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Power Problems • November 14, 2023 

# The Realism of Reinhold Niebuhr 

Christopher Chivvis, director of the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, discusses the work of renowned realist thinker Reinhold Niebuhr. He explores Niebuhr’s views on war, politics, and American Exceptionalism, and argues that Niebuhr’s restraint-oriented ideas are just what is needed in contemporary debates about U.S. foreign and national security policy, particularly with respect to the rivalry with China.

**Show Notes**

- [Christopher Chivvis bio](https://carnegieendowment.org/experts/2038)
- Christopher S. Chivvis, “[The Humility of Restraint: Niebuhr’s Insights for a More Grounded Twenty-First-Century American Foreign Policy](https://carnegieendowment.org/2021/11/22/humility-of-restraint-niebuhr-s-insights-for-more-grounded-twenty-first-century-american-foreign-policy-pub-85806),” Carnegie Endowment for International Peace working paper, November 22, 2021.
- Christopher S. Chivvis, “[Some Politicians Seem Comfortable with the Idea of a New Cold War. They Shouldn’t](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/2023/feb/27/new-cold-war-russia-ukraine-biden-republicans-china).” *The Guardian*, February 22, 2023.

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). 

##### Featuring 

![Christopher Chivvis](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2025-05/Christopher%20Chivvis.jpg?itok=-zaBUZRy) 

##### Christopher Chivvis 

Director, American Statecraft Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

![John Glaser](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-01/John%20Glaser.jpg?itok=-uvxR8zG) 

##### John Glaser 

Host, Power Problems Podcast

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](https://twitter.com/jwcglaser)