Ground Troops Vs. the Islamic State, and More from CRS
In response to calls for increased deployment of ground forces against the Islamic State, the Congressional Research Service stated this week that “There are no clear-cut answers to determining the suitability, size, and mission profile of the ground elements of any military campaign; determining the disposition of military forces is in many ways as much an art as it is a science.”
“As it evaluates proposals to introduce more ground forces [to combat the Islamic State], Congress may therefore ponder five questions.” See Additional U.S. Ground Troops to Counter the Islamic State? Five Questions, CRS Insight, February 17, 2016.
Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service issued this week include the following.
IAEA Budget and U.S. Contributions: In Brief, February 17, 2016
U.S. Family-Based Immigration Policy, updated February 17, 2016
Border Security Metrics Between Ports of Entry, February 16, 2016
Deficits and Debt: Economic Effects and Other Issues, February 17, 2016
Domestic Food Assistance: Summary of Programs, updated February 17, 2016
U.S. Farm Income Outlook for 2016, February 16, 2016
The Federal Networking and Information Technology Research and Development Program: Background, Funding, and Activities, February 16, 2016
Afghanistan: Post-Taliban Governance, Security, and U.S. Policy, updated February 17, 2016
Our environmental system was built for 1970s-era pollution control, but today it needs stable, integrated, multi-level governance that can make tradeoffs, share and use evidence, and deliver infrastructure while demonstrating that improved trust and participation are essential to future progress.
Durable and legitimate climate action requires a government capable of clearly weighting, explaining, and managing cost tradeoffs to the widest away of audiences, which in turn requires strong technocratic competency.
FAS is launching the Center for Regulatory Ingenuity (CRI) to build a new, transpartisan vision of government that works – that has the capacity to achieve ambitious goals while adeptly responding to people’s basic needs.
This runs counter to public opinion: 4 in 5 of all Americans, across party lines, want to see the government take stronger climate action.