Five Best Ideas of the Day: September 29

1. Although Bahrain has joined the coalition against Islamic State, the U.S. should hold the tiny Gulf kingdom accountable for its recent anti-democratic moves and budding partnership with Russia.

By Brian Dooley in Defense One

2. After a summer of strife, one solution to America’s racial divide: More black candidates.

By Theodore R. Johnson III in the Root

3. Rather than forming ad hoc coalitions against each crisis, the world should muster the political will to restore and strengthen our multilateral institutions.

By Javier Solana at Project Syndicate

4. An affordable, crowdfunded, DIY, learn-to-code computer kit could open the door to a new generation of hacker kids.

By Natasha Lomas in TechCrunch

5. Everything-sharing in Seoul, new parks overnight in Johannesburg, market-pricing for parking in L.A. – here are some bold ideas from CityLab 2014.

By the Editors of CityLab

The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C.

Contact us at editors@time.com.