s Future: Abroad and at Home (2021)
Mind the Gap: Priorities for Transatlantic China Policy (2021)
“A Strategy for China” for Domestic and International (Dis)Order: A Strategic Response (2020)
“The Rise of China” for The Struggle for Power: U.S.-China Relations in the 21st Century (2020)
“The Third Annual Ernest May Memorial Lecture: Nuclear Lessons for Cybersecurity?” for Securing Cyberspace: A New Domain for National Security (2012)
“Soft Power and Smart Power” for The Instruments and Institutions of American Purpose (2009)
Through the Years
Highlighting Joe Nye’s Contributions to the Public Discourse
Do Morals Matter? Presidents and Foreign Policy from FDR to Trump (2020)
The Future of Power (2011)
The Powers to Lead (2008)
Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics (2004)
The Paradox of American Power: Why the World’s Only Superpower Can’t Go It Alone (2002)
Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power (1990)
Nuclear Ethics (1986)
Power and Interdependence: World Politics in Transition (1977, with Robert O. Keohane)
Pan-Africanism and East African Integration (1965)
Foreign Affairs: “Remembering Joseph Nye: A Leading Scholar of International Relations”
Project Syndicate: “Lessons from a Scholar of Power”
From the Archives Revisit Joe’s conversation with the Financial Times‘ Gideon Rachman, “Do Morals Matter: Presidents and Foreign Policy from FDR to Trump,” from the 2020 Aspen Security Forum.
Revisit Joe’s conversation on A Life in the American Century (2024)
with Ambassador Robert Zoellick.
A Life in the American Century
“For the past eight decades, we have lived in ‘the American Century’ – a period during which the U.S. has enjoyed unrivalled power – be it political, economic, or military – on the global stage. Born on the cusp of this new era, Joseph S. Nye, Jr. has spent a lifetime illuminating our understanding of the changing contours of America power and world affairs. His many books on the nature of power and political leadership have rightly earned him his reputation as one of the most influential international relations scholars in the world today.
In this deeply personal book, Joseph Nye shares his own journey living through the American century, from his early years growing up on a farm in rural New Jersey to his time in the State Department, Pentagon, and Intelligence Community during the Carter and Clinton administrations where he witnessed American power up close, shaping policy on key issues such as nuclear proliferation and East Asian security. After 9/11 drew the U.S. into wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Nye remained an astute observer and critic of the Bush, Obama, and Trump presidencies. Today American primacy may be changing, but he concludes with a faint ray of guarded optimism about the future of his country in a richer but riskier world.”
Please note that The Weekly Leaf newsletter will be out tomorrow, May 10.
