Brookings Today, 9/10/14

A roundup of some of the content published today by Brookings.

• Connecting the national labs to their regions. Legacy operating procedures limit the Department of Energy’s labs from engaging fully with regional economies, where much technology application and development is now occurring. Scott Andes, Mark Muro, and Matthew Stepp explain how the DOE and Congress can improve the impact of national labs in this new context.

• Crippling blow to a Syrian opposition group. Charles Lister writes of the recent attack on the leadership of Syria’s largest rebel group, Ahrar al-Sham. He says “the most significant consequence is that the fate of the Islamic Front now looks desperate.”

• The state of the mobile economy. Darrell West examines the great potential of the mobile economy, identifying the countries across the globe that are becoming leaders in this growing industry.

• Obama, ISIS, and what a new war means for 2016. Bill Galston previews President Obama’s speech tonight on ISIS and discusses what a new military action will mean for the 2016 presidential contenders.

• Challenges and opportunities of the U.S. fishing industry.  The Hamilton Project explores opportunities for improving the economic prosperity and long-term sustainability of the U.S. fishing industry.

• A fight over sugar, and U.S.-Mexico ties. Andrés Rozental responds to U.S. plans to tax sugar imports from Mexico and discusses the significance for U.S.-Mexico trade relations.