The Bernard L. Schwartz Fellows Program: Publications, Events and More

Peter Bergen on NPR | 'Seven Years After Sept. 11, Where Is Bin Laden?'

Communications — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:02:00 -0400

New America in the News:

In the past seven years, has the U.S. gotten closer to finding Bin Laden, containing al-Qaida or stabilizing Afghanistan?

Ahmed Rashid, a Pakistani author and journalist, and Peter Bergen, author of The Osama Bin Laden I Know, discuss whether progress has been made in the region. LINK to audio

Reihan Salam's book in Bloomberg News | 'Republicans Seek to Restore Reputation as Source of New Ideas'

Communications — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:51:00 -0400

New America in the News:
Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam, two authors in their 20s who wrote Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream, argue the party can woo such voters by championing tax breaks for families with children and promoting vocational education, while leaving much of Democratic President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal intact. LINK

Boots on the Ground

Articles — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 12:30:00 -0400

If the 20th century really began with the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in August 1914, which set in motion the start of a series of intrastate wars so brutal they killed tens of millions, then surely the beginning of this century was announced by the attacks of September 11, the harbinger of a new kind of war waged with spectacular acts of terrorism by non-state groups that seem likely to be a defining feature of the century to come.

On the beautiful morning of September 11, 2001 nineteen men armed only with knives attacked the preeminent symbols of American military and economic might, killing some three thousand people and… more

Power Cuts Fuel Pakistan's Power Struggle

Articles — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:05:00 -0400

Given all this, one might ask whether it was worth getting rid of Mr Musharraf. Although he too pursued an alliance with the US, he was at least personally honest, whereas Mr Zardari is widely known as “Mr Ten Per Cent”, because of his behaviour when his wife was Prime Minister in the 1990s.

If things go badly, many Pakistanis may come to regret Mr Musharraf's overthrow. But it's no good crying over spilt milk. As I found talking to ordinary people in the weeks before his resignation, his popularity had sunk so low that he could have remained in power only through ruthless repression, which would have… more

Reihan Salam on NBC Nightly News | 'GOP Youth Look for New Approach to Republican Party'

Communications — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 09:45:00 -0400

New America in the News:

MARIA MENOUNOS reporting:

Young Republican activists like Brian Smith say they are not giving up the fight for young voters who thus far have been crucial to Barack Obama's success.

Mr. BRIAN SMITH: What we find important--individual liberty, national security, you know, limited government--are still going to be the same, but the approach is going to be different.

MENOUNOS: Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam, both 28, agree, they're among the youngest thinkers looking for that new approach to the grand old party, saying the old Republican message doesn't work today.

Mr. REIHAN SALAM: We can make government more responsive. We want you to have ownership of government.

MENOUNOS: Looking to re-cast the GOP message in new terms, these young Republicans want to secure the working class and pivotal new voters by focusing on kitchen table issues like tax breaks for young families as opposed to handouts, arguing government spending is OK as long as it's productive.

Mr. ROSS DOUTHAT: Conservative politicians have to readjust and move to address the challenges facing America today.

Mr. SALAM: If the Republican Party doesn't wise up and start talking about those issues that matter urgently now to young families, they're going to be extinct. LINK to video

League of Demagoguery

Articles — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 07:02:00 -0400

Whichever U.S. party forms the next administration will have to do so in circumstances where America’s capacity for decisive action in the outside world has been greatly diminished, at least compared to the grandiose ambitions which the Bush administration nourished in its first three years in power. Most importantly, Iraq and Afghanistan have revealed the immense expenditure of troops and money required to fight even medium-size mass insurgencies--to the extent that America’s ability to engage in any additional ground wars is in serious question.

In part, this is because the United States is suffering from the oldest of all syndromes afflicting elderly empires with spoiled elites and debellicized populations: the inability… more

Reihan Salam in Marketplace | 'McCain Must Focus on the Payroll Tax'

Communications — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:58:00 -0400

New America in the News:
Commentator Reihan Salam says some Republicans have lost touch with the economic anxiety of average Americans. He offers a suggestion for self-improvement. LINK to audio and transcript

Reihan Salam in USA Today | 'Grand Old Party Seeks Fresh Faces'

Communications — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:42:00 -0400

New America in the News:

None, though, has embraced the sort of radical change outlined in the book Grand New Party, which conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks called "the best single road map of where the party should and is likely to head." In the book, 20-something authors Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam of The Atlantic magazine argue that Republicans need to address growing economic inequality and working-class insecurity with subsidies for wages, child care and health care.

"Anything like this is going to take a decade," Salam said in an interview. LINK

The Globalization of Steak

Articles — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 14:05:00 -0400

As food and grain prices rise around the world, causing hunger and political unrest from Egypt to Indonesia, I still find myself nearly every weekend walking around the corner for brunch to Brasserie Les Halles in Manhattan, where the steak frites is $17.50. Steak has been stable not just in its price, but also its gastric and emotional effect: Afterward I am both full and full of myself.

It first struck me in Shanghai at the tail end of two years of traveling the world on a lean budget to research a book. Deng Xiaoping was only partially right: To get rich is glorious, but to flaunt… more

Gut Reactions

Articles — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 11:08:00 -0400

For more than a hundred million years, termites have lived in obscurity, noticed only by the occasional hungry anteater or, more recently, by dismayed homeowners. Other social insects, such as bees and ants, are celebrated for their industriousness and engineering feats, but popular culture has not gotten around to cheering on termites for theirs -- even though they build mounds as tall as 20 feet, which may be oriented north-south as accurately as if plotted with a compass, in order to maximize heat from the sun. The extraordinary powers evolution has bestowed on termites -- some protect the mound by spraying chemicals from nozzles on their heads at intruders,… more

Reihan Salam on NPR | 'Emerging Conservatives Discuss 'McCain Appeal''

Communications — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 10:46:00 -0400

New America in the News:
The Republican National Convention kicks off in St. Paul, Minnesota today with the GOP poised to take back momentum gained by Democrats at their National Convention last week in Denver. Author Reihan Salam, of the Atlantic, is joined by Laura Elizabeth Morales, of Young Conservatives of Texas, discuss emerging conservatives and what John McCain can do to persuade voters with his message. LINK to audio

America's 'Identity' Blind Spot

Articles — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 07:56:00 -0400

As a nation and as individuals, we tend to view the world through the prism of our own experiences. Over the last few weeks, Russians, Georgians, Abkhazians and South Ossetians have reminded us that ethnic nationalism and secessionism are on the rise around the globe. I worry that the American experience leaves the United States and its citizens unprepared to confront it. Not long ago, I had dinner with a conservative media figure who seemed perplexed that I'm a student of "identity." "What made you do that?" he asked. "I think the world would be better without it." I tried to explain that it… more

Are al-Qaeda's Tactics Killing Off its Support?

Articles — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 13:16:00 -0400

This month marks 20 years since al-Qaeda was founded in the Pakistani border city of Peshawar by Osama bin Laden and a handful of veterans of the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan, and the group is more famous and feared than ever. But its grand project – to transform the Muslim world into a militant Islamist caliphate – has been, by any measure, a resounding failure.

That's largely because Mr. bin Laden's strategy for arriving at this promised land is a fantasy. Al-Qaeda's leader prides himself on being a big-think strategist – but for all his brains, leadership skills and charisma, his overall strategy is self-defeating.

Mr.… more

Reihan Salam in The Denver Post | 'The Republican Party Gets Ready'

Communications — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 10:31:00 -0400

New America in the News:

Part of addressing different challenges includes making a pragmatic shift, says Reihan Salam, 28, who is part of the GOP's younger generation and co-author of "Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream."

He contends family values should include kitchen-table economics. Acknowledging global warming isn't an embrace of liberalism, he says, but the first step in discovering solutions. Instead of lambasting entitlement programs or just denying that a problem exists, he adds, Republicans should find a way to make them better, less bureaucratic and more cost-effective. LINK

Flynt Leverett in the Washington Post | 'Russian Offensive Hailed in Mideast'

Communications — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:22:00 -0400

New America in the News:
And with the United States and Russia at odds, Iran also can expect more help from Russia in blocking U.S. efforts at the U.N. Security Council and other international bodies to sanction Iran over its nuclear program, said Flynt Leverett, a former Bush administration Middle East policy director and now a senior fellow at the New America Foundation in Washington. LINK

Reihan Salam in the Christian Science Monitor | 'Is the Republican Party in Peril?'

Communications — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 09:26:00 -0400

New America in the News:
One of the most talked-about books of the genre is “Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream.” The authors, Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam, young editors at Atlantic Monthly, assert that while the GOP has learned to speak to the cultural concerns of working-class whites, it has failed to address their economic unease. They propose a mix of wage subsidies for the working poor, a bigger child tax credit, and steps toward a universal healthcare system rooted in the free market. LINK

Organizations Need Structure and Flexibility

Articles — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 08:50:00 -0400

There is certainly no shortage of management lessons to be gleaned from Michael Phelps's record-shattering performance at the Beijing Olympics--the importance of setting firm objectives and staying sharply focused perhaps chief among them.

Nevertheless, I suspect that Peter Drucker would have been more intrigued by the blows suffered in the boxing ring than by the gold gathered in the swimming pool. It was there, in the square circle, that the U.S. turned in its worst-ever showing, winning but a single bronze medal and sending disheartened fans scurrying to figure out what went wrong.

Interestingly, the answer appears to have relatively little to do with the fighters' athletic prowess… more

Here's How McCain Can Beat Obama to the White House

Articles — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:06:00 -0400

In January, I met a friend of mine to discuss his impending departure from Washington DC. He was moving to Chicago to join Senator Barack Obama’s budding presidential campaign. At the time, it was hard not to have an instinctive sympathy for Obama, not least because the Clinton campaign had by that point attracted many of the most loathsome careerists in Democratic politics. Among other things, we discussed the general election landscape. My friend, confident even then that Obama would win the Democratic nomination, was convinced that New York mayor Rudy Giuliani would be Obama’s toughest opponent in a general election. Despite the many skeletons in Giuliani’s closet, he… more

Diminishing Returns for Rice in Israel

Articles — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 11:39:00 -0400

US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice just completed her seventh visit to Israel-Palestine since the Annapolis conference nine months ago. You remember Annapolis, when after almost seven years of neglect the Bush administration committed itself to securing an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal during its last year in office and to dramatically improving the day-to-day situation on the ground.

Displaying admirable consistency and tenacity, albeit a disconnect from reality, Rice reiterated that goal during her visit this week. The Israeli and Palestinian leaders she met with were polite in their encouragement. Yet even among those who desire a deal, most consider the clock to have run out on this administration. Israeli foreign… more

To Win the Middle Class, Time to Roll Out Obamanomics 2.0

Articles — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 11:18:00 -0400

Democrats gather in Denver this week with worries as well as hopes. It's not just that Barack Obama is locked in a dead heat with John McCain. It's also that he is barely winning - and in some polls actually losing - on the issue that should be his strongest - the economy.

If Obama is going to triumph, he needs to attract the middle-class voters who've watched their jobs, health care, retirement savings and family finances grow less secure. But this will only happen if he sharpens and expands his economic message, without further delay. To do that, he must put three moves into his economic playbook so… more