This week, President Trump announced major AI chip agreements with the UAE and Saudi Arabia, the first direct talks between Russia and Ukraine since the start of the war were held in Türkiye, the U.S. and China reached a tariff reduction deal, and India and Pakistan declared a ceasefire after last week’s military confrontation.
Read more below.
This Week’s Content Highlights
Features from Aspen Strategy Group Members
Nicholas Burns interviewed by David Gura for Bloomberg: “U.S., China Set For ‘Very Difficult’ Negotiations”
Condoleezza Rice interviewed by Mike Steadman for the Frontline Voices podcast: “Beyond the Uniform: Dr. Condoleezza Rice on Legacy, Mentorship, and the Next Greatest Generation”
Antony Blinken quoted by Suzanne Bates for Deseret News: “Antony Blinken Speaks in Utah About Ukraine, Trump’s Cuts to Foreign Aid, and Tariffs”
Kurt Campbell quoted by Sam Garcia for the Taipei Times: “Former U.S. Military Leader Calls for More Personnel in Taiwan”
Chris Coons for Fox News: “You Might Get Deported If the Trump Administration Suspends Due Process”
Elizabeth Economy, Elbegdorj Tsakhia, Chris Johnson, Andrew Shearer, and moderator Josh Rogin at the McCain Institute: “The Great Wall of Influence: A Look Into China”
Michèle Flournoy interviewed by Andy West for the Inside the Strategy Room podcast: “Building Geopolitical Resilience”
Jendayi E. Frazer served as keynote speaker for Carnegie Mellon University Africa’s 2025 Graduation Ceremony
Michael Froman for the Council on Foreign Relations: “In Memoriam: Joseph S. Nye, Jr.”
Susan Glasser and Eric Lipton interviewed by Jon Stewart for The Weekly Show: “The For-Profit Presidency”
Michael J. Green, Kathryn Schumaker, Frances Clarke, and Aaron Nyerges at the United States Studies Centre: “Discussion of Tangled Fortunes: The Hidden History of Interracial Marriage in the Jim Crow South”
Stephen J. Hadley, Michèle Flournoy, and David Ignatius named to Washingtonian Magazine’s “Washington DC’s 500 Most Influential People of 2025”
David Ignatius for The Washington Post: “Trump the Improviser Has a Head-Spinning Diplomatic Week”
Dina Powell McCormick mentioned by Kaia Hubbard for CBS News: “Trump Arrives in Saudi Arabia, Beginning the First International Trip of His New Term”
David Petraeus quoted by The Cipher Brief: “Assessing Putin and the ‘Axis of Authoritarians’ – and How to Counter Them”
Susan Schwab, Michael Froman, Ronald Kirk, Robert Portman, Charlene Barshefsky, Mickey Kantor, Carla A. Hills, and moderator William Alan Reinsch at the Center for Strategic & International Studies: “Conversation with Former USTRs”
Dan Sullivan quoted by Ian Duncan for The Washington Post: “National Airport, Pentagon Hotline Had Been Disconnected for Three Years”
Jake Sullivan interviewed by Jack Blanchard at the POLITICO Security Summit
Lawrence H. Summers interviewed by Neera Tanden for the Center for American Progress: “The Fiscal Impact of DOGE’s IRS Layoffs”
ASG Programing
The ASG was pleased to host a conversation on Zbig: The Life of Zbigniew Brzezinski, America’s Great Power Prophet with author Edward Luce, U.S. National Editor and Columnist at the Financial Times, and Kurt Campbell, ASG member, Chairman and Co-founder of The Asia Group, and former Deputy Secretary of State.
Post of the Week
Things to Know
Content Relevant to Aspen Security Forum Discussions
Atlantic Council: “Four Questions (and Expert Answers) About the China-Latin America Summit”
Doug Bandow, Brian Blankenship, Mireya Solís, and Thomas Wright for the Brookings Institution: “Are America’s Alliances a Source of Strength or a Burden as It Competes With China?”
Mary Ilyushina, Serhiy Morgunov, Siobhán O’Grady, and Ellen Francis for The Washington Post: “Russia Takes Tough Stance in Istanbul Talks, Threatens Ukraine With Long War”
Stephen Kalin, Eliot Brown, and Joel Schectman for The Wall Street Journal: “How Qatar Spent Billions to Gain Influence in the U.S.”
Tripp Mickle and Ana Swanson for The New York Times: “Outsourcer in Chief: Is Trump Trading Away America’s Tech Future?”
Marwan Muasher for Foreign Affairs: “Can Syria Break the Cycle of Tyranny?”
Barbara Plett Usher for BBC News: “Drone Attacks Raise Stakes in New Phase of Sudan’s Civil War”
Japhet Quitzon for the Center for Strategic & International Studies: “Philippines Votes 2025: A Power Shift in the Senate”
Cathrin Schaer for DW: “PKK Disarms, Disbands: How Will It Impact the Middle East?”
Kori Schake for The Catalyst: “A New Conservative Foreign Policy”
Demetri Sevastopulo, Joe Leahy, and Peter Foster for the Financial Times: “Who Blinked First? How the U.S. and China Broke Their Trade Deadlock”
Sushant Singh for Foreign Policy: “India-Pakistan Cease-Fire Cements a Dangerous Baseline”
Gabrielle Weiniger for The Times: “Israeli-American Hostage Edan Alexander Released by Hamas”
Book of the Week
The New Nuclear Age: At the Precipice of Armageddon
By Ankit Panda
“The world is entering a new nuclear age. Nuclear weapons are returning to the fore of international statecraft in ways unseen since the Cold War. With major powers like Russia issuing threats of nuclear strikes, China and North Korea continuing to grow their arsenals, and new prospects for proliferation from the Middle East to East Asia, the world has been thrust into a new era of heightened nuclear risk.
In this incisive book, international security expert Ankit Panda explores the enduring and emerging factors that are contributing to this new nuclear age. From strained great power ties to complex multipolar dynamics and the precipitous decline of arms control, he shows how our coexistence with the bomb is becoming more complicated and perilous. The prospect of nuclear escalation is again shaping how political decision-makers and military establishments around the world think and act. But unlike the peril of the Cold War, a greater number of nuclear players and a plethora of new technologies, including AI and exotic new weapons, make the search for stability far from straightforward. Managing the risks of a nuclear confrontation, he argues, will require new urgency and thinking to pull us back from the precipice of global catastrophe.”
Podcast of the Week
Kelly Magsamen joined Mira Rapp-Hooper and Rexon Ryu on The Asia Group’s Tea Leaves podcast: “Building the Indo-Pacific’s Defense Future: Innovation, Industry, and Alliances with Kelly Magsamen”
