RT @CameronAbadi Jack Goldsmith explains why Obama's counterterrorism speech doesn't deserve its hype http://t.co/PS8EVhlYKs
40 minutes ago
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The Future of Defense: The US Wants to Spend $526 billion. What About the Dutch?
With the Pentagon releasing its proposed budget for fiscal 2014, we can anticipate opposition from the right and guarded support from the left for a plan that is still $52 billion above federal spending caps. The same talking points that have been recycled for over a year now should be anticipated, so out of boredom [...]
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Quick Pitch: More Big Data Analysis for Energy
This piece was originally published on the Passions blog of my employer, Praescient Analytics: http://www.praescientanalytics.com/passion.php Projections for global energy demand show massive growth over the next thirty-plus years. The US Energy Information Administration’s International Energy Outlook (2011), for example, suggests that global consumption will grow by 53% from 2008 to 2035. A number of [...]
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Middle East/North Africa Part 2: Violence, Poor Governance, and a Social Contract Void
In an earlier piece I laid out five dynamics that together are changing the nature of Middle East politics and security: (1) a wide embrace of the use of violence by state and non-state actors to pursue socio-religious and political agendas, (2) a push for governance responsible to the people without the requisite institutions and [...]
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Making Sense of the Middle East’s New Dynamics
Since the beginning of the Arab Awakening in 2011, the debate over US policy in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has intensified. Arguments for deeper involvement in the region have proliferated with many suggesting it is primed for US leadership as it tries to steer itself towards greater dignity and freedom. Given the [...]
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Being Smart: A New Energy Plan for A New America
There is an idea being floated right now that deserves every American’s support. It is one of those rare policy ideas that, no joke, benefits Americans across every demographic and sector, and its logic is as beautiful as its promise. The idea is to produce more oil and natural gas domestically and spend a portion [...]
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The Problem of (Mis)Scaling Challenges
I love the word “future” and its connotations for public policy. I cut my policy chops at The Hudson Institute, where early on in my post-undergraduate career I spent a good amount of time immersed in futurist thinking. Hudson was founded by one of the leading futurists of all-time, Herman Kahn, and it has maintained [...]
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Psychologically Profiling Larry Summers and Timothy Geithner: Who makes the better Fed Chair?
Drawing on a September psychological profile of Ben Bernanke, profiles of Timothy Geithner and Larry Summers are constructed to provide a unique view into the leadership styles of both men, and illuminate how each may lead as head of the Federal Reserve. Introduction Last September, I wrote a piece that I am happy to say [...]
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For 2013, Worry About Europe
If one were to ask the average American where they thought the US was investing most of its money abroad, I am willing to bet they would probably choose somewhere in the Asian continent, likely China or India. After all, our trade is in deficit ostensibly thanks to this region, and most global commerce benchmarks [...]
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Some Friday Charts: Changing Global Economic Power and Population
The OECD released today a projection for world GDP share in 2060. If the thought is that share of world GDP is an instrument of power, then things don’t look good for the OECD countries. Conversely, non-OECD countries, in particular the usual suspects China and India, seem to have good things to look forward to: [...]
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Five Questions for the Presidential Candidates that Re-link Economics with Foreign Policy
One of the best pieces written by someone associated with either presidential campaign that I’ve seen is Robert Zoellick’s “The Currency of Power,” which appears in Foreign Policy’s November issue. In it, he bemoans the disconnection of economics from foreign policy in American thought.” He begins by quoting Australia’s foreign minister, Bob Carr, who said [...]
