PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION EVENT
Reuters/Suhaib Salem - Smoke rises over the main Hamas security complex following an Israel air strike in Gaza.
Monday, January 05, 2009
2:30 PM to 4:00 PM
Washington, DC
As Israel continues devastating strikes against Hamas targets in Gaza, calls for a negotiated settlement are coming from capitals around the world. The next president's already complicated agenda for the Middle East—including withdrawing from Iraq and capping Iran’s nuclear ambitions—is now topped by promoting a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace. On January 5, Martin Indyk and Kenneth Pollack will offer a public memo to President-elect Obama with recommendations on how to deal with the urgent challenges that will confront him across the volatile region.
Read More
Middle East, Diplomacy, Arab-Israeli Relations, Iraq, Iran
SPOTLIGHT: Cuba
Reuters/Enrique de la Osa - Women walk past a graffiti celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution in Havana December 30, 2008.
Vicki Huddleston, December 31, 2008
January 1, 2009 marked the 50th anniversary of Fidel Castro's revolution and ascension to power in Cuba. Vicki Huddleston reviews the family feud across the Florida Straits and argues that a changed world offers opportunities to those Cuban Americans and Cubans bold enough to bury the past and build a future friendship among all Cubans and Americans.
Read More
Cuba, Latin America
SPOTLIGHT: Energy Security
Reuters/Fred Prouser - Oil is pumped from the wells at Port of Long Beach in California.
Pietro S. Nivola, December 29, 2008
Political leaders repeatedly point out that our current addiction to foreign oil is a matter of national security. In a Brookings paper, Pietro Nivola challenges the assumption that the less oil the U.S. buys from abroad, the more insulated our economy will be from vagaries of the international oil market.
Read More
Energy Security, Climate and Energy Economics, U.S. Economic Growth, U.S. Economy