High-level talks between U.S. and Chinese officials in Alaska continue today after a tense start yesterday. In other news, U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin paid official visits to Japan and South Korea this week and the UK debuted its Integrated Review of a foreign and defense strategy for ‘Global Britain,’ raising the cap on its number of nuclear warheads by 40 percent. Read more below.
This Week's Content Highlights
Features from Aspen Strategy Group Members
Robert Blackwill and Philip Zelikow’s CFR report covered by Max Hastings in Bloomberg Opinion: “America Is Headed to a Showdown Over Taiwan, and China Might Win”
Michèle Flournoy receives the Sam Nunn National Security Leadership Prize
Michael Green featured by Barbara Platt Usher in BBC News: “What the U.S. Really Wants From the China Talks”
Jane Harman on Real Clear World: "Insanity Is Not Destiny: Opportunities in National Security"
Nick Kristof in The New York Times: “What Can Biden’s Plan Do for Poverty? Look to Bangladesh.”
Anja Manuel featured by John Thornhill in Financial Times: “To Maintain Tech Supremacy the U.S. Must Avoid ‘Military-Civil Fusion’”
David Sanger, Julian Barnes, and Nicole Perlroth in The New York Times: “White House Weighs New Cybersecurity Approach After Failure to Detect Hacks”
Dan Sullivan press release: “Sullivan Welcomes Planned U.S.-China Senior Diplomatic Summit in Alaska”
Tweet of the Week
Upcoming Events
A Live Conversation with
Christine Lagarde,
the President of the European Central Bank
Speaker
Christine Lagarde
President of the European Central Bank
In Conversation With
David Rubenstein
Co-Founder and Co-Chairman
The Carlyle Group
Wednesday, April 28
10:00 - 11:00 AM ET
Things to Know
Stay Informed with Important Analysis Relevant to Aspen Security Forum Discussions
Things to Know
Content Relevant to Aspen Security Forum Discussions
DW: “SIPRI: Saudi Arabia Largest Importer of Arms, U.S. Biggest Exporter”
Cristina Gallardo in Politico: “Global Britain Pivots to Asia”
Lara Jakes, John Ismay, and Steven Lee Myers in The New York Times: “Biden Goals Converge in Asia: Rebuilding Alliances and Countering China”
John McLaughlin in Ozy: “Can Navalny’s Opposition Movement Survive?”
Dan Sabbagh in The Guardian: “Trident, Aid, and Spies: Key Points in UK's Integrated Review”
Eric Schmitt in The New York Times: "Biden Says Withdrawing U.S. Forces from Afghanistan by May Deadline Is 'Tough'"
Demetri Sevastopulo and Tom Mitchell in Financial Times: "U.S. and China Hurl Accusations at Start of Alaska Meeting"
Ruth Sherlock, Scott Neuman, and Nada Himsi for NPR: “Syria's Civil War Started A Decade Ago. Here's Where It Stands”
Dov Zakheim in The Hill: “A Fearless Pope Makes History In Iraq”
Book of the Week
By Philip Zelikow
"During a pivotal few months in the middle of the First World War all sides-Germany, Britain, and America-believed the war could be concluded. Peace at the end of 1916 would have saved millions of lives and changed the course of history utterly.
Two years into the most terrible conflict the world had ever known, the warring powers faced a crisis. There were no good military options. Money, men, and supplies were running short on all sides. The German chancellor secretly sought President Woodrow Wilson's mediation to end the war, just as British ministers and France's president also concluded that the time was right. The Road Less Traveled describes how tantalizingly close these far-sighted statesmen came to ending the war, saving millions of lives, and avoiding the total war that dimmed hopes for a better world.
Theirs was a secret battle that is only now becoming fully understood, a story of civic courage, awful responsibility, and how some leaders rose to the occasion while others shrank from it or chased other ambitions. "Peace is on the floor waiting to be picked up!" pleaded the German ambassador to the United States. This book explains both the strategies and fumbles of people facing a great crossroads of history.
The Road Less Traveled reveals one of the last great mysteries of the Great War: that it simply never should have lasted so long or cost so much."
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