PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION
Reuters/Joe Chan - Investors chat as they sit in front of an electronic display board in a brokerage house in Shanghai.
Eswar Prasad, January 09, 2009
The president-elect faces enormous challenges in restoring financial stability, reviving economic growth and dealing with the shifting balance of world economic power. Eswar Prasad offers a public memo to President-elect Obama with recommendations on how to restore global financial stability, move America's economy forward and usher in a new era of global cooperation.
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Global Economics, Global Finance, U.S. Economy, Regulation, Financial Markets
U.S. Congress
Reuters/Larry Downing - U.S. Speaker of the House Pelosi swears the members of the U.S. House of Representatives into office.
Sarah A. Binder, Thomas E. Mann, Norman J. Ornstein and Molly Reynolds, January 08, 2009
Sarah Binder, Thomas Mann, Norman Ornstein and Molly Reynolds look ahead to the 111th Congress and what it will take to overcome the shortcomings of the 110th. Although the previous Congress was able to achieve some policy successes, increase oversight of the executive and strengthen ethics standards and procedures, it was limited in its ability to overcome fully the realities of divided government, the ideological polarization of the parties and the institutional dynamics that have shaped Congress in recent years.
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U.S. Congress, U.S. Politics, Governance, Executive Branch, Congressional Oversight
PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION
Reuters/Suhaib Salem - Smoke rises over the main Hamas security complex following an Israel air strike in Gaza.
Martin S. Indyk and Kenneth M. Pollack, January 05, 2009
Despite an announcement by French President Nicolas Sarkozy that Israel and Palestinian Authority have accepted an Egyptian-French plan for a ceasefire in Gaza, the next president will still face a Middle East in turmoil and an American public weary of engagement there. That challenge requires a return to diplomacy in order to begin the withdrawal from Iraq, cap Iran’s nuclear ambitions and promote a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace.
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Middle East, Arab-Israeli Relations, Iran, Iraq, Foreign Policy
SPOTLIGHT: Energy Security
Reuters/Bogdan Cristel - A pressure gauge indicating zero is seen at the main gas distribution station where pipelines enter Romania from Ukraine in Isaccea.
Jonathan Elkind and Edward Chow, January 07, 2009
Jonathan Elkind and Edward Chow examine the causes of a chronic gas war between Ukraine and Russia. They offer suggestions for Kiev to push ahead with reform that could help Ukraine receive urgent and coordinated support from Western friends.
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Energy Security, Ukraine, Europe, Russia, Transatlantic Relations