Writing in Foreign Affairs, AEI’s Chris Miller and coauthor Edward Fishman argue that Western sanctions on the Russian energy sector are backfiring because they increase the price of oil to the Kremlin’s benefit. Miller and Fishman instead propose the return of a “reverse OPEC” that will reduce “the price of Russian oil while keeping it flowing.”

Mackenzie Eaglen writes that the Biden administration’s proposed defense budget may fall short of what our military needs by more than $70 billion. She argues that the request for $773 billion in next year’s defense budget not only fails to account for inflation but also neglects mission-essential requirements we need to sustain our military lead over great-power rivals.

Michael R. Strain argues that the Fed could be getting its response to the risk of recession wrong. While Fed policy may have fueled inflationary pressures, he says, its solutions for our economic predicament may be haunted by the same mistakes that brought us here.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey visited AEI for an interview with John P. Bailey and Nat Malkus about the challenges that governors faced during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially on education. “We wanted to get kids into school,” Gov. Ducey explained. “If a school district wasn’t opened or available, we had transportation dollars for a parent to take their children to a school that was open.”

At last weekend’s historic Old Parkland Conference, Ian Rowe joined AEI President Robert Doar and cohost Phoebe Keller for a special video episode of Banter on Black conservatism and Rowe’s FREE framework. Rowe’s new book, Agency: The Four Point Plan (F.R.E.E.) for All Children to Overcome the Victimhood Narrative and Discover Their Pathway to Power (Templeton Press, 2022), was released on Monday, May 16.