Recent Events
Center Points are one page summaries designed to convey the core message of recent events hosted by CNP. Center Points are also periodically written on issues of great policy importance.
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Dec 20, 2012
Less than a month after the November reelection of President Obama, CNP sent a U.S. Scholars Delegation comprised of current and next generation policy experts and decision makers to meet with Taiwanese officials, trade experts and academics, to examine the future of U.S.-Taiwan relations.
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Dec 18, 2012
With the end finally nearing for the Assad regime, the question of what type of government will emerge in Syria looms over the horizon. Will it be inclusive and tolerant of minority groups? Will it prevent retribution killings of Alawites? Will the Syrian state remain whole or will some minority groups like the Kurds and the Alawites try to carve out separate statelets?
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Dec 12, 2012
Once a market that was considered a secure place for investment, Brazil today faces challenges in recovering after the worldwide financial crisis. As a response to the sluggish nature of the country's economy, Brazilian leaders have taken aggressive steps to stimulate investment growth. Some of the policy moves, such as currency devaluation and the lowering of exchange and interest rates, have been looked at with question. Other moves, like the capping of Mexican manufactured automobiles, have some U.S. officials worried about Brazil's growing protectionism and state-guided capitalism. What role, if any, does the United States have in the development of Latin America's largest country?
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Nov 29, 2012
Cybercrime is one of the fastest growing areas of crime, estimated to cost the world over $110 billion annually. The global nature of today's interconnected networks and systems means that criminals can act from anywhere in the world against any target. As more and more of our lives are online through smartphones, the cloud, and other innovative technologies, we are seeing an emerging trend of criminal syndicates and other organized groups increasingly becoming involved in cybercrime and cyber attacks.
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Nov 14, 2012
The Sovereign Citizen Movement, a domestic terrorist group, has been listed by the FBI and the Southern Poverty Law Center as a growing anti-government extremist group who believe themselves to be separate from the United States. Their disregard for the law has often led to dangerous situations and sometimes even deadly confrontations with the police.
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Nov 1, 2012
In late July, former Citigroup Chairman and CEO Sandy Weill sparked a media firestorm when he announced a need for the nation's largest banks to be broken up to prevent them from becoming "too big to fail". CNP Advisory Board member Pat Mulloy and Professor Michael Greenberger discuss a variety of current issues including: the size of Wall Street, Dodd-Frank, and loan investment vehicles.
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Oct 24, 2012
In the Presidential elections of 2008, voter turnout was higher than it had been in the past few decades, in part due to the turnout of Hispanic voters, a key demographic. The Latino vote will likely be the difference between winning and losing in states like Colorado, Nevada and Florida. History tells us that which ever candidate wins those states has the inside track on the road to the White House. What turnout is expected for the 2012 elections, and how are the candidates succeeding in courting this key constituent group?
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Oct 18, 2012
U.S.-Pakistani relations have been defined by a curious mixture of antagonism and cooperation. Even before the 9/11 attacks, Pakistan was involved in the illegal proliferation of nuclear technology and support for militant Islamist organizations. Since 9/11, the bilateral relationship has rested on occasional cooperation against al-Qaeda, while being severely strained by state support for the Taliban, Haqqani Network and other militants at war against the Afghan state and the U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
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Oct 9, 2012
Targeted killings, most of them via drones, have become the centerpiece of the Obama Administration's counter-terrorism strategy. In Pakistan, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, and elsewhere, drones have stood ready in the skies to strike at America's enemies. But is this strategy working? Is it productive?
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Oct 4, 2012
The slow and initial tepid response of the new Egyptian leadership to the attack on the U.S. embassy in Cairo has led many observers to question the efficacy of the U.S.-Egyptian bilateral relationship and caused some members of Congress to advocate for a cut in U.S. assistance. On the other hand, both Egyptian and U.S. officials have indicated that they want the bilateral relationship to be maintained, as each side has equities it wants to protect.
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Sep 20, 2012
The Center for National Policy hosted Walter Pincus for a discussion on the prospect of defense sequestration and concurrent implications for Congress and the Department of Defense.
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Sep 13, 2012
The Center for National Policy hosted New York Times chief Washington correspondent David Sanger for a discussion about his new book on President Obama's foreign policy "Confront and Conceal."
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Sep 4, 2012
From the toppling of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan to the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden, special operations have taken on a new prominence in American foreign policy in the 21st Century. It appears that America's reliance on special operations forces will only increase in the coming decade. Major Fernando Lujan, Colonel David Maxwell (ret.), Sean Naylor and moderator CNP Research Fellow Ryan Evans discussed the political and strategic implications.
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Aug 22, 2012
CNP President Scott Bates, Cynthia Arnson and Ambassador Roger F. Noriega discuss the global impact of Venezuela's upcoming Presidential election.
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Aug 21, 2012
In 2012, elections in the United States and Taiwan, along with the leadership transition in the PRC will all take place in less than a year’s time. What are the prospects for continuity and change in the complex triangle that is the US-PRC-Taiwan relationship?
