IMMIGRATION REFORM

Having garnered 70 % of the Hispanic vote in the 2012 elections, US President Barack Obama, along with a bi-partisan group of senators, are motivated more than ever to propose a comprehensive overhaul of the nation’s immigration laws. On this edition of Encounter hosted by Carol Castiel, Lia Parada, Legislative Director at the pro-immigration reform group “America’s Voice” spars with Jon Feere, Legal Policy Analyst at the Center for Immigration Studies over the substance and politics of immigration reform.

CURBING GUN VIOLENCE

In the aftermath of the mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, the Obama administration and the US Congress have proposed a series of measures to curb gun violence. Jim Kessler, co-founder and Senior Vice President for Policy at Third Way, and Harry L. Wilson, Director of the Institute for Policy and Opinion Research at Roanoke College and author of “Guns, Gun Control, and Elections: The Politics and Policy of Firearms,” spar over the prospects for and impediments to federal gun laws with host Carol Castiel.

MALI / ALGERIA CRISIS

Host Carol Castiel talks with William Lawrence, North Africa Director for the International Crisis Group, and J. Peter Pham, Director of the Africa Program at the Atlantic Council, about French and allied efforts to combat al Qaida linked militants in Northern Mali, the recent hostage crisis in Algeria and what steps must be taken by the international community, especially by regional players, to help Mali regain its sovereignty and to defeat al Qaida linked militants throughout the Maghreb and West African region.

US COLLEGES & GLOBAL ECONOMY

William Cummings, Professor at George Washington University and an expert in International Education and Development, and Adam Hersh, Economist at the Center for American Progress discuss the US education system vis a vis China’s and India's highly educated and increasingly skilled workforce in the new, competitive global economy, with host Sarah Zaman, Urdu TV reporter.

113TH CONGRESS

Host Jim Malone, VOA Senior National Correspondent talks with John Fortier, Director of the Democracy Project at the Bi-Partisan Policy Center, and Nathan Gonzales, Deputy Editor of the Rothenberg Political Report about the new US Congress, its priorities, challenges , and what to expect in relations between lawmakers and President Barack Obama in the months ahead.

PRESIDENT OBAMA'S SECOND TERM CHALLENGES

From the campus of Georgetown University, host Carol Castiel talks with Carol Lancaster, Dean of the School of Foreign Service, and Anthony Clark Arend, Professor of Government and Foreign Service about the myriad challenges – from Iran, to Syria, to Afghanistan to Southeast Asia – that face President Obama during his second term. Professors Lancaster and Arend discuss how political gridlock and fiscal constraints at home hamper the US role on the world stage and the extent to which a second-term president has more leeway and leverage in the foreign policy arena.

TOP STORIES OF 2012

President Obama’s re-election against daunting odds, mass shootings across America, same-sex marriage, the politics of Benghazi and the Syrian crisis are just some of the top stories of 2012 that host Carol Castiel discusses with veteran journalists Richard Wolffe, Political Analyst at MSNBC and Said Arikat, Washington Correspondent for “Al Quds Daily Newspaper.”