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

Over the past decade, improving the development and governance in oil-producing countries has become an international project encompassing everything from the NGO-lead Publish What You Pay campaign, to transparency and anti-corruption initiatives, "future generations" accounts for oil royalties, the World Bank's model project in Chad, and even Hugo Chavez's attempt at refocussing Venezuela's national oil company on local development projects. While a consensus has evolved around the problems that oil poses for development, the solutions are still… more

Are investment bubbles a competitive advantage for the U.S. economy, or are they simply examples of the private sector run amok? What role does the visible hand of government and public policy play in the creation of a bubble by helping channel investments into hot new areas? Is there an upside to the rapidly deflating real estate bubble?

Daniel Gross, a columnist for Slate and the New York Times, explored these and other questions while discussing his new book,… more

While the public gaze is fixated on the reasons for and success of the Iraq war, few policy analysts, commentators, and journalists are paying attention to the largest refugee problem in the Middle East since 1948. New America Foundation Fellow Nir Rosen -- internationally recognized for his groundbreaking journalism on Iraq since the beginning of the war in April of 2003 -- presented his piece, titled "The Flight from Iraq," which was the cover story in the May… more

This national policy forum on the future of both the American and global economies was hosted by New America's American Strategy Program and The New School's Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis. Video is available at right, while the agenda and participants are listed below.

Improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, have killed more than 1,150 U.S. troops and 10,897 Iraqis since the war began. Focusing on this ever-present deadly device of war, Discovery Times Channel presents MISSION OPS: ASSIGNMENT IEDs, an investigative look at the use of homemade bombs in terrorism and the stunningly innovative techniques used to thwart them.

Please join New America Foundation, Discovery Times Channel, and Story House Productions for a special advance screening of this timely documentary.

MISSON… more

Recent headlines about Walter Reed Army Medical Center have brought the military health care system under scrutiny. Yet despite problems with access, The Department of Veteran Affairs’ system of care, (which doesn’t run Walter Reed) turns out, in study after study, to outperform the rest of the American health care system by virtually all measures. These include patient satisfaction, patient safety, prevention, disease management, use of evidence-based medicine, information technology, and cost effectiveness.

What lessons does the VA’s performance offer… more

Because of the Middle East's critical role in global energy markets, the Iraq War raises important questions about the shifting distribution of economic and financial power around the world. This in turn raises important implications for America's international standing.

Oystein Noreng is Norway's leading energy economist and a profoundly insightful commentator on the geopolitical factors affecting global energy markets. Since 1990, Noreng has been Professor and FINA Chair in petroleum economics and management at the Norwegian… more

Given the challenging situation in Iraq, Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the transatlantic partners share the belief that only a regional approach will be successful in creating a sustainable peace. Americans and Europeans, however, pursue different strategies towards the common goal.Should the Americans engage in a bilateral dialogue with states like Syria and Iran or should Europeans facilitate a new “trialogue”? Are there strategies that have worked in the past in other regions and… more

Americans consume 10,000 gallons of gasoline a second: three gallons per person per day. New America Irvine Fellow Lisa Margonelli spent three years tracing the path that petroleum takes from oil fields far away to the gas tanks of California drivers. In her book Oil On the Brain she examines the history, chemistry, economics, politics and culture of oil to look at where our relationship to petroleum is taking us.

At this Sacramento event, Margonelli described her travels and discuss… more

Russia is often considered an energy superpower because it has the largest known natural gas reserves in the world, the second largest coal reserves, and the eighth largest oil reserves. Its energy superpower status has recently become a hot topic in the European Union and the United States. Both, the EU and the US have accused Russia of using its natural resources as a policy tool to wield power against offending states such as Georgia, the… more

Many liberals as well as conservatives supported the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq. In his provocative new book A Pact with the Devil: Washington’s Bid for World Supremacy, Tony Smith, professor of political science at Tufts University, criticizes liberal hawks as well as neocons for sharing a common project of American world supremacy. In a recent article in The Washington Post (3/11/2007), Smith warns that "the danger lies in believing that our power is beyond… more

In his book, Frontline Pakistan: The Struggle with Militant Islam, author Zahid Hussain wrestles with the contradictions and complexities of arguably one of the most critical alliances in America’s declared “global war on terror.” Hussain’s fundamental contention is that Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, put himself in an untenable position since allying himself with the United States after September 11, 2001. By vowing to fight extremism inside his own country, Musharref effectively pit Pakistan at war with itself. Meanwhile the… more

UPDATE:  Unfortunately, a last minute change to the Ambassador's schedule means that we must postpone this event until further notice.

The strategic importance of Afghanistan as a base for jihadist terrorists is increasingly evident. Taliban officials warn that they are gearing up for a major "spring offensive" against NATO forces in the coming months ('Spring Offensive' ABC News, 3/4/07). Senior Taliban official Mullah Dadullah has recently announced that Taliban and al Qaeda operatives, including bin Laden, are… more

Has the war in Iraq diminished or increased the threat of jihadist terrorism worldwide? Although widely debated, there has been no systematic empirical analysis to determine the answer -- until now.

At this New America Event, Peter Bergen and Paul Cruickshank discussed their groundbreaking new report, which shows that terrorism has dramatically increased worldwide following the onset of the Iraq war. Based on an analysis of the MIPT-RAND terrorism database, Bergen and Cruickshank conclude that the incidence of terrorism… more

From the days of the 1970s OPEC oil embargo to the recent spikes in gas prices, and the constantly evolving and volatile situation in the Middle East, it seems everyone has “oil on the brain.” Yet, despite the fact that our daily lives are inextricable from oil -- the U.S. alone burns through 10,000 gallons of gasoline a second, or three gallons per person per day -- many of us have only limited knowledge of the substance often referred to… more

American politics is in a time of upheaval, as old ideological lines dissolve and the changing economy demands a rethinking of the social contract. Recently, several prominent thinkers have proposed new policy and political syntheses that marry approaches usually favored by the right with solutions from the left. In a December 2005 article in The Weekly Standard entitled "The Party of Sam's Club," Ross Douthat and Reihan Salam suggested that the Republican Party pay attention to the … more

What will American foreign policy be like after George W. Bush leaves office? Drawing on a recent article in the November issue of Prospect as well as his other writing, Michael Lind, Whitehead Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation, made a range of bold predictions about Iraq, the world and America in the next few years and beyond at this New America event.

Michael Lind has been described by Rolling Stone magazine as “that rarest of figures,… more

In contrast to the Iraq Study Group and numerous other advocates of compartmentalized, incremental diplomacy with Iran, a new report authored by New America Senior Fellow Flynt Leverett and published by the Century Foundation calls for comprehensive engagement with Tehran. While the Bush Administration continues to cast doubt on the viability of negotiations with Iran, and the Iraq Study Group report advocates decoupling discussions about Iraq from those regarding the Iranian nuclear issue, Leverett’s report argues that the only… more

Ralf Fücks has recently suggested utilizing NATO as the de facto security guarantor between the Israelis and Palestinians and as the stabilizing force in the greater Middle East. Fücks proposes absorbing Israel into NATO and simultaneously restarting Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, arguing that a U.S.-European alliance can both reassure Israel and secure support from Arab states to take a hard line position against an increasingly emboldened and unruly Iran. Bringing Israel into the transatlantic security compact guarantees Israeli security while offering… more

In light of the mid-term election results and the deteriorating situation in the Middle East, both Republicans and Democrats must re-evaluate their existing approaches to the region. Republicans must face the stinging rebuke they received from the electorate due in great part to the debacle in Iraq. Democrats, on the other hand, now face the challenge of coming up with some serious and viable alternative strategies of their own. Anatol Lieven, Senior Research Fellow at the New America Foundation and… more