The G8 Summit

Reuters/Nikola Solic - An official rests in front of flags during a working session of the G8 foreign ministers.
President Barack Obama will attend his first G8 Summit in Italy where world leaders are expected to discuss issues such as the global financial crisis, Afghanistan and Iran, Africa, energy and climate change. Brookings experts examine the challenges facing the Group of Eight.
Learn More
Spotlight: Consumer Protection

Reuters/Rick Wilking - The sign for a foreclosed house for sale.
Douglas J. Elliott, July 01, 2009
The Obama administration recently released a more detailed legislative proposal for its proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA). Douglas Elliott believes the proposal appears to retain the intended benefit of a clear focus on consumer protection while addressing seriously the potential for destroying useful financial products. It also aims to prevent the new agency from “empire building.”
Read More
U.S. Financial Market Regulation, Financial Institutions, Governance, U.S. Economy
SPOTLIGHT: Latin America

Reuters/Oswaldo Rivas - Supporters of Honduras' President Manuel Zelaya sing the national anthem outside the presidential house in Tegucigalpa.
Kevin Casas-Zamora, June 29, 2009
The June 28 military ousting of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya capped weeks of tension brought about by his attempt to amend the constitution to enable reelection. Kevin Casas-Zamora says this coup is a step backward for democracy in Latin America and he urges the United States to both pay close attention to the situation and to show friends and foes in the hemisphere that Washington sides with democracy.
Read More
Latin America, Central America, Politics, Democracy Promotion, Foreign Policy
SPOTLIGHT: Legal Architecture for the War on Terror

Reuters - A Guantanamo guard stands inside doorway at Camp 6 detention facility at Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base.
Benjamin Wittes and Colleen A. Peppard, June 26, 2009
Closing the detention camp at Guantánamo Bay by President Obama's January deadline is pressuring the administration to craft a new system for incarcerating terrorist suspects, possibly through an executive order. Benjamin Wittes and Colleen Peppard suggest instead a model law for terrorist incapacitation.
Read More
Legal Architecture for the War on Terror, Terrorism, Justice and Law, Guantánamo, Executive Branch