Restoring the balance: The Final Report

Reuters/Baz Ratner - UN peacekeepers stand guard along the Israel-Syria border, east of Kibbutz Merom Golan.
Restoring the Balance: A Middle East Strategy for the Next President is the final product of an eighteen month Saban Center at Brookings-Council on Foreign Relations project. This effort involved fifteen senior Middle East experts who joined together for the first time to conduct in-depth research, travel to the region and hold interviews with its leaders in order to develop a series of policy recommendations for President-elect Barack Obama.
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THE PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION
Friday, December 05, 2008
8:45 AM to 4:30 PM
Washington, DC
A new administration presents an ideal opportunity to reshape the nation’s tax code. Improving the equity, simplicity and efficiency of the tax system will help to better prepare taxpayers, businesses and the economy for the challenges that lay ahead. On December 5, Brookings, the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center and Tax Analysts co-host a forum that explores timely policy recommendations to the incoming president and his transition team.
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The Presidential Transition, Taxes, Tax Reform, Alternative Minimum Tax, The Presidency
PAST EVENT: Mumbai Terrorist Attacks: A Challenge for India and the World

Reuters/Jayanta Shaw - Candles and flowers placed for victims of the Mumbai attacks in front of the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai.
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
2:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Washington, DC
Brookings hosted a discussion on the Mumbai attacks that focused on the extremist networks allegedly responsible for the assaults, the increasing tensions between India and Pakistan, how India and the U.S. should respond to the crisis and the repercussions for the broader region and the NATO mission in Afghanistan in particular.
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India, Pakistan, Terrorism
Mumbai Attacks

Reuters/Desmond Boylan - Indian army soldiers take position during a gun battle at Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai.
In the aftermath of the terrorist violence in India, at least 172 people are dead, the country's top law enforcement official has resigned and the investigation is underway. Brookings expert Vanda Felbab-Brown explores the repercussions for the NATO mission in Afghanistan, while Bruce Riedel looks at the history of terrorism in India and its connection to global jihad. "The terrorists who attacked Mumbai have tried to break the morale of the city that is at the center of India’s economic renaissance and its cultural life," he notes. "They have failed before and will fail again."
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