Background Briefing: January 1, 2024
The Foreign Policy Landscape Ahead in 2024 and the Chance For Peace in a World at War
We begin with an overview of the foreign policy landscape in 2023 and what might be in store in 2024 as wars rage and the search for peace seems daunting. Joining us is Stephen Walt, a columnist at Foreign Policy magazine and the Robert and Renee Belfer Professor of International Affairs at Harvard University. He is the author of a number of books including The Origins of Alliances; Revolution and War; and Taming American Power: The Global Response to U.S. Primacy. His latest book is The Hell of Good Intentions: America’s Foreign Policy Elite and the Decline of U.S. Primacy and we discuss his latest article at Foreign Policy magazine, “A Practical Guide to Perpetual Peace: How to take realistic (and realist) steps toward a more utopian world order.”
The Economy in 2023 and What’s Ahead in 2024
Then we look into the state of the economy in 2023 and what to expect in 2024 and speak with Robert Hockett, who has first-hand experience working at the International Monetary Fund and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and continues to consult for a number of US federal, state and local legislators and regulators. He drafted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “Green New Deal” resolution for the House of Representatives and officially advises her on economic policy. He is the Edward Cornell Professor of Law and a Professor of Public Policy at Cornell University and his latest books are Money from Nothing Or, Why We Should Stop Worrying About Debt and Learn to Love the Federal Reserve, Financing the Green New Deal: A Plan of Action and Renewal, and The Citizens’ Ledger: Digitizing Our Money, Democratizing Our Finance.