This week, the leader of the Islamic State Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi died in a U.S. Special Operations counterterrorism mission, the 2022 Winter Olympic Games opened in Beijing, and the U.S. announced it will deploy nearly 3,000 troops to eastern Europe amidst the standoff with Russia over Ukraine.
Read more below.
This Week’s Content Highlights
Features from Aspen Strategy Group Members
Sylvia Burwell and Robert Jones interviewed by Libby Casey for The Washington Post Live: “Coronavirus: Impact on Colleges with Sylvia M. Burwell & Robert J. Jones, PhD”
Chris Coons on MSNBC: “Sen. Coons: U.S. Sanctions on Russia Could Have ‘Costs and Consequences’ on Allies”
Dianne Feinstein, Lisa Murkowski, Catherine Cortez Masto, and Chuck Grassley introduced a resolution designating January as “National Trafficking and Modern Slavery Prevention Month”
Michael Green et al in a CSIS discussion: “Asia Forecast 2022”
Sam Nunn interviewed by Patricia Murphy for The Atlanta Constitution Journal: “Former Sen. Sam Nunn Speaks Out on the Dangers in Ukraine”
Joseph Nye in Project Syndicate: “Realism About Foreign-Policy Realism”
Condoleezza Rice and Thomas Donilon in a Council on Foreign Relations discussion: "U.S. National Security as Seen by Three Former National Security Advisors"
Robert Zoellick in The Wall Street Journal: “If America Doesn’t Set the Digital Trade Agenda, China Will”
Rising Leaders in the News
“Within the field of artificial intelligence, a growing area of focus is AI safety: research to identify, prevent, and mitigate unintended behavior in AI systems. If AI is ever to grow into its potential as a general-purpose technology and be deployed in high-stakes settings, substantial progress in tackling AI safety challenges will be required.”
Read ASG Rising Leader Helen Toner and Ashwin Acharya’s new brief published by the Center for Security and Emerging Technology that investigates how research into three areas of AI safety — robustness, interpretability, and reward learning — is progressing.
Tweet of the Week
Things to Know
Content Relevant to Aspen Security Forum Discussions
Alan Blinder in The New York Times: “Inside Beijing’s Olympic Bubble: Robots, Swabs and a Big Gamble”
Benoit Faucon and Summer Said in The Wall Street Journal “U.A.E. Shoots Down Missile Fired by Yemen’s Houthis During Israeli Visit”
Ellen Francis, Adela Suliman, and Miriam Berger in The Washington Post: “Who Is the ISIS Leader Killed in the U.S. Raid? Here’s What to Know About Qurayshi and Northern Syria.”
Laurence Norman in The Wall Street Journal: “U.S. Sees Iran’s Nuclear Program as Too Advanced to Restore Key Goal of 2015 Pact”
Phil Stewart in Reuters: “U.S. Sending Nearly 3,000 Troops to Eastern Europe in Coming Days”
Soe Win, Ko Ko Aung, and Nassos Stylianou in BBC: “The Deadly Battles That Tipped Myanmar into Civil War”
Book of the Week
By Ro Khanna
"In the digital age, unequal access to technology and the revenue it creates is one of the most pressing issues facing the United States. There is an economic gulf between those who have struck gold in the tech industry and those left behind by the digital revolution; a geographic divide between those in the coastal tech industry and those in the heartland whose jobs have been automated; and existing inequalities in technological access—students without computers, rural workers with spotty WiFi, and plenty of workers without the luxury to work from home.
Dignity in the Digital Age tackles these challenges head-on and imagines how the digital economy can create opportunities for people all across the country without uprooting them. Congressman Ro Khanna of Silicon Valley offers a vision for democratizing digital innovation to build economically vibrant and inclusive communities. Instead of being subject to tech’s reshaping of our economy, Representative Khanna argues that we must channel those powerful forces toward creating a more healthy, equal, and democratic society."
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