Ethics in International Affairs (DHP-D203)

Fall 2026 · DHP D203 · Tufts University · 3 credits · Undergraduate

The purpose of this course is to introduce different ethical frameworks through which one can think about research, statecraft, decision-making, and leadership, and then consider how ethical dilemmas affect a variety of issue areas in international affairs. The first section of this course begins with philosophical foundations and introduces different modes of moral reasoning: consequentialism, deontological ethics, and virtue ethics. The following section considers how to conduct research in an ethical manner, whether for public or private purposes. The bulk of the course examines common ethical quandaries that emerge in different fields of study, including but not limited to: just war theory, the ethics of economic sanctions, how ethics and economics intersect, legal ethics, the ethics of peacebuilding and humanitarian action, ethics in large organizations, and so forth. The course is also intended to be practical in nature with the introduction of concrete skills and culminates in a major simulation.

Course codes: DHP-D203

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