In 1945, former Carnegie president James T. Shotwell led a delegation of advisers to the conference where the United Nations charter was drafted. Shotwell persuaded the U.S. delegation to insert an amendment in the draft UN charter that established the permanent UN Commission on Human Rights. “I have never had a more inspiring experience,” Shotwell reflected in his autobiography, “than that of helping, at last, to weld [our] aspirations for peace into a world-wide organization.”

Beginning in the 1970s, the Carnegie Endowment developed a long-term agenda for the reduction of nuclear security risks, focusing on bilateral and multilateral negotiation as the best means of reducing the threat posed by nuclear weapons. In subsequent decades, Carnegie became the premier authoritative source of expertise on nonproliferation.

In 2002, Carnegie took an active role in assessing and helping to shape the U.S. responses to the threat of terrorism following the September 11, 2001, attacks. In the run-up to the Iraq War, the endowment convened a working group to develop a set of unique proposals for a robust weapons of mass destruction inspections regime that might stop the slide toward war. UN Resolution 1441 incorporated several of the working group’s recommendations.

In 2018, Carnegie launched a multi-year research effort dedicated to developing a foreign policy that better meets the needs of America’s middle class. The bipartisan Middle Class Task Force undertook case studies in Ohio, Nebraska, and Colorado, working with local partners to delve into the perceptions and aspirations of the American middle class and the U.S. role in a globalized world. The task force concluded with a report that helped form the basis of President Joe Biden's reinvigorated foreign policy. It continues to provide a guidepost for decisionmakers at the White House, the State Department, and in governments of other developed economies.

In 1945, former Carnegie president James T. Shotwell led a delegation of advisers to the conference where the United Nations charter was drafted. Shotwell persuaded the U.S. delegation to insert an amendment in the draft UN charter that established the permanent UN Commission on Human Rights. “I have never had a more inspiring experience,” Shotwell reflected in his autobiography, “than that of helping, at last, to weld [our] aspirations for peace into a world-wide organization.”

Beginning in the 1970s, the Carnegie Endowment developed a long-term agenda for the reduction of nuclear security risks, focusing on bilateral and multilateral negotiation as the best means of reducing the threat posed by nuclear weapons. In subsequent decades, Carnegie became the premier authoritative source of expertise on nonproliferation.

In 2002, Carnegie took an active role in assessing and helping to shape the U.S. responses to the threat of terrorism following the September 11, 2001, attacks. In the run-up to the Iraq War, the endowment convened a working group to develop a set of unique proposals for a robust weapons of mass destruction inspections regime that might stop the slide toward war. UN Resolution 1441 incorporated several of the working group’s recommendations.

In 2018, Carnegie launched a multi-year research effort dedicated to developing a foreign policy that better meets the needs of America’s middle class. The bipartisan Middle Class Task Force undertook case studies in Ohio, Nebraska, and Colorado, working with local partners to delve into the perceptions and aspirations of the American middle class and the U.S. role in a globalized world. The task force concluded with a report that helped form the basis of President Joe Biden's reinvigorated foreign policy. It continues to provide a guidepost for decisionmakers at the White House, the State Department, and in governments of other developed economies.