The Bernard L. Schwartz Fellows Program: Recent and Upcoming Events

Almost ironically, we read in the newspapers every week that their industry is in crisis.  Newspapers across the country are shuttering overseas bureaus, offering buyouts to dozens (even hundreds) of talented journalists, and in the process imperiling their capacity to serve as vital watchdogs over our constitutional system.  How did we end up in a situation where a newspaper like The Washington Post, a fountainhead of Watergate and so much other skeptical and investigative reporting critical

Blackwater is changing its name to "Xe". Halliburton has sold off its KBR division. President Obama is pledging to crack down on the use of contractors by the military. Where does the future for private military contractors lie? Join us March 10th as we discuss these issues with Pratap Chatterjee, the author of the new book Halliburton's Army: How a Well-Connected Texas Oil Company Revolutionized the Way America Makes War, joined by Janine Wedel and Michael… more

On January 30, 2009, the New America Foundation hosted a panel discussion around the release of a Washington Monthly cover story and new proposal in the "Big Ideas" series. Featured speaker Phillip Longman, Senior Fellow at New America and Research Director of the Next Social Contract Initiative, pitched his plan to dramatically increase investment in freight rail infrastructure as part of the

Today's event has been postponed, due to the inclement weather. We apologize for the inconvenience, and will announce the new date as soon as it is determined. 

On January 27, 2009, the New America Foundation hosted a panel of GOP thinkers and policymakers to discuss the current status of the Republican Party, the lessons of its defeat in the 2008 election and the challenges it faces in the years ahead.  Featured speaker Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Senior Policy Advisor to McCain for President and former Director of the Congressional Budget Office, was followed by responses from New America

On December 5, 2008, the New America Foundation’s Next Social Contract Initiative hosted a three panel discussion about the future of social policy after the economic downturn. David Gray, Director of the Workforce and Family Program at New America, opened the event with preliminary remarks. Karen Kornbluh, formerly of the New America Foundation, policy director in the office of Senator Barack Obama and the primary author of the 2008 Democratic Party Platform, delivered the keynote address. She was followed by a series of

The longest Presidential campaign in American history has finally come to an end. To sift over the historic results, the New America Foundation is bringing together its best political thinkers to discuss what happened on Election Day and why: How did Barack Obama's rise from Illinois State Senate to the nation’s highest office is just four short years? more

Come hear more about the book that Studs Terkel calls "revelatory and stunning"; that Anthony Lewis praises for providing "a dramatic glimpse of a dark American past"; that Publishers Weekly says "artfully weaves the personal and the political" in a way that "readers will find engaging on more than one level." Rick Wartzman, Irvine senior fellow at the New America Foundation, will lecture on his new book, "Obscene in the Extreme: The Burning and Banning of John… more

As the myth of the free market is overcome by current events, James K. Galbraith's new book explains both its rise and fall. His description of the dynamic and troublesome interaction between the public and private sectors is timely, instructive, and ultimately devastating. The rise of a free market ideology blurred both the distinction between these sectors and the growth of government. It did so in ways that not only contributed to greater wealth and income inequality, but also directly… more

The post-cold war order has come to an end. The "unipolar moment" has passed. Where does America go from here?

New America Foundation Whitehead Senior Fellow Michael Lind asserts that the purpose of the American way of strategy is to defend the American way of life by means that do not endanger the American way of life. Today that means rejecting neoconservative dreams of unilateral American domination and neoliberal plans for a "concert of democracies" in favor of the goal… more

In May, terrorism experts Peter Bergen and Paul Cruickshank released an article titled, "The Unraveling: The jihadist revolt against bin Laden." The article was republished in media outlets around the world and became the subject for discussions on the current state and future of Al Qaeda. In this panel discussion, Messrs. Bergen and Cruickshank will discuss their continued research into the issue, with additional perspectives from panelists Contribuing Expert Evan Kohlmann and Stephen Coughlin and special guest… more

On Tuesday, June 24, 2008 the New America Foundation’s Next Social Contract Initiative hosted a panel discussion with Yale Law School professor Michael Graetz; Maya MacGuineas, President of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget and Director of the Fiscal Policy Program at New America; and Michael Lind, Whitehead Senior Fellow at New America. Professor Graetz spoke on his new book, 100 Million Unnecessary Returns: A Simple, Fair, and Competitive Tax Plan for the United States. The panelists offered… more

Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Iran are the primary state players that make life in the Kurdish neighborhood complex, but non-state actors also roil the environment inside Iraq. The Kurdish question remains a major global flashpoint. As Iraq’s civil war rolls on and stability of the multi-ethnic state is called into question, Quil Lawrence believes how the U.S. handles the Kurds and their quest for statehood will define the region for decades to come. Quil Lawrence is the Middle East… more

Over the next few decades, the developed world will age and weaken. Meanwhile, demographic trends in the developing world-from resurgent youth booms in the Islamic Belt to premature aging in China and population implosion in Russia-will give rise to daunting new security threats. While some argue that "global aging" is pushing the world toward greater peace and prosperity, a crisis looms in the 2020s. The risks of both chaotic state collapse and neo-authoritarian reaction are rising. Neither… more

The results of last month's parliamentary elections in Iran are now in. For anyone interested in Iran, these polls provide an essential indicator for the presidential elections next year as well as an important insight into the next year of Iran's internal politics and foreign policy. Joining us to assess the results will be Ali Ansari, professor of Middle Eastern Studies at St. Andrews College in Scotland and author of Iran, Islam & Democracy - The Politics of Managing… more

Grand explanations of how to understand the complex twenty-first century world have all fallen short-until now. In The Second World: Empires and Influence in the New Global Order, Parag Khanna shows how America's dominant moment has quickly been replaced by a geopolitical marketplace where the European Union and China compete with the U.S. to shape world order on their own terms.The primary battlefield is the Second World, regions lying between the three leading empires and the third world:… more

With the United States and China, who will rule whom? That's the central question of In the Jaws of the Dragon by Tokyo-based journalist and writer Eamonn Fingleton. His own answer is sobering. As American leaders fixate on the Middle East, China quietly consolidates both its geostrategic vision and its economic and military power. What is at stake is far more important than manufacturing jobs or the transparency of Sovereign Wealth Funds. It is a matter of which nation will… more

Has the right hijacked patriotism? Has the left ceded it? Does wearing a flag lapel pin make you a true patriot? Is dissenting against a war truly patriotic? Who decides? Written by former speechwriter and senior domestic policy advisor to President Clinton, Eric Liu, and Seattle-based entrepreneur and philanthropist, Nick Hanauer, The True Patriot argues that in these cynical times there should be a higher call: to country first. The… more

In 2003, Abu Omar was kidnapped by CIA agents in Italy on suspicion of being involved with al Qaeda. He was transported to Egypt, where he was tortured by Egyptian intelligence services. Abu Omar was later released, only to be recaptured after speaking about his experience in Egypt. In the latest issue of Mother Jones magazine, New America Fellow Peter Bergen uses Abu Omar's story to explore the CIA's extraordinary rendition program. Bergen also chronicles the rise… more

In the post-September 11 world, Al Qaeda is no longer the central organizing force that aids or authorizes terrorist attacks or recruits terrorists. Rather, it serves as an inspiration for individuals and other groups who have branded themselves with the Al Qaeda name. Marc Sageman, a former CIA case officer in Afghanistan in the 1980s, builds upon his bestselling book, Understanding Terror Networks, to explain how Islamic terrorism emerges and operates in the twenty-first century. In the recently published… more