This Year's New America Events

In their recently released paper, "Employer Health Costs in a Global Economy: A Competitive Disadvantage for U.S. Firms," Len Nichols and Sarah Axeen argue that rising health care costs and the employer health care burden threaten our nation's ability to compete internationally and the stability of American jobs. Please join the New America Foundation Health Policy Program to discuss this important intersection of health care and the economy and examine its implications for a national conversation… more

Nuclear weapons are the most destructive weapons ever invented. However, since the end of the Cold War, they have received little attention from the highest levels of government. There are many questions that need examination, including:

What role do nuclear weapons play in United States national security policy? How many nuclear weapons does the United States need? Is there a nuclear posture that can command bipartisan support? Is the elimination of nuclear weapons feasible or desirable?

Join New America Foundation's Nuclear Strategy… more

On May 6th the American Strategy Program hosted an event with Philippe Sands, Professor of International Law at University College London and Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, former Chief of Staff for Colon Powell. Mr. Sands was in DC to testify to the House Judiciary Committee about the findings in his new book, Torture Team, which examines the legal implications of the Bush administration’s policy of torture. Col. Wilkerson was on hand for commentary on the subject. The event was moderated by… more

On May 2, The New America Foundation hosted a book event for President and CEO Steve Coll’s new book The Bin Ladens. An MP3 audio recording can be downloaded below, while video is available at right. Coll delivered a talk about the experience of Saudi Arabia, dealing with the pressures and prizes of modernity and globalization, through the prism of the Bin Laden family. He conveyed the diversity of experience that permeated the different members of the… more

On April 30, American Strategy Director Steve Clemons hosted United States Senator Chuck Hagel, who discussed his new book, America: Our Next Chapter: Tough Questions, Straight Answers. An MP3 audio recording can be downloaded below, while video is available at right. Senator Hagel’s talk, delivered in his signature self-deprecating and straight-talking manner, emphasized the interconnectedness of America’s challenges and demanded more effective leadership from his colleagues in Washington. The Vietnam veteran began his analysis of America’s strategic position… more

On Tuesday the 29th of April, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, in association with the New America Foundation, American University and the Tax Foundation, hosted an event concerning the major domestic policy issues facing the nation before the upcoming presidential election. Focusing on the candidates’ policy proposals, the event featured four panels of policy experts. The first three—on climate change, health care, and tax reform—featured independent experts from across… more

For two centuries Asians have largely been bystanders in world history, reacting to surges of Western commerce, thought, and power.

Now former United Nations Ambassador Kishore Mahbubani -- whom Foreign Policy magazine ranked as one of the top 100 public intellectuals in the world -- declares that era is over and the West must embrace rather than resist this structural shift.

Video of this April 28 event is available at right. For more on Mahbubani, his book and the arguments he… more

Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Iran are the primary state players that make life in the Kurdish neighborhood complex, but non-state actors also roil the environment inside Iraq. The Kurdish question remains a major global flashpoint. As Iraq’s civil war rolls on and stability of the multi-ethnic state is called into question, Quil Lawrence believes how the U.S. handles the Kurds and their quest for statehood will define the region for decades to come. Quil Lawrence is the Middle East… more

The 21st century confronts Americans and Europeans with numerous challenges and opportunities. As the world is growing closer together, national politics are becoming less relevant, especially in Europe. The EU has taken on a wide range of responsibilities from its member states. What effect does this development have on transatlantic relations? The new political landscape in Europe demands a revision of thought and a new approach towards transatlantic relations. Collaboration between the EU and the U.S. is the key… more

How are the kids doing? Pretty well, according to a new report unveiled at the New America Foundation on April 25th, but experts still have significant concerns about the future. The report, "Trends in Infancy/Early Childhood and Middle Childhood Well-Being, 1994-2006," was authored by Dr. Kenneth Land of Duke University and funded by the Foundation for Child Development (FCD) and is part of an on-going series of events and reports hosted by the New America Foundation designed to… more

Currently, Los Angeles' local elections run on a wasteful, two-round election system. Last May, only 6 percent of voters turned out for the runoff election for the Los Angeles Community College Districts -- an election that cost taxpayers $5 million, or $40 per voter. For this reason, the LA City Council is seriously considering Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) for local elections. By combining the general and runoff election into 1 single election, IRV will save millions… more

Over the next few decades, the developed world will age and weaken. Meanwhile, demographic trends in the developing world-from resurgent youth booms in the Islamic Belt to premature aging in China and population implosion in Russia-will give rise to daunting new security threats. While some argue that "global aging" is pushing the world toward greater peace and prosperity, a crisis looms in the 2020s. The risks of both chaotic state collapse and neo-authoritarian reaction are rising. Neither… more

Most scholars and policymakers favor stemming the tide of nuclear proliferation, even as they acknowledge the pacifying effects of established nuclear arsenals on great power relations. When it comes to nuclear arsenals, how robust must a country's nuclear arsenal be--how much is enough? Some of the key variables in existing studies - e.g., the nuclear "balance of power" - have been poorly conceived, and the data used to measure the nuclear balance and its effect on policy has come from… more

Grand explanations of how to understand the complex twenty-first century world have all fallen short-until now. In The Second World: Empires and Influence in the New Global Order, Parag Khanna shows how America's dominant moment has quickly been replaced by a geopolitical marketplace where the European Union and China compete with the U.S. to shape world order on their own terms.The primary battlefield is the Second World, regions lying between the three leading empires and the third world:… more

On April 17th, New America Foundation and the University of California Washington Center hosted a panel discussion featuring Flynt Leverett, Fred Kempe, Steven Weber, and Nicholas Gvosdev. Weber, director of the UC Berkeley Institute for International Studies, described how developing countries such as China and Russia have been able to avoid both assimilation into the current Western international system and military conflict with the U.S. by constructing a set of relationships and institutions that sidestep the current world… more

Families across America face a growing array of financial decisions in an increasingly complex financial environment. Consumers are expected to navigate an increasinly complex financial services market in order to save for retirement, higher education and homeownership. Those with low-incomes -- who disproportionately lack both financial know-how and relationships with financial institutions -- are especially vulnerable to being shut out of the financial marketplace. On Thursday, April 17th, Ellen Seidman, Director of New America's Financial Services and Education Project,… more

Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and author of the national bestseller Ghost Wars, Steve Coll presents the story of the Bin Laden family's rise to power and privilege. In The Bin Ladens, Coll shows how the family navigated though and around economic and cultural hurdles, and he presents an authentic story of Saudi Arabia, America and those caught in the crossfire. Revealing new information, Coll shows how American influence changed a family's fortune and how one family member's rebellion… more

Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and author of the national bestseller Ghost Wars, Steve Coll presents the story of the Bin Laden family's rise to power and privilege. In The Bin Ladens, Coll shows how the family navigated though and around economic and cultural hurdles, and he presents an authentic story of Saudi Arabia, America and those caught in the crossfire. Revealing new information, Coll shows how American influence changed a family's fortune and how one family member's rebellion changed the world.

"Riveting" - The New York… more

On April 14, the New America Foundation’s Middle East Policy Initiative and the Foundation for Middle East Peace came together to discuss the continued construction of Israeli settlements and its impact on the peace process. Daniel Levy, Director of the Middle East Policy Initiative moderated the event. Hagit Ofran, director of Peace Now's Settlement Watch project presented her findings on Israeli settlement activity. Ambassador Phil Wilcox, president of the foundation for Middle East Peace was on hand to participate in… more

What have we learned? Panelists will discuss lessons for the next administration.

Please RSVP to Emily at rsvp.meet08@gmail.com

Sponsored by The Graduate Program in International Affairs, New School University, and The Security Policy Working Group (SPWG)*

*Security Policy Working Group: Arms & Security Initiative, New America Foundation; Economists for Peace and Security; Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments; enter for War, Peace, and the News Media, Boston University; David Gold, Graduate Program in International Affairs, New School; National Priorities Project;… more

On April 9th, Jeffrey Lewis, director of the Nuclear Strategy and Nonproliferation Initiative, hosted James Acton, a Lecturer in the Centre for Science and Security Studies in the Department of War Studies at King's College London for a talk entitled "Nuclear Mind Reading: Iran's Nuclear Intentions and the IAEA". Acton analyzed the IAEA's ability to assess states' intent—as opposed to their capabilities—and then asked what the IAEA means when it announces that an issue is “no longer considered to be… more

The results of last month's parliamentary elections in Iran are now in. For anyone interested in Iran, these polls provide an essential indicator for the presidential elections next year as well as an important insight into the next year of Iran's internal politics and foreign policy. Joining us to assess the results will be Ali Ansari, professor of Middle Eastern Studies at St. Andrews College in Scotland and author of Iran, Islam & Democracy - The Politics of Managing… more

On April 2nd, The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget held its 2008 annual dinner at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill. Through a roundtable discussion, a cocktail reception, and a dinner panel, this event brought together many of the nation's foremost fiscal and financial policy experts from both parties. Video of the dinner panel discussion can be viewed at right. For video of the afternoon roundtable, please click here… more

Former John Edwards campaign senior economic advisor and telecom executive Leo Hindery understands better than most the difference between the needs of Wall Street and the needs of average Americans on Main Street. Looking at the subprime crisis as a symptom of a long history of economic mismanagement, Leo Hindery will argue that recent calls to change the regulatory bureaucracy in Washington are at best a band-aid. Rather, the American economy needs a long-term strategy to build a new edge… more

For the past year, twenty-something Washington Post reporter Amar Bakshi has traveled across the globe talking to ordinary people of his generation -- farmers, rebels, rappers, laborers -- whose primary experience of the United States has been with George W. Bush at the helm.

What he found was eye-opening. Having just returned to the U.S. this month, Amar will offer some new perspectives on the texture of pro- and anti-Americanism at the local level.

Amar C. Bakshi is currently reporting for the… more

Join us for a conversation with former New York Times Washington Correspondent Adam Clymer, who will discuss his new book, Drawing the Line at the Big Ditch: The Panama Canal Treaties and the Rise of the Right. Clymer argues that domination of the debate over the Panama Canal Treaties gave conservatives emotional appeal and helped build the foundation of the American conservative movement. After the death of William Buckley, many pondered the origins of the modern conservative movement. But,… more

Currently, too many Californians are disconnected from the financial mainstream. While national estimates show that 10 percent of households, including nearly one-quarter of the minority population, are "un-banked," meaning they lack a basic checking or savings account, 28 percent of California's adults do not have a checking or savings account. Recent market research indicates that Fresno and Los Angeles have the highest and third highest percentages of un-banked residents in the country respectively. Compounding the situation is… more

"Invest Wisely. End Poverty." This is the goal of eBay's new online microfinance investment marketplace, MicroPlace. While online microlending has been growing more popular with peer-to-peer offerings such as the non-profit Kiva.org, MicroPlace is charting a whole new course in the microfinance industry, offering socially-minded Americans a new way to offer microloans to entrepreneurs in the developing world. As the only broker-dealer in the microfinance arena, MicroPlace is the first and only online service offering… more

"In the wake of September 11, the United States became a nation that practiced torture. Astonishingly-despite the repudiation of torture by experts and the revelations of Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib-we remain one." So begins the special issue of The Washington Monthly. The New America Foundation and the American Security Project are proud to co-sponsor a special lunchtime panel featuring leading experts sounding their urgent call for the United States to end the practice… more

Grand explanations of how to understand the complex twenty-first century world have all fallen short-until now. In The Second World: Empires and Influence in the New Global Order, Parag Khanna shows how America's dominant moment has quickly been replaced by a geopolitical marketplace where the European Union and China compete with the U.S. to shape world order on their own terms.The primary battlefield is the Second World, regions lying between the three leading empires and the third world:… more

When the Iranian people vote for their parliamentary representatives on Friday, March 14, the results may be surprising. But will the rising dissatisfaction with the government and an increased desire for compromise with the United States translate into change? The New America Foundation's American Strategy Program along with Terror Free Tomorrow, a leading non-partisan public opinion research organization, will discuss the full results of TFT's most recent poll of Iranian public attitudes. For more information see Robin… more

Please join us for a conversation with former Israeli Foreign Minister and Minister of Public Security Shlomo Ben-Ami. Ben-Ami led peace negotiations with the PLO under Prime Minister Ehud Barak, culminating in the Camp David Summit. He is visiting the United States to discuss the shortcomings of the Annapolis process, how to address them, and the broader regional picture. Given the Israeli-Palestinian violence of the past few weeks, Ben-Ami will address the "how to's" of a ceasefire plan, the… more

With the United States and China, who will rule whom? That's the central question of In the Jaws of the Dragon by Tokyo-based journalist and writer Eamonn Fingleton. His own answer is sobering. As American leaders fixate on the Middle East, China quietly consolidates both its geostrategic vision and its economic and military power. What is at stake is far more important than manufacturing jobs or the transparency of Sovereign Wealth Funds. It is a matter of which nation will… more

During the last six years, the U.S. Administration has held nearly 800 alleged terror suspects without trial at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. 500 of these men have now been released, but their stories - and the stories of those who remain - are largely unknown. Fragments have emerged in books and interviews, and in declassified accounts from the detainees' lawyers, but until now there has been no comprehensive overview of all their cases. On March 12 the New America Foundation… more

Efforts to reform California's health system hold many lessons for the nation. The bipartisan spirit displayed by Governor Schwarzenegger and Assembly Speaker Núñez proves that Republicans and Democrats can work together to address the most challenging health care problems facing our nation. In addition, the campaign to cover all Californians united an unprecedented coalition of advocates: hospitals, insurers, large and small employers, labor, and patients. Rarely have such disparate interest groups united in favor of a health reform… more

Has the right hijacked patriotism? Has the left ceded it? Does wearing a flag lapel pin make you a true patriot? Is dissenting against a war truly patriotic? Who decides? Written by former speechwriter and senior domestic policy advisor to President Clinton, Eric Liu, and Seattle-based entrepreneur and philanthropist, Nick Hanauer, The True Patriot argues that in these cynical times there should be a higher call: to country first. The… more

The Internet, social networking and peer-to-peer (p2p) communication have transformed how people connect, as well as the scope, scale and speed of mass collaborations. This transformation has opened the door for self-emerging and increasingly complex virtual forums, allowing individuals to collaborate and organize from worlds apart.

Please join us for a discussion about what happens when people are given the tools to do things together, without needing traditional organizational structures. Shirky will discuss his new book, Here Comes Everybody:… more

In 2003, Abu Omar was kidnapped by CIA agents in Italy on suspicion of being involved with al Qaeda. He was transported to Egypt, where he was tortured by Egyptian intelligence services. Abu Omar was later released, only to be recaptured after speaking about his experience in Egypt. In the latest issue of Mother Jones magazine, New America Fellow Peter Bergen uses Abu Omar's story to explore the CIA's extraordinary rendition program. Bergen also chronicles the rise… more

Kenya has drawn increasing scrutiny and absorbed U.S. policymakers' attention after the disputed results of the December election set off rounds of violence amongst political factions. During the runup to the elections, European Parliament member and Deputy Chairman of the German Liberal Democrats (FDP), Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, led an EU observer mission. As one of the first and leading voices to express doubts about the election process, he drew international attention to the electoral crisis. Graf Lambsdorff has argued that… more

Phillip Longman began by framing the core question of the event: are we in a transformative political moment, and what would that mean? Even after a decade of debilitating partisanship, Rovian strategists and Netroots bloggers continue to exacerbate political polarization. Yet, with the likely nominations of John McCain and Barack Obama, observers of all political stripes have sensed the prospect of a political sea-change. Whether it is a government unified around a bold progressive majority, a resurgent and transmuted conservatism,… more

Once again, California is facing a budget crisis -- but this is nothing new. The state has faced fiscal difficulties for over 30 years, problems magnified by initiative limitations, competing political objectives, and population growth. Fortunately, today we have bipartisan awareness about the structural nature of the state’s fiscal dysfunction and the need for long-term solutions. Our panel of seasoned political experts will discuss budgetary lessons learned and provide insight into the best course for California’s future.

This event is co-sponsored… more

California has a tax system largely fixed in place during the Great Depression, in an industrial economy-setting unconcerned with environmental sustainability. Two questions about this tax system are posed here: First, can California find ways to raise the revenue it needs in the 21st century that are a better fit with our high-tech, service-based economy than is the current system? Second, can California's tax/fee structure be used to meet the state's greenhouse gas emissions under its AB 32 guidelines?

On Feb.… more

The New America Foundation welcomed Steffen Kampeter from the Budget Committee of Germany’s Bundestag for a discussion of the far-reaching effects of the American sub-prime mortgage crisis and the subsequent breakdown of financial markets.  Patrick Doherty, Deputy Director of the American Strategy Program, moderated the session. Herr Kampeter briefed attendees on the general state of economic affairs in Germany and throughout the European Union, along with the European reaction to the sub-prime crisis.  He stated that in… more

While the President signs into law a $152 billion stimulus package to jumpstart the economy, millions of Americans continue to rack up consumer debt, watch their home values slide, and worry about their futures with little to no savings. In fact, even with stimulus checks on the way to promote consumption, Americans are focusing on the need to rein in their debt and save more. A recent Harris Interactive poll found that when it comes to using the… more

In the post-September 11 world, Al Qaeda is no longer the central organizing force that aids or authorizes terrorist attacks or recruits terrorists. Rather, it serves as an inspiration for individuals and other groups who have branded themselves with the Al Qaeda name. Marc Sageman, a former CIA case officer in Afghanistan in the 1980s, builds upon his bestselling book, Understanding Terror Networks, to explain how Islamic terrorism emerges and operates in the twenty-first century. In the recently published… more

When Samantha Power won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, many people wondered what she would write for an encore. Her answer is a groundbreaking biography of Sergio Vieira de Mello. In nearly four decades of work for the United Nations, Sergio distinguished himself as the consummate humanitarian, able to negotiate with-and often charm-cold war military dictators, Marxist jungle radicals, reckless warlords, and nationalist and sectarian militia leaders. … more

On Tuesday, February 19th, the Fiscal Policy Program at the New America Foundation held a joint event with the Heritage Foundation entitled "Rethinking Social Insurance.” At this event, Maya MacGuineas (New America Foundation) and Stuart Butler (Heritage Foundation) released a paper by the same name, which then received comments from former CBO directors Alice Rivlin (Brookings Institution) and Rudolph Penner (Urban Institute). The event was moderated by Jodie Allen, Senior Editor of the Pew… more

Personal savings rates have plummeted in the past decade to an all-time historic low. Many Americans aren't saving enough money for retirement, households are increasingly living day to day on high-interest credit cards, and millions are one medical emergency or layoff away from financial crisis. Moreover, poor savings rates mean that there is less money for domestic investment and to finance our government's debt. As more and more Californians are expected to save for their own futures, millions… more

In How We Missed The Story: Osama bin Laden, the Taliban, and the Hijacking of Afghanistan, award-winning journalist Roy Gutman weaves a narrative that exposes how and why the U.S. government, the United Nations, and the Western media "missed the story" in the leadup to 9/11. Focusing primarily on events in Afghanistan in the 1980s and 1990s, Gutman contends that foreign policy in the region was non-existent. He argues that instead of a comprehensive foreign policy, the U.S. government… more

Before China carried out an anti-satellite test in January 2007, some U.S. policy-makers, including NASA Administrator Michael Griffin and the U.S. House China Working Group, advocated greater cooperation between the United States and China in space. After the test, which created a massive cloud of space debris that angered international space professionals and alarmed the American public, increased references to U.S.-China competition and hints of a new space race drowned out calls for cooperation. Using the experience they… more

When EarthLink announced its decision to withdraw further investments in municipal wireless networks in November 2007, the future of Philadelphia's network, along with hundreds of municipal wireless projects, became uncertain. Wireless Philadelphia, the nation's first big-city municipal wireless initiative, led the way for cities to invest in broadband infrastructure. Although a number of other muni wireless networks have been set up and are running successfully (such as St. Cloud, FL and Chaska and Minneapolis, MN) troubles with the Philadelphia… more

On Feb. 1, Whitehead Senior Fellow Michael Lind hosted award-winning Cambridge economist Ha-Joon Chang, who delivered a talk based on his new book, Bad Samaritans: The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism. A brief summary follows, while an MP3 audio recording of the 71-minute event can be downloaded below and the video can be viewed at right.

Chang’s central theme was that developing countries should look to the history of successful nations, rather than economic theory, to… more

Last year, Nigeria's newly-elected president set forth a seven-step agenda to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals and turn Nigeria into a top-20 industrialized nation by 2020. But this will be no easy task. Nigeria's wealth inequality is among the worst in Africa - a situation illustrated by the contrast between the nation's substantial oil wealth and a poverty rate of around 50%. Nigeria's National Poverty Eradication Program (NAPEP) responded to this challenge in December 2007 by launching… more

Carol Whiteside, President of The Great Valley Center, presented on the challenges that families in California face in building savings and assets for education, retirement, homeownership, entrepreneurship, and security against economic crisis. While this is an issue throughout California, it is particularly so in the San Joaquin Valley. Capitol staff were briefed on the Valley's economy as it relates to family incomes and asset accumulation and how those factors relate to Valley residents' ability to pay for college education… more

Nuclear terrorism is an urgent threat, but policy debates have been dangerously dominated by caricatured depictions of terrorist groups and potential plots. In his latest book, On Nuclear Terrorism, Michael Levi argues that an obsession with worst-case scenarios and finding perfect defenses has blinded us to important opportunities to confront the nuclear threat.

On Jan. 30, the Nuclear Strategy & Nonproliferation Initiative drew together Levi and New America’s Priscilla Lewis and Jeffrey Lewis to engage in a discussion of… more

Parents and policy makers have long looked to close the educational, health, economic and other gaps in child well-being between children of different backgrounds. As the 2008 campaign heats up, many are wondering about the increasingly diverse generation of America’s children and asking: Where is policy helping and failing to close the gaps between children of different backgrounds? Where do the gaps currently exist? What changes could have the greatest impact? On January 29th, we… more

Join the New America Foundation/American Strategy Program for a presentation by Leonard Weinglass, defense attorney for Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, Ramón Labañino, Fernando González, and René González, also known as the Cuban Five.

These five individuals were sent by the Cuban government to gather intelligence on extremist Cuban exile organizations such as the Cuban American National Foundation, Brothers to the Rescue, Commandos F4 and Alpha 66 -- some of which have been allegedly complicit in numerous terrorist acts on the… more

The Fed just dropped the fed funds rate by 75 basis points -- the largest such move since 1984. No matter what the issues were yesterday, it is clear that the economy -- domestic and global -- is what will be the biggest political issue today and tomorrow... at least for a while. So for this New America event, our Economic Growth Program and Next Social Contract Initiative brought together economic policy advisors to the various political campaigns.

Steven Clemons,… more

"Free My Phone" was the impassioned headline of Wall Street Journal personal technology columnist, Walt Mossberg, who took both the wireless carriers and the FCC to task for not giving consumers the choice to use the devices and applications of their choice. Currently, wireless carriers can restrict the phones and other devices consumers can use on their network, what device features they can access, and what software applications and content they can download. This "locking and blocking"… more

Between 1994 and 1999, Kenneth W. Kizer, MD, MPH, led a dramatic turnaround of the Veterans health care system. Today, in study after study, the VA emerges as an exemplar of best practices in patient safety, disease management, evidence-based medicine, electronic medical records and customer service. Both Senators Clinton and Obama, as well as a number of jounalists and academics, have recently pointed to the VA health care system as a model for national healthcare reform, and a… more

On Jan. 14, the American Strategy Program hosted a panel discussion featuring journalist Nicholas Schmidle and New America's Peter Bergen, Steve Coll, Steven Clemons and Flynt Leverett. A brief summary follows, while an MP3 audio recording of the full 90-minute event can be downloaded below and video can be viewed at right. To watch a brief post-event discussion featuring Bergen, Clemons and Coll, please click here.

Leverett, a former NSC staffer and a Senior Fellow at New America, kicked off… more

This summer’s public revelation that China has constructed two or more new ballistic missile submarines raises a number of strategic, operational and bureaucratic questions about the future of nuclear arsenals held by China and the United States. How China deploys and operates these systems, as well as how the United States responds, will significantly impact the stability of deterrence in the Pacific. The New America Foundation invites you to join five national security scholars as they participate in a… more