The AEI Events Podcast

Members of Congress and state legislatures are taking aim at online platforms’ ability to set and enforce content-moderation guidelines as private entities. Several proposals in Congress would scrap or amend Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which shields online platforms from liability for user-generated content. At the state level, “anti-censorship” laws seek to prevent online platforms from taking down certain content — potentially violating the First Amendment. Online...

The war in Ukraine has raged for more than a month, yet predictions of a rapid Russian victory have proved wrong. Indeed, it now appears that by the definitions Vladimir Putin putatively set — to oust the “Nazi” regime of Volodymyr Zelenskyy and save ethnic Russians under the Ukrainian yoke — Russia is losing the war. What is the state of play on the ground? Can Ukraine win and Russia lose, or vice versa? What is the state of the information war? And what does it all mean for NATO and the...

In “The Poor Side of Town: And Why We Need It” (Encounter Books, 2021), AEI’s Howard Husock combines a critique of more than a century of housing reform policies with the idea that simple low-cost housing — a poor side of town — helps those of modest means build financial assets and join in the local democratic process. Mr. Husock shares the powerful stories of housing reformers, critiques the legacy of urban renewal policies and exclusionary zoning, and shows where American cities went...

As the COVID-19 pandemic begins to shift from an acute crisis to an endemic pathogen, AEI’s Scott Gottlieb — physician, medical policy expert, public health advocate, and former US Food and Drug Administration commissioner — is releasing a book, “Uncontrolled Spread: Why COVID-19 Crushed Us and How We Can Defeat the Next Pandemic” (HarperCollins, September 2021), to help leaders and policymakers understand how COVID-19 was able to trounce America’s pandemic preparations. Dr. Gottlieb...

Twenty years after the 9/11 attacks, the Joe Biden administration has ended the “forever war” in Afghanistan, replacing US boots on the ground with an over-the-horizon counterterrorism capability. Africa, not the Middle East, has become the next frontier for groups such as al Qaeda and the Islamic State. What lessons should we take from past counterterrorism efforts to address today’s and tomorrow’s threats? AEI and the Combating Terrorism Center at the US Military Academy at West Point...

The majority of the world’s central banks are exploring digital currency. Most proposals for a central bank digital currency could function like US dollars. It could be widely accepted, an alternative to cash in an increasingly cashless society. In the US, a digital currency could give access to the financial system to the unbanked and may increase the efficiency of financial transactions. Should the Fed launch a digital currency? Federal Reserve Governor Christopher J. Waller will give a...

The Joe Biden administration’s announcement in early May that it would support suspending intellectual property (IP) rights at the World Trade Organization for COVID-19-related vaccines and treatments provoked controversy in the US and abroad. Advocates argue that waiving Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) — as South Africa and India proposed late last year — will enable fast, safe, and cheap vaccine manufacturing and distribution to the developing countries...

The US defense budget is at its largest in decades, yet the Air Force’s combat-coded aircraft inventory, the Navy’s battle-force ship fleet, and the Army’s number of active-duty soldiers have all shrunk. Is this trend reversible? The Pentagon’s creeping bureaucracy is plagued by slow-moving acquisition processes, the rise of numerous powerful defense agencies, and climbing overhead costs. Feasible improvements exist, but as Maj. Gen. Arnold L. Punaro (ret.) warns in his latest book, “The...

The enactment of the Budget and Accounting Act in June 1921 was a seminal event in the history of the federal budget process. It created two consequential American government institutions: the Bureau of the Budget (now the Office of Management and Budget) and the General Accounting Office (now the Government Accountability Office). It also strengthened the executive role in the budget process and forever changed the relationship between the president and Congress regarding spending,...

The Islamic State is gaining allies in Africa. Extremist groups linked to both the Islamic State and al Qaeda are intensifying their grip on communities across large swaths of the continent. Why do local African jihadist groups join international terror organizations, and why does it matter? Watch the full event here.

The Electoral Count Act of 1887 was adopted to ensure Congress counted only valid slates of electors during a presidential election. But scholars and election experts have warned that it was poorly drafted and invited confusion. The problems with this statute erupted in full view on January 6, 2021, when members of the House of Representatives and Senate challenged the electoral slates of two states. Some of these same legislators, along with President Donald Trump, asked Vice President...

On May 28, the White House will release its budget request for fiscal year 2022, including for the US military. This budget will provide early indicators of the new administration’s strategic priorities and inform the defense and foreign policy debates of the 117th Congress as the National Defense Authorization Act is developed. The new team in the Pentagon must deliver a budget that is consistent with strategic challenges yet balanced with President Joe Biden’s domestic policy agenda. Hot...

Rapid growth of secular identities and beliefs in America is transforming the religious and political landscape. “Secular Surge: A New Fault Line in American Politics” (Cambridge University Press, 2021) documents the rise of the country’s largest “religious” group and its distinctive set of beliefs and preferences. The authors investigate the political causes and consequences of this secular surge, drawing on unique survey data, including interviews with members of the American Humanist...

The cost of college makes for frightening headlines. The outstanding balance of student loans is more than $1.5 trillion nationally, while tuitions continue to rise. And after a pandemic that nearly dismantled the traditional “college experience,” many wonder if college is really worth it. Join the University of North Carolina System’s Andrew P. Kelly, The Wall Street Journal’s Josh Mitchell, and Braven’s Vince Marigna for a discussion with AEI’s Beth Akers about her new book, “Making...

President Joe Biden’s first 100 days have included major legislative action, millions of COVID-19 vaccinations, and an announced withdrawal from Afghanistan. What are the domestic and foreign policy implications of these 100 days? More importantly, what template do these past few months lay for the next three and a half years? AEI’s foreign policy team assesses what the president’s decisions portend for the future of conservative foreign policy and for managing an increasingly aggressive...

President Joe Biden’s first 100 days have included major legislative action, millions of COVID-19 vaccinations, and an announced withdrawal from Afghanistan. What are the domestic and foreign policy implications of these 100 days? More importantly, what template do these past few months lay for the next three and a half years? At the heart of Biden’s policy goals is the American Jobs Plan, a proposed $2.3 trillion infrastructure bill. Although the bill presumably addresses America’s aging...

Nobel Prize–winning University of Chicago economist James J. Heckman is internationally recognized for his groundbreaking research on early childhood, which is frequently highlighted in support of expanding early care and education programs to improve children’s outcomes. His well-known “Heckman Curve” is widely cited as showing a high return on public investment in those programs. What is Dr. Heckman’s assessment of current proposals for providing publicly funded childcare and pre-K to all...

Anti-Muslim attitudes and policies have played a prominent role in American politics in recent years, especially since then-candidate Trump’s call for a Muslim ban in 2015. In her recent book “Outsiders at Home: The Politics of American Islamophobia” (Cambridge University Press, 2020), Nazita Lajevardi uses a range of data and social science methods to assess how and why Islamophobia manifests itself and what its consequences are for Muslim Americans. In this web event, Dr. Lajevardi and...

The Constitution gives Congress alone the authority to raise government revenues and decide how to spend those dollars. James Madison described this power as “the most complete and effectual weapon with which any constitution can arm the immediate representatives of the people.” However, today’s Congress is losing its grip on the power of the purse. Legislators have gradually delegated their power to the executive branch, which already flouts and usurps Congress’ spending authority with...

Nearly all American schoolchildren have experienced home-based learning in the past year, leaving some families wondering whether they could enjoy the benefits of both at-home learning and traditional brick-and-mortar schools at the same time. Such an option does exist: hybrid homeschooling. But what is hybrid homeschooling, whom is it for, and how does it look when done well? EdChoice’s Michael Q. McShane, joined by practitioners and researchers Kathaleena Edward Monds, Allison L. Morgan,...