The Brookings Current

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...

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...

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-f...

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...

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 Artifi...

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 Lebano...

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....

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 wha...

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 Par...

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 tra...

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 ha...

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 no...

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...

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 af...

This weekend's fast-moving but short-lived revolt by Wagner Group mercenaries led by Yevgeny Prigozhin leaves many unanswered questions about what this signals for Russian President Vladimir Putin's grip on power, what will happen to the Wagner Group after this, and the ramifications for Russia's war on Ukraine. In a discussion moderated by Susan Glasser, Angela Stent, Michael O'Hanlon, and Consta...

Aaron Klein explains the U.S. SEC's lawsuit against cryptocurrency companies Binance and Coinbase, the current state of crypto regulation, and the continuing debate over cryptocurrency's core purpose. Show notes and transcript: https://www.brookings.edu/podcast-episode/what-do-the-secs-lawsuits-signal-for-the-future-of-cryptocurrency/   Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple or Goo...

The potential security implications of China's corporate control of TikTok's parent company ByteDance have scaled up in recent years as U.S.-China relations have soured and China has expanded its domestic social, political, and economic controls. But Congress' potential answer — the RESTRICT Act — has its flaws. Cam Kerry examines TikTok's challenges, other ways to address the security concerns be...

With former President Jimmy Carter in hospice care, Bill Galston looks back at Carter's administration and his "exemplary and influential" post-presidential dedication to good works, and reflects on the dynamics that shape how we think about presidents' successes and failures. Show notes and transcript: https://www.brookings.edu/podcast-episode/how-will-we-remember-jimmy-carters-presidential-legac...

President Erdoğan "has been one of the symbols of democracy's global decline" and Turkey's upcoming elections will have consequences not only for Turkey, but the world, says Aslı Aydintaşbaş.  In the latest episode of The Current, Aydintaşbaş assesses how public opinion of Erdoğan has shifted after the recent devastating earthquake and why the political opposition has coalesced around Kemal Kılıçd...

Former CEO of MasterCard Ajay Banga has been nominated to be the next president of the World Bank following the early resignation of outgoing President David Malpass. Homi Kharas explains the challenges ahead for the World Bank to integrate climate change into its economic development agenda and how Banga's background in large-scale financial services may be brought to bear to expand the bank's ef...

In his visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken issued "a strident call for calm" over recent escalating violence, while also voicing concerns over Prime Minister Netanyahu's efforts to weaken Israel's Supreme Court. Natan Sachs discusses the new hardline government, what changes to the judiciary could mean for Israel's democracy, and where the U.S. c...

After the U.S. reached its debt limit last week, Secretary Janet Yellen announced that the Treasury will engage in extraordinary measure to prevent the U.S. from defaulting on its debt, but it remains to be seen how and when Congress will take action. Brookings experts David Wessel, Bill Gale, Molly Reynolds, Wendy Edelberg explain the debt ceiling, the economic ramifications of default, and the p...

On the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Élysée, Constanze Stelzenmüller and Tara Varma examine the French-German cooperative framework, and France and Germany's role as a driver for European partnership, leadership, and answering the challenge of Russia's war in Ukraine. Transcript and show notes: https://www.brookings.edu/podcast-episode/60-years-later-can-france-and-germany-fulfill-the-ambition...

In Moore v. Harper, the U.S. Supreme Court considers a case from North Carolina about whether state legislatures have unrestricted powers in how they administer federal elections, including the drawing of congressional district maps. Russell Wheeler explains the independent state legislature theory at the heart of the case, and what the Court's ruling could mean for partisan gerrymandering and the...

China's 20th Party Congress demonstrated that none of Beijing's recent troubles, from public anger over COVID lockdowns to economic slowdowns and rising international tensions, have dented President Xi Jinping's grip on power, says Patricia Kim. In this episode, Kim examines what leadership personnel changes and Xi's domestic focus on national security mean for China's near-term trajectory. Show n...