Managing Partner Michèle Flournoy appeared on Meet the Press alongside Michael Bloomberg, Governor Jerry Brown, Craig Fugate, and others to discuss the impact of climate change on national security. Watch the full Meet the Press interview: Full Article
Ask Israelis what they appreciate about President Donald Trump, and they can tick off a substantial list: the long-sought move of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem; the abandonment of the much-maligned Iran nuclear deal; the lack of pressure (so far) on Israel to curtail settlement expansion or make concessions to the Palestinians; and the absence of tensions with Israel’s leaders, which plagued the relationship between former President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But dig a bit deeper, and you [...]
If asked what will be the most consequential meeting this weekend in Argentina at the G-20, you might have a hard time making up your mind. You’d have good reason to choose a) the Trump-Xi bilateral. But b), the gathering to sign the new Nafta deal, could also go awry. If you are like me, you are relieved that c), the Trump-Putin meeting, is now off the table. We should certainly be concerned about what will transpire when President Donald Trump [...]
Some of us are starting to associate turkey with low oil prices. Just four years ago, on Thanksgiving Day in 2014, OPEC held a meeting in Vienna, the outcome of which set off a dramatic slide in oil prices. The price of Brent crude dropped $6 a barrel, or 8 percent, in just the 24 hours after OPEC announced the outcome of its meeting. This Thanksgiving, there was no OPEC gathering, but on Friday, the Brent price still slid nearly $4, [...]
Policies — not just politics — are deeply polarized today. Every choice becomes binary with no middle ground. In response to the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, either we should punish Saudi Arabia and try to force Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman out of power, or our interests are so great in the kingdom that we should simply put this behind us. President Trump has chosen the latter course, disregarding our values in declaring that our interests in Saudi Arabia matter more [...]
In true showmanship fashion, U.S. President Donald Trump is keeping the world in suspense about whether he will soon double down on the United States’ trade war with China or call a truce. The big reveal will come after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the margins of the G-20 in Buenos Aires later this week. Trump has at times been optimistic, telling reporters, “I think a deal will be made. We’ll find out very soon.” Don’t believe the [...]
In the span of a week, our nation experienced a torrent of hate-fueled attacks: the slaying of two African Americans in a Kentucky supermarket , the mail-bomb assassination attempts and the mass slaying in a Pittsburgh synagogue . These attacks tragically demonstrate that domestic terrorism is on the rise as political polarization and hateful echo chambers on social media radicalize people. As we mourn those who died in Kentucky and Pittsburgh, we should recognize that such tragedies highlight a dangerous counterterrorism [...]
Americans are not the only ones still unpacking the new USMCA trade deal that is due to replace Nafta. Two issues have received a great deal of attention in Canada — one which is misunderstood as a great concession by Canada and the other wrongly celebrated as an unequivocal victory. Both deserve a deeper look. Just recently, Canada’s prime minister and foreign affairs minister, Justin Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland, struggled to explain the significance of a provision that many Canadians have interpreted [...]
The Hill | October 30, 2018 The murder of Jamal Khashoggi has dominated international attention for weeks. Sadly, his death may have more impact on Saudi Arabia and its future than did his articles for the Washington Post. In the best case, where his killing was not ordered but was the result of overzealous Saudi operatives, there is still something grievously wrong with a policy designed to silence dissidents or critics, either by rendition or intimidation. As important as Saudi Crown [...]
Foreign Affairs | November/December 2018 In a little under three decades, nuclear weapons have gone from center stage to a sideshow in U.S. defense strategy. Since the 1990s, the United States has drastically reduced its stockpile and concentrated on its conventional and irregular warfare capabilities. Nuclear weapons policy has focused overwhelmingly on stemming proliferation to countries such as Iran and North Korea, and prominent political and national security figures have even called for abolishing nuclear weapons altogether. What was once the [...]