Drawbacks of Excluding Russian State Media, US Defense Budget Concerns, and More

Movement out of big metro areas, meeting America's national security needs, and why it is problematic to block Russian state media.

View in browser April 15, 2022 Why a push to exclude Russian state media would be problematic for free speech and democracy   ​​Blocking access to Russian state media limits the view of the world available to the U.S. public and policymakers. These exclusions lead to the demonizing and silencing of valuable internal critics in Russia, whose insights could help to improve the effectiveness of foreign and domestic policy, argues Mark MacCarthy.   Read more As Biden administration's defense budget and National Defense Strategy emerge, concerns abound   Although the proposed U.S. Defense Department budget is the largest to date, analysts fear that it may not go far enough to meet the needs outlined in the National Defense Strategy—particularly with respect to current and expected inflation, the impact of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, and adequate capability across a number of military programs, writes Kelly McElveny.   Read more Movement out of big metro areas during the pandemic   "New census estimates make plain that the pandemic exerted a negative impact on America's population growth, especially in its biggest metro areas and urban cores." In a new analysis, William Frey examines U.S. population trends from the prime year of the pandemic and the implications for America's demographic future.   Read more Help support Brookings with a donation   Brookings is committed to making its high-quality, independent policy research free to the public. Please consider making a contribution today to our Annual Fund to support our experts' work. The conclusions and recommendations of any Brookings publication are solely those of its author(s), and do not reflect the views of the Institution, its management, or its other scholars. The Brookings Institution, 1775 Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington, DC 20036 Unsubscribe Manage your newsletter preferences | Receive the Brookings Brief less often