Following the Rose Revolution of 2003, the former Soviet Republic of Georgia began far-reaching reforms in governance and economic policy that are turning the country into a post-socialist success story. Georgia now ranks 44th out of 141 countries on the Economic Freedom of the World index, is cited by the World Bank as one of the world's leading reformers, and is sustaining economic growth of more than 9 percent per year. Kakha Bendukidze, one of Georgia's key reformers, will explain how his country is rapidly modernizing and will share his vision for continued high growth in a sometimes hostile neighborhood. Andrei Illarionov will assess Georgia's progress and highlight its remaining challenges in consolidating democratic capitalism.

Starting in the 1970s, conservatives learned that electoral victory did not easily convert into a reversal of important liberal accomplishments, especially in the law. As a result, conservatives' mobilizing efforts increasingly turned to law schools, professional networks, public interest groups, and the judiciary—areas traditionally controlled by liberals. Drawing from previously unavailable internal documents, as well as interviews with key figures, The Rise of the Conservative Legal Movement examines this sometimes fitful, and still only partially successful, conservative (and libertarian) challenge to liberal domination of the law. Steven Teles explores how this mobilization was shaped by the legal profession and the difficulties in matching strategic opportunities with effective organizational responses. He explains how foundations and other groups promoting conservative ideas built a network designed to dislodge legal liberalism from American elite institutions. And he portrays the reality, not of a grand strategy masterfully pursued, but of individuals and political entrepreneurs learning from trial and error. The book provides an unprecedented look at the inner life of one of the most striking developments in American public affairs over the last several decades.

It is 2008. Research suggests the federal Medicare program spends as much as $100 billion per year on medical care that makes seniors no healthier or happier. Its payment system continues to reward low-quality and even harmful medical care. The trustees of the Medicare program have issued yet another annual report containing dire warnings about Medicare's financial sustainability, including an unfunded liability of $86 trillion. The picture is far worse than it was when politicians were developing fundamental Medicare reforms 10 years ago. Yet politicians today seem uninterested. The president has proposed reforms that would barely slow the program's growing dependence on general revenues-a proposal that Congress has largely ignored. Leading presidential candidates advocate tweaks-such as reducing payments for private plans and prescription drugs, or tying payments to quality measures-rather than fundamental reform. Come hear leading analysts discuss whether the case for Medicare reform is any less powerful now than in the past.

The Milton Friedman Prize for Advancing Liberty, named in honor of perhaps the greatest champion of liberty in the 20th century, is presented every other year to an individual who has made a significant contribution to advancing human freedom. The prize, a cash award of $500,000, will be presented to the year's winner on May 15 at The Waldorf=Astoria in New York, NY.

Foreign policy analysts are misreading the lessons of Iraq. The emerging conventional wisdom holds that success could have been achieved in Iraq with more troops, more cooperation among U.S. government agencies, and better counterinsurgency doctrine. Yet the Bush administration’s failures and errors in judgment did not derive from poor planning, but from flawed assumptions about the nature of Iraqi society. The difficulties in Iraq demonstrate the need for a new national security strategy and a newfound appreciation for the limits of power, not simply better tactics and tools. By insisting that Iraq was ours to remake were it not for the administration’s mismanagement, U.S. policy makers risk repeating these mistakes. Please join Cato scholars Christopher Preble and Benjamin H. Friedman for a discussion of these issues, which they and co-author Harvey Sapolsky also explore in the recent policy analysis, “Learning the Right Lessons from Iraq.”

On a continent scarred by political repression and economic underdevelopment, Botswana and Mauritius stand out. In 2007, Freedom House certified both countries as free, and the Fraser Institute’s Economic Freedom of the World report found that Botswana and Mauritius had the two freest economies in Africa. According to the World Bank, the two also have - along with Seychelles - Africa’s highest per capita incomes. What explains that success? Why did the institutions of freedom take root in Botswana and Mauritius, while failing to do so in most other African countries? How do the two countries intend to maintain high growth in an increasingly globalized world? Please join us to hear our speakers elaborate on the past successes and future challenges facing Botswana and Mauritius.

In reauthorizing the federal gas tax and surface transportation funding, the next Congress can continue historic trends of dictating thousands of earmarks and other mandates that reduce our transportation efficiency and, like recent ethanol programs, have huge unintended consequences. Or it can streamline federal transportation programs to make urban and other surface transport systems run smoothly, efficiently, and with minimal waste of energy and greenhouse gas emissions. This policy forum will present a variety of proposals for breaking out of the transportation gridlock we currently suffer.

What makes military occupations more or less likely to succeed? Drawing on 26 cases since 1815 where outside powers have seized territory without a claim to its sovereignty, David Edelstein attempts to determine why some occupations succeed and why so many seem doomed to failure.

Edelstein combines detailed case studies with a theoretical approach and concludes that occupations face a paradox: Success requires a long-term and massive commitment of resources and attention; however, such large-scale occupations can elicit nationalist responses from the occupied populace. Further, as the occupier faces difficulty, discontent grows at home, and pressure builds to remove occupying forces. Examining the history of occupation as a component of grand strategy, Edelstein offers warnings for today’s policymakers, who seem tempted to include military occupations as part of the approach to countering terrorism.

Please join the author and our distinguished commentators for a discussion of this timely and pathbreaking book.

In his two terms in the U.S. Senate, Chuck Hagel has distinguished himself as one of our nation’s most outspoken and thoughtful political leaders. Unafraid to challenge the policies of his own party, Senator Hagel has drawn praise and admiration from across the ideological spectrum by expressing grave concerns about the war in Iraq. In America: Our Next Chapter: Tough Questions, Straight Answers, Senator Hagel sets forth his vision for a humbler U.S. foreign policy guided by international diplomacy and free trade. He also addresses key domestic policy issues by calling for a significant reduction in the size of the federal government, demanding more fiscal responsibility in Washington, and supporting reforms to reduce the spiraling costs of entitlement programs. Please join Senator Hagel for a discussion of his new book, with introductory comments by Cato Institute president Edward H. Crane.