Yahoo News: Yesterday's U.S. Ambassador on Today's Middle East Turmoil

Few have had an upclose look to turmoil like Ryan Crocker, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria, Kuwait and Lebanon … and that’s just in the past two decades. After a career navigating what’s become a who’s who of the world’s most tumultuous regions, the Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient recently became a dean at Texas A&M University. In this conversation with OZY, before speaking at the Common Good Forum in New York, Crocker tries to make sense of the chaos left in places he once tried to help piece together[…]

- Reported on by Nick Fouriezos for Ozy, featured in Yahoo News, READ MORE

New York Post: Print Edition Report on 2016 The Common Good Forum

Business Insider: Lindsey Graham on the Republican Party after Trump - 'We either get smarter or die'

Sen. Lindsey Graham characterized the crisis facing the Republican Party in grim terms on Friday, saying that the party needs to adapt or die after the 2016 presidential election.

The South Carolina senator called the matchup between Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, and Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, a "race to the bottom."

During a talk at The Common Good Forum in New York on Friday, Foreign Affairs managing editor Jonathan Tepperman asked Graham what would happen to the Republican Party after the election.

Graham responded, "We either get smarter or die."

"If we win, it will be because we suck more than the other side," Graham continued. "This is a race to the bottom, and I think we have a slightly faster car."

- Pamela Engel for Business Insider, READ MORE

Also reported on by AOL News

NY Daily News: The Common Good summit aims to tackle U.S., global issues to bring meaningful change

Some of the brightest minds in national security, economics and government will gather Friday to discuss current U.S. and global challenges.

The forum, sponsored by the nonprofit group The Common Good, is designed to promote an exchange of ideas free from partisan politics that could lead to meaningful change.

"There is a real sense of frustration and anger in the country — even as the economy has rebounded," said the group's founder Patricia Duff. "A lot of people are feeling left behind."

Duff said that while those emotions have energized campaigns during the current presidential election cycle, fewer people are identifying with political parties.

"Our challenges are huge, yet we are not looking at them with a big vision," she said.

The diverse group of panelists expected at the University Club in Midtown includes retired Gen. David Petraeus, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, veteran newsman Ted Koppel and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

"I think our politics have failed us for a number of years by insisting you can't compromise, you shouldn't work with the other side," Duff said. "We have to find ways of working together."

- Lisa L. Colangleo for the NY Daily News, READ MORE