New America Foundation

East Asia has been an area of growing importance in Washington's "war on terror," as evidenced by growing levels of U.S. security assistance and military collaboration with nations including the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand. Whether these increases in U.S. security assistance will have the desired effect without aggravating the region's existing conflicts remains to be seen.

Despite sharp increases in U.S. security assistance and arms transfers to Asia as part of the global campaign against terrorism, the Middle East remains the largest market for U.S. weaponry, with the bulk of it going to Washington’s two closest allies in the region, Iraq and Israel.

As the true central front in the war on Al Qaeda and related terrorist organizations, South Asia has been the subject of a massive increase in U.S. arms transfers and security assistance since 9/11, rivaled only by U.S. aid and sales to the Middle East. As the Obama administration makes its transition to power with a pledge to increase U.S. commitments of troops and assistance to this region, the difficulties of using arms to quell terrorist activities and fundamentalist insurgents… more

The Western Hemisphere has received less attention and far fewer security assistance resources from Washington since 9/11 than major "fronts" such as the Middle East and South Asia. The one major exception to this pattern is Colombia.

This table is part of the larger "U.S. Weapons at War 2008" report. For the full document, please click here.

As the saying goes: Reports of the death of municipal wireless are greatly exaggerated. Most mainstream media simply got it wrong. Most municipal wireless networks across the United States didn't take a tumble over the past year. Rather, in high-profile cities where deals fell apart - including Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco and Houston - what failed were exclusive commercial franchise forays.  Local governments were not going to finance, own or operate their respective networks. These weren't municipal networks at all.

California is a state of many distinct regions. To give citizens a voice on regional issues and to reinvigorate California's Legislature, the state's central institution of self-government, we propose Personalized Full Representation for the 21st Century (PFR21), a system of representation by means of regionally based legislative elections that will allow the state'scitizens to set the agenda for their regions and for the state as a whole.

One of the most important lessons the subprime mortgage crisis holds for us is just how poorly informed many Americans are when it comes to making important financial decisions. Clearly, there is a need for basic financial education. But when, where, and how should such education be delivered? Financial literacy programs aimed at high school students do not appear to be effective, and few adults are willing to expend the time, money, and effort to acquire the sort of general education that would help them make good… more

Introduction The U.S. health care system is in crisis. Health care costs too much; we often get too little in exchange for our health care dollar; and tens of millions of Americans are uninsured.