--- description: Obama’s big chance at the NATO summit, boot camps instead of grad school, and Microsoft’s mobile plan B. title: These Are Today's Best Ideas image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Ideas](/section/ideas/) ## Ideas Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Innovation](/tag/innovation/) ## Innovation Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Five Best Ideas of the Day: September 4 by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 4, 2014 4:16 PM CUT by [The Aspen Institute](/author/the-aspen-institute/) ## The Aspen Institute Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 4, 2014 4:16 PM CUT **1\.** [**The results of the NATO summit and the alliance’s stance on ISIS and Ukraine will define President Obama’s foreign policy legacy.**](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/09/04/this-really-is-obama-s-moment-of-truth.html "undefined") By Jonathan Alter in the Daily Beast **2\.** [**Intense boot camps for highly skilled careers may displace costly graduate degrees and get more people working.**](http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/septemberoctober%5F2014/features/is%5Fthe%5Fmasters%5Fdegree%5Fan%5Fexpen051757.php "undefined") By Kevin Carey in Washington Monthly **3\.** [**To make a splash in the mobile market despite poor sales of its Windows phone, Microsoft is selling apps to iPhone and Android users.**](http://qz.com/255871/microsoft-surprising-plan-b-for-mobile/ "undefined") By Dan Frommer in Quartz **4\.** [**The street children of India are publishing a quarterly newspaper, finding a purpose and a passion in telling their stories.**](http://www.vocativ.com/world/india/balaknama/#!bPBOQz "undefined") By Mariah Wilson, Chander Bhan and Paul Ewen in Vocativ **5\.** [**Harm reduction – versus a law-enforcement focused “war on drugs” – could reduce overdose deaths.**](http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-08-21/vermont-quits-war-on-drugs-to-treat-heroin-abuse-as-health-issue "undefined") By Josh Eidelson in Bloomberg Business Week  [_The Aspen Institute_](http://www.aspeninstitute.org/ "undefined") _is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3268964/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-september-4/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3268964/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-september-4/"},"headline":"Five Best Ideas of the Day: September 4","datePublished":"2014-09-04T16:16:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:43:04.367Z","description":"Obama’s big chance at the NATO summit, boot camps instead of grad school, and Microsoft’s mobile plan B.","url":"https://time.com/3268964/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-september-4/","keywords":["Innovation","russia","Drugs","India","Obama","police","Art","Microsoft","Mobile","NATO","training"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Aspen Institute","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/the-aspen-institute/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/innovation/","name":"Innovation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3268964/five-best-ideas-of-the-day-september-4/","name":"Five Best Ideas of the Day: September 4"}}]}] ```