Vanda Felbab-Brown Journalist Profile

Articles

The North American fentanyl crisis and the spread of synthetic opioids

Dec 4, 2024 | brookings.edu | Vanda Felbab-Brown

It was only in 2023 that lethal overdose rates finally came down slightly, a trend that seems to have accelerated significantly throughout 2024. Has the United States finally reached the end of the tunnel with lethal drug overdoses declining and hopefully remaining at much-reduced levels? What accounts for reductions in deadly overdoses and how can they be sustained?
How is Trump’s reelection likely to affect US foreign policy?

Nov 14, 2024 | brookings.edu | Pavel K. Baev |Vanda Felbab-Brown |Jeffrey Feltman |James Goldgeier

On November 5, 2024, Donald Trump was elected for a second non-consecutive term as the 47th president of the United States. Below, Brookings experts break down what Trump’s reelection likely means for the future of U.S. foreign policy. Moscow was eagerly expecting discord and disarray after the U.S. elections, and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s sly hints that he would prefer a Harris administration provided only thin camouflage for his real preference.
The rising threat of synthetic opioids in Europe

Oct 14, 2024 | brookings.edu | Alex Stevens |Vanda Felbab-Brown

In several European countries, 80% of people with opioid use disorder are in treatment, which makes the market less fertile for new, potent synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Alex Stevens Host Vanda Felbab-Brown speaks with Dr. Alex Stevens, criminology professor at the University of Sheffield, about the emerging threat of synthetic opioids in Europe, particularly fentanyl and nitazenes.
US-Mexico relations and the fight against fentanyl trafficking

Oct 7, 2024 | brookings.edu | Vanda Felbab-Brown |Fred Dews

[President Claudia] Sheinbaum has spoken about the fact that she wants to increase the numbers of investigators and deploy them to counter crime. So, I think that’s a very important element. But again, developing a robust law enforcement strategy will be critical. Vanda Felbab-Brown In this episode of The Killing Drugs, Vanda Felbab-Brown talks with Fred Dews about the role of Mexican criminal groups in the U.S. opioid crisis and U.S-Mexico anti-crime cooperation.
The fentanyl pipeline and China’s role in the US opioid crisis

Sep 30, 2024 | brookings.edu | Vanda Felbab-Brown |Fred Dews

With countries with whom China has good relations or with whom it wants to build good relations … it extends law enforcement and counter-narcotics cooperation. And with countries with whom it has bad relations or with whom relations deteriorate, it denies the cooperation. So, when China announced in 2022, no more cooperation with the U.S., it acted very much according to its standard script.
The rise and fall of drug decriminalization in the Pacific Northwest

Sep 16, 2024 | brookings.edu | Keith Humphreys |Vanda Felbab-Brown

The promise was that harm reduction would at least reduce the harm, but in places like British Columbia, overdoses kept going up. Keith Humphrey's In this episode, host Vanda Felbab-Brown interviews Stanford professor Keith Humphreys about drug decriminalization in San Francisco, Oregon, and British Columbia.
Rethinking law enforcement in the fentanyl crisis

Sep 9, 2024 | brookings.edu | Beau Kilmer |Roland Neil |Vanda Felbab-Brown

In this episode, host Vanda Felbab-Brown talks with RAND researchers Beau Kilmer and Roland Neil about U.S. domestic law enforcement responses to the fentanyl crisis. Kilmer and Neil highlight a decline in drug arrests, particularly for cannabis, in the United States, but note a surge in fentanyl-related seizures.
Addressing and preventing coups in Africa: What the United States can do

Aug 21, 2024 | brookings.edu | Vanda Felbab-Brown

As coups d’etat have swept West Africa and may expand into the Great Lakes Region and East Africa, U.S. policy responses have struggled. Economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation by the West have proven insufficient to reverse the power takeovers.
The radical challenge synthetic opioids pose for drug policy

Aug 19, 2024 | brookings.edu | Jonathan P. Caulkins |Vanda Felbab-Brown

In the show’s first episode, host Vanda Felbab-Brown speaks with Dr. Jonathan Caulkins, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, about the unique challenges that synthetic drugs, and particularly synthetic opioids, pose for policy.
The Taliban’s three years in power and what lies ahead

Aug 14, 2024 | brookings.edu | Vanda Felbab-Brown

Three years on, the Taliban regime remains firmly in power. Its supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, has strengthened and centralized his rule by creating parallel institutions while formulating policies from his tightly-knit Kandahar office. The regime has become more exclusionary, privileging southern Pashtun Talibs.