Brookings Press Blog

"Creating an Opportunity Society" discussed by Ron Brownstein in National Journal and Duncan Currie in National Review

This important new book by Brookings senior fellows Ron Haskins and Isabel Sawhill continues to receive coverage, garner praise, and spur discussion. In the National Journal, Ron Brownstein said that the book “collects decades of pragmatic insights into the challenge of re-creating an economy that works for all.”

In the National Review, Duncan Currie writes that policymakers “will find a veritable armory of intellectual firepower in Creating an Opportunity Society. . . . The authors have thought long and carefully about their subject matter. In many ways, their fair-minded and illuminating discussion is even more valuable than their proposals. Creating an Opportunity Society overflows with keen social and economic insights. It deserves the attention of conservative and liberal policymakers alike.”

- Learn more about author Ron Haskins

- Learn more about author Isabel Sawhill

- Read about Creating an Opportunity Society and view an interview with the authors

Clive Crook discusses “Creating an Opportunity Society” in Financial Times: “book is full of excellent analysis and proposals”

In his Financial Times column, Clive Crook finds much to like in Creating an Opportunity Society, the new book by Ron Haskins and Isabel Sawhill.

The great virtue of this book—a comprehensive policy manual and the outline of a new social contract—is not just in recognizing that upward mobility in the U.S. is less than it should be, but is in calling for action, and in insisting on fiscal discipline. Its real strength is its distinctively American remedies, with their emphasis on rewarding effort rather than idleness, and insisting on personal responsibility.

Crook applauds the bold centrist and fiscally responsible policies Haskins and Sawhill outline to beef up spending on early education, improve schools, provide incentives to work, and postpone having children until after marriage.

- Read the column

- Learn more about Creating an Opportunity Society

Financial Times reviews "Which Path to Persia?"

No good option for dealing with Iran

Once again, Iran is in the headlines, accused by the United States, France, and Britain of hiding nuclear facilities from the International Atomic Energy Agency. How should America deal with the Islamic Republic? Which Path to Persia? presents a range of policy solutions—diplomacy, military, regime change, and containment—available to the United States in crafting a new strategy toward Tehran.

The Financial Times recently reviewed Which Path to Persia? and called it “a careful, considered examination of the options” available to deal with Iran. Written by “top U.S. experts on the Middle East,” the book concludes that no one strategy is ideal and that all involve heavy costs, significant risks, and potentially painful trade-offs.

- Read the Financial Times review

- Learn more about Which Path to Persia?

What do you know about Al-Qaeda?

Bruce Riedel’s Search for al-Qaeda receives critical acclaim

In The Search for al Qaeda: Its Leadership, Ideology, and Future, Middle East expert and former CIA officer Bruce Riedel argues that the past Administration was mistaken to declare a “war on terror” rather than a war against al Qaeda. In the book, he reviews how al Qaeda was created and developed, presenting authoritative and chilling background on "The Manhattan Raid," and focuses closely on what has happened to the movement since 9/11. He outlines al Qaeda’s ultimate goals and with a comprehensive analysis, reveals the origins, leadership, ideology, and strategy of the terrorist network. The book ends with innovative recommendations on how this movement can be stopped.

Critics maintain that The Search for al Qaeda “promotes, and provokes, fresh thinking and polemics.” Even in that sense alone, it is a valuable contribution to the public debate. Amir Taheri of AlSharq AlAwsat adds, “With the Obama administration apparently adopting Riedel’s analysis, we should soon know whether these recommendations would produce the desired effects.”

If the first rule of war is to "know your enemy," then we have a long way to go in winning this war against terror. As Riedel advises, it begins with the search for al Qaeda.

Bruce Riedel was a senior advisor to three U.S. presidents on Middle East and South Asian issues. He is currently a senior fellow with Brookings' Saban Center for Middle East Policy. At the request of President Obama, he chaired an interagency review of policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan for the White House that was completed in March 2009.

- Begin your Search for Al-Qaeda

- Read reviews of The Search for al Qaeda by Amir Taheri of AlSharq AlAwsat and by Mark Mazzetti of the New York Times

Too Big to Fail?

Déjà vu, 5 years later

Gary H. Stern and Ron J. Feldman's book, Too Big to Fail, was first published back in 2004. While it seems fitting that we've just released an updated paperback edition, CNBC's Gloria McDonough-Taub puts it best when she says, "...the book is back – with new insight and new recommendations....You can imagine all the questions the authors are fielding now – like why wasn’t their book written back in 2004 given more attention? Oy!" Perhaps we'll all pay closer attention this time around.

- Read Gloria McDonough-Taub's "Bullish on Books" post on CNBC.com

- Read the transcripts from Gary Stern's interview with CNN's "Your Money"

- Learn more about the new paperback edition of Too Big to Fail

One Sunday, Two Reviews in NYTBR

The Search for al Qaeda and Restoring the Balance reviewed 1/18

The January 18th issue of the New York Times Book Review includes reviews of The Search for Al Qaeda and Restoring the Balance. From the review of The Search for Al Qaeda by Bruce Riedel and The Duel by Tariq Ali:

The pros and cons of continuing or escalating the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan can be gleaned from two recent books, “The Search for Al Qaeda” by Bruce Riedel, a former C.I.A. analyst and adviser to three presidents, and “The Duel” by Tariq Ali. One thing they agree on—and which was underscored by the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai—is that Pakistan is going to be at the forefront of foreign policy concerns for the Obama administration.

. . .

Riedel manages to distill the essence of Al Qaeda in just 150 pages. Among other things, he notes that the Islamic fundamentalists do not hate America’s values, only its policies.

. . .

Which man is right, which one wrong? Whatever the case, their books are a starting point for a much-needed debate.

From the review of Restoring the Balance by Richard Haass and Martin Indyk:

Beginning in July 2007, two of this country’s pre-eminent Middle East policy research institutions, both with close ties to the incoming administration, the Saban Center at the Brookings Institution and the Council on Foreign Relations, took the rare step of joining forces and asking 15 of their scholars to focus on the crucial challenges facing the next president. The results are collected in “Restoring the Balance,” a thoughtful and nicely structured collection of seven essays that examine the Iranian challenge and its many parts.

. . .

The Middle East is rich in awkward realities. Still, whether or not this plan will succeed, much of it will probably be attempted. In that sense, “Restoring the Balance” is a very useful and readable introduction to the thinking beyond the coming shift.

- Read "War Room Debate", the review including The Search for al Qaeda, by Ray Bonner

- Learn more about The Search for al Qaeda

- Read "Mission to Tehran", the review of Restoring the Balance, by Ethan Bronner

- Learn more about Restoring the Balance

The Search for al Qaeda Featured in Newsweek

John Barry interviews author Bruce Riedel

This latest issue of Newsweek features an interview with Bruce Riedel, author of The Search for al Qaeda: Its Leadership, Ideology, and Future:

Bruce Riedel was in the White House Situation Room on 9/11. For 30 years he was one of the CIA's senior analysts of the Middle East, rising to be a special assistant to the President on the National Security Council staff. Now he has written an analysis of Al Qaeda—and a critique of America's strategy in combating it. He outlined his concerns to NEWSWEEK's John Barry.

NEWSWEEK: Why this book now?
Bruce Riedel: I starting writing this book two years when I retired from CIA, because I think Al Qaeda is still the No. 1 threat to America; but there is still much that is misunderstood or not understood about the nature of that threat.

- Read the Newsweek article by John Barry, "How to Fight Al Qaeda Now: An Ex-CIA analyst talks about the terrorists’ power—and their vulnerabilities".

- Learn more about The Search for al Qaeda.

To Serve the President

New book featured in The Washington Post

David Broder's column in this past Sunday's Washingotn Post, "Management 101 for Senators," featured Bradley Patterson's forthcoming book, To Serve the President: Continuity and Innovation in the White House Staff.

Bradley H. Patterson has made a specialty of examining the workings of the White House and probably knows as much as anyone about how to organize the Presidency. . . . One of the things Patterson teaches is that Geroge Bush has been a more creative manager than is generally recognized. - David S. Broder, The Washington Post

This is great pre-publication press for a book we are excited to include in a list of "Transition 09" titles, and is very much the spiritual successor to Patterson's 2000 release, The White House Staff.

- Learn more about To Serve the President.

- Read David Broder's "Management 101 for Senators" on washingtonpost.com.

- Learn more about The White House Staff.

The Push for Working Longer

Working Longer continues to receive nationwide attention

Did you laugh when you heard that working longer could save your retirement plan? Did you scoff and decide that others could work past the retirement age of 62, but certainly not you? Be prepared, because the last laugh may not be yours; it seems the bandwagon is filling up as the media alerts Americans to the possibility that Brookings authors Munnell and Sass are spot on! Working longer could indeed be the solution to the retirement income challenge. Following coverage by the Wall Street Journal and The Economist, The New York Times has just reviewed the Brookings Institution Press book Working Longer.

Harry Hurt’s conclusion: this “thought-provoking” guide “tackles the issue of surviving one’s so-called golden years” but the ultimate decision to push the retirement age lies with Congress. Hurt does not seem hopeful stating that he has“learned to expect the worst”.

- Read Alicia Munnell and Steven Sass’ plan for salvaging your retirement plan in Working Longer: The Solution to the Retirement Income Challenge.

- Read The New York Times' review of Working Longer.

- Read The Economist's review of Working Longer.

- Read The Wall Street Journal's review of Working Longer.

Get Out the Vote, 2nd ed. Reviewed in The American Prospect

Get Out the Vote, 2nd ed., by Donald P. Green and Alan S. Gerber, receives a glowing review in the July/August issue of The American Prospect. You can view the article online here.

The first edition of Get Out the Vote! broke ground by introducing a new scientific approach to the challenge of voter mobilization and profoundly influenced how campaigns operate. In this expanded and updated edition, the authors incorporate data from more than one hundred new studies, which shed new light on the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of various campaign tactics, including door-to-door canvassing, e-mail, direct mail, and telephone calls. Two new chapters focus on the effectiveness of mass media campaigns and events such as candidate forums and Election Day festivals. Available in time for the core of the 2008 presidential campaign, this practical guide on voter mobilization is sure to be an important resource for consultants, candidates, and grassroots organizations.

- Read Harold Meyerson's review, "Make it Personal: Two political scientists challenge the conventional wisdom about voter turnout," in The American Prospect.

- Learn more about Get Out the Vote, 2nd ed.