Itamar Rabinovich and Amos Harel discuss the state of the civil war in Syria, Iran's growing presence and what that means for Israel, and the changing relationship between the Assad regime and Russia.

Full show notes available here: http://brook.gs/2zRPguj

Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

In this episode of Intersections, Haroon Bhorat, nonresident senior fellow with the Africa Growth Initiative, and Homi Kharas, interim vice president and director of the Global Economy and Development Program, discuss how the global trend of a rising middle class has played out in sub-Saharan Africa, whether a strong manufacturing sector is required for middle-class expansion, and the difference between reducing poverty and building economic security.

Full show notes available here: http://brook.gs/2yRKMqM

Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

In this episode of Intersections, Amy Liu, vice president and director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings, and Jason Miller, nonresident senior fellow at Brookings and CEO of the Greater Washington Partnership, discuss the economic dynamics of the Washington, D.C. metro area, including the importance of regional cooperation, intentionality in building a long-term growth strategy, and what Amazon's HQ2 search tells us about how cities should think about their economic development.

Full show notes available here: http://brook.gs/2yRKMqM

Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

In this episode of Intersections, Brookings Senior Fellow Ted Piccone talks with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Prime Minister of Tunisia Mehdi Jomaa about the importance of liberal democracy in strengthening international security, and why states should encourage democratic participation among their people as a means to achieve greater domestic security.

Full show notes available here: http://brook.gs/2xhhKve

Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

In this episode, Brookings experts Adie Tomer and Elizabeth Kneebone discuss the findings from their new report, "Signs of Digital Distress: Mapping broadband availability and subscription in American neighborhoods," which examines the neighborhoods lacking in broadband infrastructure, and which ones have the infrastructure, but can't get connected.

Full show notes available here: http://brook.gs/2xg6SSK

Darrell West, vice president and director of Governance Studies, and Camille Busette, senior fellow and director of the Race, Prosperity, and Inclusion Initiative, discussed the findings of the latest Brookings Financial and Digital Inclusion Project report, which measures how well individuals and families can access quality, affordable financial services in 26 countries around the world.

Full show notes available here: http://brook.gs/2j3WUhb

Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network

"Men who take up arms against one another in public war do not cease on this account to be moral beings, responsible to one another and to God." - Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field, Francis Lieber, 1863

This episode of Intersections features a discussion with Elizabeth Grimm Arsenault, author of "How the Gloves Came Off: Lawyers, Policy Makers, and Norms in the Debate on Torture," and Daniel Byman, senior fellow in the Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings, on how the U.S. came to reverse 200-plus years of progress on the legal and normative standards for treatment of prisoners of war during the Global War on Terror.

Full show notes available here: http://www.brookings.edu/podcast-episode/americas-prisoners-of-war-changing-u-s-norms-on-torture

Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

While Intersections is on summer vacation, don't forget to tune into 5 on 45 and the Brookings Cafeteria, or catch up on some older episodes you might have missed.

Thanks as always to Gaston Reboredo and Vanessa Sauter. Intersections will return on August 23.

David Victor, co-chair of the Energy Security and Climate Initiative at Brookings and professor of international relations at the University of California, San Diego, and Christopher Clack, CEO of Vibrant Clean Energy, discuss the complexities of adopting sources of renewable energy, why the U.S. grid presents a unique challenge, and the political and economic challenges facing the pursuit of zero-carbon emission energy.

Full show notes available here: http://brook.gs/2eO5qiz

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Intersections is part of the Brookings Podcast Network.

William Gale and Vanessa Williamson discuss what can be learned from state-level experiments in taxation in Kansas and California, Americans' feelings about paying their taxes, and the empirical evidence versus ideology on how tax policy affects economic growth.

Full show notes available here: http://brook.gs/2vcjAx6

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