Steve Feldstein

Steve Feldstein is a senior fellow and director of the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. His research focuses on technology, national security, the global context for democracy, and U.S. foreign policy.

His new book, "Bytes and Bullets: Global Rivalry, Private Tech, and the New Shape of Modern Warfare" was published in September 2026. He is also the author of "The Rise of Digital Repression: How Technology is Reshaping Power, Politics, and Resistance," which was the recipient of the 2023 Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order.

Feldstein has served in senior foreign policy roles in the U.S. government. He was a deputy assistant secretary in the democracy, human rights, and labor bureau in the U.S. Department of State under President Obama. Prior to that position, he served as the director of policy at the U.S. Agency for International Development, and also worked as counsel on the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations under Chairmen Joseph Biden and John Kerry. He was also the holder of the Frank and Bethine Church Chair of Public Affairs and an associate professor at Boise State University.

He has appeared on ABC, CNBC, C-SPAN, NPR, and BBC, and his writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy and Lawfare, among others. He is a graduate of Princeton University and Berkeley Law.