AEI's weekly digest of top commentary and scholarship on the issues that matter most
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AEI This Week
AEI's weekly digest of top commentary and scholarship on the issues that matter most
A WORLD TRANSFORMED
Great Powers Collide
December 20, 2024
This year, AEI and Johns Hopkins University (JHU) launched the Fellowship Exchange Program to build scholarly collaborations to tackle the urgent public policy challenges facing our country and world. JHU Professor and AEI Senior Fellow Hal Brands and AEI Economic Policy Studies Director Michael R. Strain reflect ([link removed] ) on their joint project to investigate how great-power competition has transformed the global economy in 2025.
trade-email ([link removed] )
Last week, President Trump decided to allow Nvidia to sell advanced H200 chips to Chinese customers. AEI China experts Derek Scissors and Zack Cooper explain ([link removed] ) how this decision is just the latest example of how the administration has caved to Chinese pressure this year.
The 2026 National Defense Authorization Act—passed this week—shows how Congress is stepping up to restore American deterrence in Asia and around the world. Mackenzie Eaglen highlights ([link removed] ) how the bill includes “generational investments” in new weapon systems, industrial capacity, needed munitions, and, importantly, our allies.
Since the government shutdown, Congress has been consumed by inconclusive debates over the extension of expanded Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies Director Yuval Levin shows ([link removed] ) how Republicans got dragged onto this politically unfavorable terrain—and why the party has struggled to come up with credible reform alternatives.
In the first 11 months of his presidency, President Trump’s aggressive use of executive power has generated intense controversy and litigation. Jack Goldsmith and Bob Bauer comprehensively assess ([link removed] ) how the president has transformed the executive branch—and suggest his record is not quite as radical as his supporters or critics suggest.
AEI This Week will be off for the holidays on December 27 and January 3. The newsletter will resume on January 10.
Affording Defense
Decades of mismatched strategy and resources have left America’s military strength at a nadir, unable to fully meet its global responsibilities or adequately deter growing threats. In a new edited volume, Affording Defense: Investing in American Strength to Confront a More Dangerous World, Mackenzie Eaglen brings together ([link removed] ) AEI experts on national security, foreign policy, and economics to help policymakers address this growing gap between what is expected of the military and the funding it receives. Chapters demonstrate the risks the United States faces, dispel the myth that we cannot afford increased defense spending, and provide concrete recommendations to resource a multi-theater military. Read the full text online here. ([link removed] )
More from AEI
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Is This the End of Dollar Dominance? ([link removed] )
Steven B. Kamin | Central Banking
What About the Children, Madam Speaker? ([link removed] )
Matt Weidinger | RealClearPolicy
The House GOP Plays It Safe on Health Care ([link removed] )
James C. Capretta | AEIdeas
Amnesty International Can’t Handle the Truth About Hamas ([link removed] )
Charles Lane | The Free Press
Are Bad Researchers Bad People? ([link removed] )
Sally Satel | The Chronicle of Higher Education
PODCASTS AND VIDEOS
How Much Executive Power Will President Stephen A. Smith Have? ([link removed] )
Jay Cost and Sean Trende | Stubborn Things
Should AI Be Used in Classrooms Today? ([link removed] )
Nat Malkus et al. | The Report Card with Nat Malkus
Toward a Better Politics ([link removed] )
Yuval Levin | Washington National Cathedral
Caught in the Act of Greatness: Jane Austen at 250 ([link removed] )
Christopher J. Scalia | AEI event
Trump Is Taking the Easy Way Out ([link removed] )
Jonah Goldberg | The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
If Mr. Trump wants a deal, he should focus less on deal-making and more on countering and undermining Russia’s offensive capabilities. Paying Mr. Putin for peace is precisely the wrong strategy.
—Matthew Continetti ([link removed] )
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