Brookings Press Blog

Early Buzz for a Workbook for the New President

What Do We Do Now? Will offer advice on everything from selecting a cabinet to picking a desk for the Oval Office

Psst…check out this “Washington Whisper” from the latest U.S. News & World Report. The post is titled “A Beginner’s Guide Clinton Really Needed” and it comes complete with a cartoon of Bill Clinton wearing a dunce cap. The piece is on a forthcoming Brookings Institution Press book by Stephen Hess, a presidential expert here at Brookings. What Do We Do Now? A Workbook for the President-Elect will be available in October, just in time for an election week publication.

- Check out the "Washington Whisper" column featuring What Do We Do Now?

Media Hits

Washington Post, NPR & Publishers Weekly...Oh My!

- Jay Mathews, Washington Post education columnist, dedicated his column last Tuesday to research presented in The Price We Pay: Economic and Social Consequences of Inadequate Education, Clive Belfield and Henry M. Levin, eds. You can read the column here.

- Electronic voting and tech user frustrations were the focus of this past Tuesday’s Kojo Nnamdi Show on NPR. During the second segment Ben Bederson discussed Voting Technology: The Not-So-Simple Act of Casting a Ballot, by Paul S. Herrnson, Richard G. Niemi, Michael J. Hanmer, Benjamin B. Bederson, and Frederick C. Conrad. You can listen to the show here.

- The January 21 issue of Publishers Weekly is the Spring Books issue. The following titles from our new Spring 2008 catalog [pdf] are included in the listings:

• Hardcover/Contemporary Affairs: Freedom’s Unsteady March: America's Role in Building Arab Democracy, by Tamara Cofman Wittes
• Hardcover/Politics: Power Play: The Bush Presidency and the Constitution, by James P. Pfiffner
• Paperback/Contemporary Affairs: Twenty-First Century Gateways: Immigrant Incorporation in Suburban America, Audrey Singer, Susan W. Hardwick and Caroline B. Brettell, eds.
• Paperback/Politics: Beyond the Façade: Political Reform in the Arab World, Marina S. Ottaway and Julia Choucair-Vizoso, eds. (a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace book)

Collapse of an Empire

Former Russian Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar Offers Lessons for a Modern Russia

In today’s Russia, nostalgia for the Soviet era is growing; some would point to Putin’s victory this past Sunday as evidence. Many Russians reflect wistfully on the passing of a time when the Soviet Union was a superpower, commanding international respect, and they blame its demise on external enemies and foolish changes in policy. In Collapse of an Empire: Lessons for Modern Russia, however, economic reformer and former prime minister Yegor Gaidar clearly illustrates why such notions are misguided, ill-informed, and dangerous.

Gaidar cautions that Russia could be repeating some of its tragic past mistakes, including uneven economic development that leaves the nation vulnerable to fluctuations in the energy market. Such misplaced nostalgia defies reality while it imperils the future of Russia and its people.

Dr. Gaidar made a whirlwind tour of the United States this week. Brookings hosted a book launch featuring Dr. Gaidar on December 3 Washington, DC. On December 5, Dr. Gaidar spoke at a public program hosted by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. The tour concluded at Columbia University’s Harriman Institute in New York City for an event featuring the book on December 6.

- Check out the full Brookings book launch transcript [coming soon].

- Listen to Dr. Gaidar discuss the Russian election results on NPR’s The Diane Rehm Show.

- Listen to Dr. Gaidar discuss the Russian election results on BBC’s The World.

- Learn more about Collapse of an Empire.