The Brookings Cafeteria

(originally aired on 8/30/13) In this inaugural edition of the Brookings Cafeteria podcast, Benjamin Wittes, senior fellow in Governance Studies, talks with host Fred Dews about a range of issues at the junction of liberty and security, privacy and government surveillance. Wittes explains how liberty and security are not always in tension; how we might think about the government's surveillance activities; and why technology makes this moment in the history of the world both exciting and terrifying. Wittes is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Lawfare blog, which is devoted to sober and serious discussion of hard national security choices, and where you can read his detailed piece on what Ben Franklin really meant when he wrote, “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”

(originally published 9/13/13) What is the state of health care in America? Can costs be reduced and outcomes improved? Will the Affordable Care Act (aka “Obamacare”) implementation be successful? Which aspects of ACA are already having a positive impact? What to expect on October 1 when state health exchanges go online? Kavita Patel, a fellow in the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at Brookings and also a practicing internal medicine physician with Johns Hopkins Medicine, speaks with host Fred Dews about these and other questions related to one of the most important aspects of our lives. Patel says that one thing that worries her about health care is that “nobody feels as if it is their responsibility to tackle that cost [of health care].” She also says that she is worried about "active resistance" to implementation of the Affordable Care Act despite the benefits that are already apparent. Show notes: Containing Health Care Costs: Recent Progress and Remaining Challenges, testimony by Kavita Patel to the U.S. Senate Budget Committee Advancing Reform: Medicare Physicians Payments, testimony by Kavita Patel to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee Affordable Excellence: The Singapore Health Care System, Brookings book by William Haseltine Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us, TIME magazine article by Steven Brill Views of US Physicians About Controlling Health Care Costs, Journal of the American Medical Association Making Sense Of Geographic Variations In Health Care: The New IOM Report

(originally published 9/27/13) The foreign-born population in America is over 13 percent of the total population, the largest share of immigrants since the 1920s. Over 40 million immigrants—documented and undocumented, young and old—live and work in towns and metropolitan areas throughout the country. In this podcast, Audrey Singer, a senior fellow in the Metropolitan Policy Program, puts today's immigrant population into historical context, explains where they live now and how they contribute to their communities, and looks ahead to the prospect for comprehensive immigration reform at the federal and local levels. Singer, an expert on immigrants and demographic change, says that one important issue on which emphasis should be placed is the social, economic, civic and political integration of immigrants into the places where they live. Show notes: Contemporary Immigrant Gateways in Historical Perspective Immigration Facts: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Immigration Reform: What’s Next for Cities and Metros

(originally published 10/11/13) The American Dream is not dead, but Americans today experience less socioeconomic fluidity between where they are born and where they end up than people in comparable nations, including Great Britain. It is "in need of some health care," says Richard Reeves, an Economic Studies fellow and policy director of the Center on Children and Families. In this podcast, Reeves discusses his research on policies to make evidence-based social mobility—from birth, through childhood into adulthood—a priority, at both state- and federal-levels. Family and parents matter, and governments can help; "That's a place where Republicans and Democrats can really meet around." Reeves, who edits the Social Mobility Memos blog at Brookings, discusses evidence-based approaches to understanding social mobility and devising policies to increase it. "The belief that [American] society is open and fluid and classless," he says, "may actually be inhibiting action to make that true." He says that "an unequal society can become a stratified society. Inequality can begin to perpetuate itself almost automatically." Show notes: • The Parenting Gap• A New Federal Policy Architecture to Promote Social Mobility • Reeves on "Philosophy Bites" podcast on John Stuart Mill• John Stuart Mill: Victorian Firebrand• State of the Nation 2013: social mobility and child poverty in Great Britain

(originally published 10/23/13) Arms Control. Russia. Ukraine. Three distinct issues that share multiple connections. In this podcast, Steven Pifer, senior fellow and director of the Brookings Arms Control Initiative, connects the dots. A former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine and career foreign service officer, Pifer calls for an additional round of strategic arms reductions between the U.S. and Russia, on top of those agreed-to under the New START treaty. He also examines Russian foreign policy and explains how Ukraine is attempting to follow a path to greater integration with Europe while facing pressure from Moscow. Show notes: • Ukraine’s Yanukovych Caught Between Russia and the European Union• Nuclear Arms Control: Another New START• Nonstrategic Nuclear Weapons, Policy and Arms Control: Issues for the United States, NATO and Russia• External Influences on Ukraine’s European Integration• The Opportunity: Next Steps in Reducing Nuclear Arms, with Michael O'Hanlon

Over 800,000 foreign students are studying in the U.S. at institutions of higher education. Where are they coming from? What are they studying? And how can U.S. visa policy be improved to take advantage of this talented group? To find out the answers to these questions, I spoke with Associate Fellow Neil Ruiz from the Metropolitan Policy Program. Show Notes: • The Geography of Foreign Students in U.S. Higher Education: Origins and Destinations• Immigration Facts on Foreign Students• H-1B Visas and the STEM Shortage• Beyond H-1B: Other Avenues to Adding Skilled Workers• FixGov blog

As of last year, student loan debt in the U.S. exceeded $1.2 trillion, more than any other type of household debt except home mortgages. Media accounts have described this as the "potential next debt bomb for the U.S." and "the next financial disaster." But is there really a student loan debt crisis? To find out, I spoke with Beth Akers, a fellow in the Brown Center on Education Policy at Brookings. She explains how evidence sheds light on the problem, noting that it's difficult to reconcile reports of bad outcomes with what is, in general, a very good investment. Also in this podcast, listen to Senior Fellow Bruce Riedel speak about his new book, What We Won: America's Secret War in Afghanistan, 1979-89 (Brookings Institution Press, 2014). Show notes: • Is a Student Loan Crisis on the Horizon? (report by Beth Akers and Matt Chingos)• The Typical Household with Student Loan Debt (Brown Center Chalkboard)• Student Loan Safety Nets: Estimating the Costs and Benefits of Income-Based Repayment (paper by Akers and Chingos)• Student Loans Rising (paper by William Gale, Benjamin Harris, Bryant Renaud, and Katherine Rodihan)

This week's interview features part two of a conversation with Shadi Hamid, a Middle East expert and fellow in Foreign Policy at Brookings. Hamid discusses the perception that Islam and democracy are incompatible. Plus, he goes into more detail about what to expect from Egypt's President Sisi, and why it's a cop-out for Americans to look at Middle East violence and say that there's nothing we can do about it because the hatreds are so ancient and deep seated. (In part one, Hamid talked about meeting Muslim Brotherhood leaders, including Mohamed Morsi before he became Egypt's first democratically-elected president, about the power of social media, and about why Islamists are willing, literally, to die for their cause.) Hamid is the author of the new book, Temptations of Power: Islamists & Illiberal Democracy in a New Middle East. Also in this episode: a new segment, "Out of the Archives," where we find research from the last century of Brookings history that touches on how we see the world today. During a week in which we observe the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, we take a look at Brookings's 1960 report for NASA. Show Notes: • Islamists, Democracy, and the Roots of Middle East Violence (part one of podcast)• Temptations of Power: Islamists & Illiberal Democracy in a New Middle East, by Shadi Hamid (Oxford University Press, 2014)• The End of Pluralism, by Shadi Hamid• "Why Sayed Kashua is leaving Jerusalem and never coming back" (registration required)• "The Enduring Challenge of Engaging Islamists: Lessons from Egypt," report by Shadi Hamid• Brookings Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World Have a question or comment about this podcast, or a question for a scholar? Send it to [email protected] and we may address it in an upcoming episode.

This week's interview features part one of a conversation with Shadi Hamid, a Middle East expert and fellow in Foreign Policy at Brookings. In it, Hamid talks about Islamists and democracy, especially in Egypt. He also talks about meeting Mohamed Morsi before he became Egypt's first democratically-elected president, why the Muslim Brotherhood was cautious about attaining power, and why Islamists are willing, literally, to die for their cause. Part two of the conversation can be heard here. Hamid is the author of the new book, Temptations of Power: Islamists & Illiberal Democracy in a New Middle East. Also in this episode: a new segment focusing on what's happening in Congress. You've probably heard or seen the headlines about House Speaker John Boehner's proposed lawsuit against President Obama. Will this maneuver succeed or backfire? Governance Studies Fellow John Hudak offers some answers. Show Notes: • Temptations of Power: Islamists & Illiberal Democracy in a New Middle East, by Shadi Hamid (Oxford University Press, 2014)• "Why Sayed Kashua is leaving Jerusalem and never coming back" (registration required)• "The Enduring Challenge of Engaging Islamists: Lessons from Egypt," report by Shadi Hamid• Brookings Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World• FixGov blog Have a question or comment about this podcast, or a question for a scholar? Send it to [email protected] and we may address it in an upcoming episode.

Over the past decade, sub-Saharan African economies have grown 5 percent a year, and the region’s economy should double by 2030. Yet this growth is not enough to spread needed development and progress throughout the region. Amadou Sy, a senior fellow with the Africa Growth Initiative at Brookings, talks about the role of foreign direct investment, priorities for African policymakers, and the prospect for conflict resolution in the most troubled areas. Show notes: • Four Instruments to Strengthen Financial Integration in Sub-Saharan Africa• Shifts in Financing Sustainable Development: How Should Africa Adapt in 2014 (pdf)• Six Questions on the Crisis in the Central African Republic• Event on Peace and Stability in the Central African Republic• Africa in China's Foreign Policy• Africa in Focus (blog)