Steven Feldstein

Steven Feldstein is a senior fellow in Carnegie’s Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program, where he focuses on issues of democracy, technology, human rights, U.S. foreign policy, and Africa. He previously served as the holder of the Frank and Bethine Church Chair of Public Affairs and an associate professor at Boise State University.

Feldstein served as a deputy assistant secretary in the Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Bureau in the U.S. Department of State, where he had responsibility for Africa policy, international labor affairs, and international religious freedom. Previously he was the director of policy at the U.S. Agency for International Development, and also served as counsel on the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, where he oversaw U.S. foreign assistance programs, State Department management, and international organizations.

He has published research on how artificial intelligence is reshaping repression, the geopolitics of technology, China’s role in advancing digital authoritarianism, and COVID-19’s effect on democracies. He also released a global AI surveillance index to track the proliferation of advanced big data tools used by governments.

Feldstein’s articles and essays have appeared in American Purpose, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Journal of Democracy, Just Security, MIT Technology Review, The Conversation, the National Interest, War on the Rocks, the Washington Post, and World Politics Review. He is a frequent commentator on television and radio. He received his B.A. from Princeton and his J.D. from Berkeley Law.

He is the author of The Rise of Digital Repression: How Technology is Reshaping Power, Politics, and Resistance (Oxford University Press, 2021).