Dear President X: Think Big!

Sometimes it seems that the magnitude of the problems that face us overwhelm the wit and wisdom of our government. Interest groups, groupthink, and bureaucracy all block the path of good ideas. Push a policy for a year, the thinking goes, and maybe it will move an inch.

But there’s a way around that: really big ideas that cut through, around, and over the conventional wisdom. This panel, comprised of the men and women profiled in WIRED magazine’s special November “Smart List,” all have crisp proposals and action plans for doing just that. How to deal with extreme weather? The urban population explosion? America’s declining world power? Culture clashes between the U.S. military and Iraqis? Come learn how the next president can solve these seemingly intractable problems.

Participants

• Robert Dalrymple
  Civil Engineering Professor
  Johns Hopkins University
• Mitchell Joachim
  Partner
  Terreform 1
• Parag Khanna
  Director, Global Governance Initiative, New America Foundation
  Author, The Second World
• Montgomery McFate
  Senior Social Science Adviser
  Army Human Terrain System

Moderator

• Nicholas Thompson
  Senior Editor, WIRED
  Fellow, New America Foundation

Related Links

• Robert Dalrymple's PowerPoint Presentation (PDF, 12 pps.)