"One of the problems is that the response has been chaotic with lots of mixed messages. On the one hand, you have the experts, our experts here in the CDC, telling us that spread is inevitable. Tony Fauci has said that we are likely on the cusp of a pandemic with this virus. And, on the other hand, political advisers in the White House and the chair of the National Economic Council said we've got this contained. I think we need [...]
"Lisa Monaco was Barack Obama's counterterrorism and Homeland Security advisor in the White House, and headed the Justice Department's national security division. Sophia Yan is a Beijing-based correspondent for the British newspaper The Telegraph. Lisa and Sophia may not seem to have a lot in common, but these days, they are both spending a lot of time thinking about coronavirus. Monaco managed epidemic and pandemic disease events for the Obama administration, and Yan is in the middle of covering the ongoing [...]
"'The whole purpose of this U.S.-Taliban agreement is to induce the Taliban to come to the negotiating table with the Afghan government and other representatives of Afghan society,' said Michèle Flournoy, who was a high-level Pentagon official in the Obama administration. "'It’s very, very important that the delegation that sits across from the Taliban be inclusive, not only members of the Ghani administration, but also the political opposition, civil society and especially women and younger Afghans,' Ms. Flournoy said this week [...]
"Lisa Monaco, who served as homeland security director in the Obama White House, said, 'The intelligence Community is a diverse enterprise; given the wide array of threats and complexity of the global challenges we face -- this country and, most importantly, the men and women of the intelligence community, need an experienced national security and intelligence professional at the helm...'" Read the full article here: Full Article
"Speakers [Michele Flournoy and Carter Malkasian] discuss the seven-day reduction of violence deal in Afghanistan reached by the Trump administration and the Taliban and the prospects for peace..." Read the full transcript here: Full Transcript
"Next February, the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty), which limits U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear weapons, will expire. With the demise of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) last year following Russian violations, and Moscow’s flouting of other treaties meant to limit U.S.-Russian competition, the lapse of New START could prove to be the final nail in the coffin of the post-Cold War arms-control regime. "That prospect has raised alarms on Capitol Hill, where Republicans and Democrats alike find themselves [...]
"After over a year of intensive talks, press reports indicate that an official agreement between the U.S. and Taliban is imminent. The agreement reportedly begins with an immediate reduction in violence by all sides, followed by the signing of a U.S.-Taliban agreement. This would lead to intra-Afghan peace negotiations, accompanied by a gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops. Implementing and verifying each step in this process will require meticulous diplomacy, but this reported agreement could mark a major turning point in the [...]
"NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with Vikram Singh, former deputy special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, and a former defense negotiator. They discuss the U.S. and Taliban's ceasefire deal..." Read the full transcript here: Full Transcript
"'A good prosecutor withdraws from a case when they can't in good conscience continue to participate. That's how serious it is,' said Lisa Monaco, a partner at O'Melveny who was a senior justice department official in the Obama administration..." Read the full article here: Full Article
"Historically, the strategic foundation for U.S. involvement in the peace process has been twofold. First, the peace process was a way for the United States to manage seemingly contradictory partnerships with Israel and the Arab states, few of which recognized Israel and several of which had waged war repeatedly against the Jewish state. As Egypt and Jordan relinquished their own claims to the West Bank and Gaza beginning in the 1970s, the Arab world largely threw its support behind the Palestinian [...]