United States and Canada

Biden’s best chance for Mideast gains: go slow on Iran and build fast off the Abraham Accords

By Frederick Kempe

Imagine President-elect Biden standing before two doors that represent the Middle Eastern quandary he faces. One door is marked “Return to Obama’s Iran Nuclear Deal.” The other is labeled “Build Upon Trump’s Abraham Accords.” As it is with most of these tales, there are perils in both paths.

Why Biden’s agriculture Secretary will matter

The Atlantic Council's Claire Branley and David Bray break down what to expect from Biden's pick—and how tech and big data can usher in the next agricultural revolution.

FAST THINKING: Get up to speed on India’s new mass protests

By Atlantic Council

Mass protests led by Indian farmers are presenting perhaps the greatest challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to date. The protests have drawn in supporters from across Indian society, as farmers vow to dig in outside the capital for months. Why is the new movement so powerful—and how will Modi respond?

In the news: Dr. David Bray on how tech might shape the future of nation states

By GeoTech Center

GeoTech Director Dr. David Bray argues “success for the United States” will depend on “assemble[ing] a coalition of ‘digital democracies and more’, who seek not surveillance states, nor surveillance capitalism. Such a coalition,” he says, “would work across borders and sectors to build a world where we employ data and tech for greater digital empathy, diversity and shared humanity across nations and economic sectors.”

Biden’s Susan Rice pick shows how domestic policy is becoming international

President-elect Biden has named one of America's leading foreign-affairs veterans to a surprising position: as a top advisor on domestic policy.

China’s economic transformation must change its relationship with the world, says World Bank President David Malpass

By Katherine Golden

China’s fourteenth five-year plan has set its aims high: achieving a majority middle-class country, through income redistribution, reducing economic inequality, and property reform and ownership. But China’s drive to reform its economy “means that China needs to also then have a different relationship with the rest of the world,” according to World Bank President David Malpass.

The American Nuclear Infrastructure Act provides bipartisan support for nuclear innovation in the United States

By Amy C. Roma

The American Nuclear Infrastructure Act serves as an encouraging step towards greater US nuclear competitiveness on the global stage. This piece of legislation bolsters the current fleet of nuclear plants, saves and creates US jobs, promotes the development of advanced nuclear technologies, and rebuilds the US high-tech export economy. Forward-thinking and bipartisan, the law has garnered support from both Democrats and Republicans and aligns with the incoming Biden-Harris Administration's climate policy goals.