Weekend Reads: NSA Documents; Bo Xilai Trial; Obama’s College Ratings Plan; U.S.-Japan Alliance; Egypt; G-20; Liquefied Natural Gas

Brookings Now recommends these weekend reads:

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence is declassifying documents related to the NSA’s surveillance activities and the FISA Court. Ben Wittes and other contributors to Lawfare Blog are summarizing the court opinions in a series of posts.

Cheng Li, is doing interviews with the Wall Street Journal and CNN on the trial of Bo Xilai, a former high-ranking Chinese official. Read what Li and co-author Ryan McElveen have to say about “Bo Xilai’s poisonous legacy,” and also Li’s item last fall on the trial of Bo Xilai and what it means for the rule of law in China.

Beth Akers and Matt Chingos look at the challenges ahead for President Obama’s college ratings plan and offer recommendations on good measures “that will finally mitigate the dysfunction that has plagued the higher education marketplace for far too long.”

Evans Revere examines the U.S.-Japan alliance in the context of a rapidly changing security environment in Northeast Asia, including continuing tensions with North Korea, challenges from China, and relations with South Korea.

Brookings experts continue to write on the crisis in Egypt.

The Global Economy and Development program has produced a multi-author report on the G-20, central banks and monetary policy. Individual chapters are devoted to most of the G-20 countries and the European Union.

Charles Ebinger and Govinda Avasarala are writing a series of reports on the liquefied natural gas sector in the United States.