The World Next Week: What Next for Libya?

The World Next Week podcast is up. Stewart Patrick and Bob McMahon discussed the economic plan President Barack Obama will unveil next week; a new proposal in the House that may slash funding for the United Nations; international talks about post-Qaddafi Libya; and a new round of sanctions leveled against the Assad regime.

[audio: http://www.cfr.org/content/publications/media/podcast/2011/20110901_TWN…]

The highlights:

• President Obama’s major speech on the economy will likely have elements that aim to appeal to both sides of the partisan divide.
• House Republicans are proposing to change the structure of U.S. aid to the UN and the plan is fraught with troubles.
• The international community is preparing to assist Libya’s transition but the international peacekeeping footprint is uncertain.
• Syria faces increasing pressure internationally to ease its crackdown on protesters as internal dissent takes an unpredictable course.
• Stewart’s figure of the week was 15 million. Bob’s was Novak Djokovic. To find out why you’ll have to listen to the podcast.

Reuters analyzes the pressures Obama is under from the left to lay out a bold new jobs plan, and the Atlantic looks at the different proposals Obama might pitch. Bloomberg covers the new Republican plan in the House that seeks major changes at the UN and threatens deep funding cuts. Business Week discusses the role that Iraq’s lessons may play in thinking about Libya’s future, and the Associated Press reports on the outcome of the conference on Libya that took place today in Paris. The Wall Street Journal covers the European Union’s new deal to expand the sanctions on Syria to include new measures like an oil embargo, and my colleague Elliott Abrams considers different ways that the Assad regime might crumble.