Realizing Democracy: Lessons from Thailand and Indonesia

Speaker: Joshua Kurlantzick

Isobel Coleman hosts Joshua Kurlantzick, Fellow for Southeast Asia, Council on Foreign Relations, for a discussion about the political and economic transition of Thailand and Indonesia as part of a Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative series on Realizing Democracy: Lessons from Transitioning Countries.

See more in Southeast Asia, Democracy and Human Rights, Democratization, Civil Society

Media Conference Call: Benn Steil on Federal Reserve Exit Strategy

Speaker: Benn Steil
Presider: Michelle Caruso-Cabrera

The prospective challenge of containing inflation, buttressing a collapsed housing market, and normalizing the Federal Reserve's bloated balance sheet has created an "exit strategy" dilemma for Chairman Ben Bernanke. CFR Director of International Economics Benn Steil urges the Federal Reserve to swap mortgage-backed securities with the U.S. Treasury in exchange for Treasury securities, which the Fed can then sell as part of a normal process of monetary tightening.

See more in United States, Financial Crises

"Foreign Policy Begins at Home: The Case for Putting America’s House in Order"

Speaker: Richard N. Haass
Presider: E.J. Dionne Jr.

Richard N. Haass discusses his new book, Foreign Policy Begins at Home, in which he puts forward a new foreign policy doctrine of Restoration, where the United States limits its engagement in wars of choice and humanitarian interventions abroad, and focuses on restoring the foundations of its power at home.

See more in United States, U.S. Strategy and Politics