The U.S. House of Representatives passed four bi-partisan bills in a $95 billion foreign aid package with monies going to aid Ukraine, to the Indo-Pacific region to counter China, to offensive and defensive weapons to Israel, and to humanitarian aid for Gaza and elsewhere. Molly Reynolds, senior fellow in Governance Studies at Brookings, joins The Current to talk about how these bills were passed in a deeply divided House of Representatives and the potential risk to Rep. Mike Johnson's...

The recent collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore after being struck by a container ship is both a human tragedy and an economic disaster. Six construction workers doing repair work on the bridge lost their lives when it plunged into the cold Patapsco River. The wreckage of the bridge now sits in the channel that connects Baltimore Harbor to the Chesapeake Bay, effectively closing the Port of Baltimore. Joe Kane, a fellow in Brookings Metro, talks about the economic impacts of...

The U.S. has recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic's economic disruption with a strong economy, but a strong economy alone doesn't address all the challenges Americans face. As part of the Brookings Election '24 initiative, Wendy Edelberg talks about where the economy is doing better - increasing wages, decreasing inflation - and other areas where social policies can step in to fill the gaps on housing, child poverty, and more. Show notes and transcript: ...

The third Summit for Democracy takes place March 18 to 20, in Seoul, South Korea. The theme of the summit is democracy for future generations. To talk about the summit’s critical importance and the role of anti-corruption work in the support of democracy, Ambassador Norm Eisen joins The Current. Eisen is a senior fellow in Governance Studies at Brookings and chair of the Anti-corruption, Democracy, and Security Project. Show notes and transcript Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts...

"Russia has failed in its biggest goals, but those failures may be reversed. Ukraine's successes are not guaranteed to endure, and at the moment, momentum seems to be shifting at least modestly in Russia's favor." Two years after Russia's full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, Michael O'Hanlon takes stock of where the war stands and what happens if the U.S. House of Representatives fails to authorize additional financial and military aid.  Show notes and...

This week, Pakistan holds national elections. Voters in the world's fifth most populous nation go to the polls to elect representatives to Pakistan's parliament, and from that, the next prime minister. To talk about what's at stake for Pakistan, the turmoil surrounding some of the major candidates, and what the outcome could mean for the region and the world, Madiha Afzal, a fellow in Foreign Policy, the Center for Middle East Policy, and the Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and...

For the first episode of 2024, the new president of Brookings, Cecilia Rouse, sits down with The Current to share her thoughts on priorities facing the nation today and how Brookings can provide sound research to inform policy to improve the lives of those across America. Show notes and transcript: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/meet-cecilia-rouse-new-brookings-president  Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple or Google podcasts, or on Spotify. Send feedback email to...

As the Israeli offensive in Gaza moves south toward Khan Younis, and as some hostages come home while many more remain captive, Natan Sachs joins the podcast from Israel to reflect on the public mood, Israel's operational goals, the ongoing threat of wider regional escalation, and what might come next. Show notes and transcript:  https://www.brookings.edu/articles/taking-stock-of-the-ongoing-war-in-israel-and-gaza  Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple or Google podcasts,...

Corrupt regimes around the world threaten global democracy and security. On this episode of The Current, Norman Eisen, senior fellow in Governance Studies and chair of the newly launched global Anti-Corruption, Democracy, and Security (ACDS) project at Brookings, talks about the project and explains why fighting corruption and promoting good governance are key to strengthen democracy and security. Show notes and transcript Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple or Google...

President Biden and President Xi met on Wednesday in San Francisco during the APEC summit at a time of highly strained relations between China and the U.S. Patricia Kim discussed some of the outcomes of their meeting and stressed the ongoing need for Beijing and Washington "to depoliticize diplomacy and functional channels of communication and make them a regular feature of the U.S.-China relationship." Show notes and transcript:...

Thousands of migrants are heading north through Mexico toward the U.S. border. The number of Border Patrol encounters with migrants and asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border continues to be high. And for two years in a row, the number of illegal crossings has exceeded 2 million. Meanwhile, border security remains a hot political issue as Republicans in Congress and on the campaign trail accuse President Biden of having an “open border policy.” Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow in ...

On October 30th, President Joe Biden issued an executive order on "safe, secure, and trustworthy artificial intelligence." The E.O. sets new standards for AI safety and security, has new privacy provisions, and much more. Nicol Turner Lee, a senior fellow in governance studies and director of the Center for Technology Innovation, joins The Current to talk about the scope and implications of the AI E.O. Show notes and transcript. Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple or...

A new Department of Labor rule aims to expand protections for retirement savers by updating standards on different types of financial investment advice. Ben Harris explains what the new rule does and other steps the Biden administration could take to increase Americans' retirement security. Show notes and transcript: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/what-does-new-rule-on-investment-advice-mean-for-retirement-security  Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple or Google...

Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.) has served just six years in the House of Representatives before being elected as the new speaker of the House. Molly Reynolds explains how his relative inexperience could hurt or help, especially in upcoming negotiations to avert a government shutdown in November. Show notes and transcript: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/who-is-new-speaker-of-the-house-mike-johnson  Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple or Google podcasts, or on Spotify. Send...

The war between Israel and Hamas militants operating out of Gaza has produced horrific images, but also misinformation and disinformation about actions on both sides. This mis- and disinformation spreads through social media like X, the former Twitter, and confuses our understanding of what’s happening. On this episode of The Current, Valerie Wirtschafter, a fellow in Foreign Policy and the Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technology Initiative at Brookings, discusses how disinformation...

President Biden visited Israel as a show of U.S. support and announced new humanitarian aid to Gaza, but subsequent Arab leader summit fell through in the wake of the al Ahli hospital bombing. Jeffrey Feltman weighs in on how Biden's show of empathy - but also caution - was received by Israelis, the urgent need for humanitarian relief in Gaza, and the dangers of escalation from Hezbollah in Lebanon. Show notes and transcript:...

Hamas' surprise attack on Israel this weekend is drawing comparisons to 9/11 and the 1973 Yom Kippur War. In an online discussion, Brookings experts Natan Sachs, Shibley Telhami, Suzanne Maloney, and Molly Reynolds weighed in on Israel's response to the attacks, Iran's involvement, the regional repercussions, and how domestic politics will bear on the U.S. response, moderated by Michael O'Hanlon. Show notes and transcript: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/war-in-israel-and-gaza/  Follow...

This week, the House of Representatives ousted Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House, a position he had held since January. The final vote was 216 to 210, with eight Republicans joining all voting Democrats and passing a motion to vacate, introduced by Florida Representative Matt Gaetz. Sarah Binder, senior fellow in Governance Studies at Brookings, joins the show to discuss what happened and what it means for governance in Congress. Show notes and transcript. Follow The Current and all...

The 2023 U.N. General Assembly saw increased calls from countries of the "Global South" for a greater role in global governance and the major multilateral institutions. Bruce Jones explains how the U.S., China, and Russia are competing for the Global South's attention, why calls to reform of the U.N. Security Council may now have a chance, and highlights a new multilateral framework called the Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation. Show notes and transcript:...

This past weekend, India hosted its first G-20 summit, the annual gathering of leaders from the world’s largest economies. To assess highlights from the summit and India’s global role moving forward, Tanvi Madan, senior Fellow in Foreign Policy at Brookings, joins the program. Madan is host of the new Global India podcast, debuting this month from the Brookings Podcast Network. Show notes and transcript. Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple or Google podcasts, or on...

On Wednesday night, eight contenders for the Republican Party presidential nomination appeared on a Milwaukee stage together for the first GOP debate. Donald Trump, currently leading in the polls, was not among them. On this episode, Elaine Kamarck, founding director of the Center for Effective Public Management and a senior fellow in Governance Studies at Brookings, offers her analysis of what happened and what it portends moving toward the first primaries in January.  Show notes and...

The coup that ousted Niger's President Mohamed Bazoum in a late July follows a string of similar military takeovers in Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Mali. Landry Signé discusses how Niger and other democracies in the Sahel have struggled to build systems of accountability and deliver public services, and the need for international, regional, and local alignment to strengthen economic security. Show notes and transcript: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/what-underlies-the-coup-in-niger  Follow...

Israel's Knesset passed a bill that strips Israel's Supreme Court of the power to declare government decisions unreasonable. The so-called "reasonableness bill" passed with a 64 to 0 vote after all members of the Knesset's governing coalition voted for it and all members of the opposition left the chamber. Passage of the bill has sparked turmoil in the country. Natan Sachs, director of the Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings and a senior fellow in Foreign Policy, discusses what's...

The Supreme Court's decision ending race-based admissions policies at colleges and universities leaves in place other forms of affirmative action like legacy preferences and early admissions — affirmative action policies that disproportionately benefit white students, says Katharine Meyer. Meyer looks at how underrepresented student enrollment dropped in states that previously banned race-based affirmative action, and how some have tried to increase student diversity through race-neutral...