The Brookings Current

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Who is new Speaker of the House Mike Johnson? Oct 26, 2023

Show notes

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

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The Current is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

Parsing disinformation in the Israel-Hamas conflict Oct 25, 2023

Show notes

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 spreads, how we can spot it, and how we can better consume information coming out of conflicts like the one in the Middle East.

Biden in Israel and US diplomacy on the Israel-Gaza crisis Oct 19, 2023

Show notes

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: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/biden-in-israel-and-us-diplomacy-on-the-israel-gaza-crisis

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The Current is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

War in Israel and Gaza Oct 10, 2023

Show notes

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/

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The Current is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

What Kevin McCarthy's ouster as Speaker of the House means for governance Oct 04, 2023

Show notes

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.

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The Current is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

UN reform and the Global South at the 2023 General Assembly Sep 29, 2023

Show notes

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: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/un-reform-and-the-global-south-at-the-2023-general-assembly

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The Current is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

India in the world after the G-20 summit Sep 12, 2023

Show notes

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 Spotify. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

The Current is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

What happened in the first GOP presidential debate and why it matters Aug 24, 2023

Show notes

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 transcript.

Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple or Google podcasts, or on Spotify. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

The Current is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

What underlies the coup in Niger? Aug 09, 2023

Show notes

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 The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple or Google podcasts, or on Spotify. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

The Current is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

Israel's Supreme Court reform crisis Jul 28, 2023

Show notes

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 happening in Israel.

Show notes and transcript: https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-will-the-supreme-courts-affirmative-action-ruling-affect-college-admissions

Follow The Current and all Brookings podcasts on Apple or Google podcasts, or on Spotify. Send feedback email to podcasts@brookings.edu.

The Current is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

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