Musil Provides Hope For A Heated Planet

Robert Musil, author of Hope for a Heated Planet and Senior Fellow at American University’s Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies, joined the Council Tuesday night to present strategies for combating climate change. Musil said he prefers to be an optimistic environmentalist, rather than  emphasize  “gloom and doom” like so [...]

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A New North American Union

Washington Post Associate Editor and Chief Foreign Correspondent Jim Hoagland joined the North American Forum again this year as a participant.  One of his most recent columns draws from this year’s discussions at the Forum in Ottawa and advises President Obama to work with Canada and Mexico to form a “more perfect economic union to [...]

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Obama, Qaddafi address UN General Assembly

All eyes have been on the United Nations this week as numerous heads of state addressed the General Assembly. President Obama called for a “new era of engagement based on mutual interest and mutual respect” and suggested four pillars that are “fundamental to the future that we want for our children: Nonproliferation and disarmament, the promotion [...]

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A successful “reset” to U.S.-Russian Relations?

Is the Russian political system best understood as a “managed democracy” and who is managing it—President Medvedev or Prime Minister Putin? What are the implications for U.S.-Russian relations? After his visit to Moscow earlier this month, has Obama successfully “reset” relations with Russia and what must he do to improve future relations between the two [...]

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Obama’s Inheritance: The Opportunity Costs of the Iraq War

David Sanger, Chief Washington Correspondent for The New York Times, drew a large and attentive audience to our auditorium last night for his lecture, “The World Obama Confronts.” Although accounts of the Iraq War often focus on its direct costs, Sanger, in his lecture and recently published first book, The Inheritance, explores the depth of [...]

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Philanthrocapitalism at GPF

Matthew Bishop and Michael Green put up a great post yesterday on Obama’s plans for philanthropy that came out during GPF last week.  Looking at Sonal Shah and Secretary Clinton’s remarks, they discuss the administration’s attitude toward philanthropy and what this might mean going forward for joint government-philanthropic initiatives.  They applaud most of Secretary Clinton’s [...]

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Exciting news out of Washington!

The U.S. Senate yesterday passed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act.  This bill is expect to pass the House next week and should be signed by President Obama shortly thereafter.
The NonProfit Times detailed some of the highlights of the bill:
The Serve America Act updates and strengthens national service programs administrated by the Corporation for [...]

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Stimulating entrepreneurship

The America Forward Blog highlights an interesting piece by Mitch Landrieu and Andrew Wolk on the need for social entrepreneurship in this country, especially in the face of these difficult economic times.  They argue that the Obama Administration’s ability  “to foster social innovation and entrepreneurship will be crucial to maximizing the use of our resources [...]

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Obama’s New Tax Plan: Debate over implications for Philanthropy

The past few days have seen lively debate over whether Obama’s new tax plan – which includes limits for charitable giving deductions – will reduce the amount of money given each year toward philanthropic ends.  The Chronicle of Philanthropy has posted several articles with competing views – one from the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy [...]

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Jane Wales: Input for the White House Office of Social Innovation

The Chronicle of Philanthropy today published a short piece on plans for a new White House Office of Social Innovation.  Jane Wales, our CEO & President, has been asked to design a series of meetings during the next two years to develop advice on how the office should operate.  She will host these through [...]

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Funds to fight AIDS & Malaria fall short in financial crisis

An article this week in The Christian Science Monitor highlights the deepening shortfall in funding for international efforts to fight AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria.  Global health leaders are calling for the Obama Administration to pledge American money to these ends, to set an example for the rest of the world.
The article argues, “The international economic [...]

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Ambassador Bruton on the “Buy American” idea

John Bruton, former Irish Prime Minister and current EU Ambassador to the United States, urged Congress on Monday to refrain from any “Buy American” provisions in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act now headed to the Senate. Bruton expressed the EU’s concerns over such action, saying that if approved, the measure would set a “dangerous [...]

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