The Weekly Leaf
This week, OPEC agreed to increase oil production in July and August, the European Union approved a sixth sanctions package against Russia, including a phased oil embargo, Britain celebrated 70 years of Queen Elizabeth II's reign, and the COVID-19 outbreak in North Korea worsened.
Read more below.
The thirteenth annual Aspen Security Forum will take place July 19th to 22nd in Aspen, Colorado
This Week’s Content Highlights
Features from Aspen Strategy Group Members
David Ignatius for The Washington Post: “MBS Stands on the Verge of Getting What He Wants”
Nicholas Kristof in The New York Times: “These Gun Reforms Could Save 15,000 Lives. We Can Achieve Them”
Condoleezza Rice and Dan Sullivan in a Hoover Institution discussion
David Rubenstein and Dawn Fitzpatrick on Bloomberg Wealth: “Soros Fund Management's Dawn Fitzpatrick on Bloomberg Wealth”
David Sanger and Alan Rappeport in The New York Times: “Seizing Russian Assets to Help Ukraine Sets Off White House Debate”
Anne-Marie Slaughter and Susi Snyder for Project Syndicate: “Ban Nuclear Weapons Now”
Lawrence Summers and David Ignatius in a Washington Post discussion: “The Path Forward: The U.S. Economy with Lawrence H. Summers"
Tweet of the Week
Things to Know
Content Relevant to Aspen Security Forum Discussions
Derek Brower and David Sheppard for Financial Times: "OPEC Agrees to Increase Oil Production Following U.S. Pressure"
Maria Cheng for AP: "WHO Believes COVID Getting Worse, Not Better, in North Korea"
Laurence Norman for The Wall Street Journal: "EU Approves Sixth Russia Sanctions Package, Including Phased Oil Embargo"
Daniel South for BBC: "Platinum Jubilee: 70 Years of the Queen in 70 Seconds"
Ana Swanson, John Ismay, and Edward Wong for The New York Times: "U.S. Technology, a Longtime Tool for Russia, Becomes a Vulnerability"
Adam Taylor for The Washington Post: "Foreign Governments Are Aggressively Targeting Dissidents on U.S. Soil"
Book of the Week
By Bill Browder
"When Bill Browder’s young Russian lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, was beaten to death in a Moscow jail, Browder made it his life’s mission to go after his killers and make sure they faced justice. The first step of that mission was to uncover who was behind the $230 million tax refund scheme that Magnitsky was killed over. As Browder and his team tracked the money as it flowed out of Russia through the Baltics and Cyprus and on to Western Europe and the Americas, they were shocked to discover that Vladimir Putin himself was a beneficiary of the crime.
As law enforcement agencies began freezing the money, Putin retaliated. He and his cronies set up honey traps, hired process servers to chase Browder through cities, murdered more of his Russian allies, and enlisted some of the top lawyers and politicians in America to bring him down. Putin will stop at nothing to protect his money. As Freezing Order reveals, it was Browder’s campaign to expose Putin’s corruption that prompted Russia’s intervention in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
At once a financial caper, an international adventure, and a passionate plea for justice, Freezing Order is a stirring morality tale about how one man can take on one of the most ruthless villains in the world—and win."
Partner Content
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Ukraine's Recovery and Reconstruction
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Economic leaders in Ukraine, Europe, and the West must contend with practical, political, and policy questions related to Ukraine’s future recovery and reconstruction. How will Ukraine transition from a wartime economy to recovery? How will reconstruction be financed? How should the lessons of past reform efforts be integrated? How has the war changed Ukraine’s role in Europe? What are the broader geopolitical and strategic implications of Russia’s invasion and the future rebuilding of Ukraine?
This livestream will feature two panel discussions with current and former leaders in Ukraine, Europe, and the U.S. about Ukraine’s recovery, reconstruction and future reforms, and their implications for the global economy and geopolitics.
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