The Weekly Leaf
The 2022 Aspen Security Forum: D.C. Edition
This Week’s Content Highlights
Features from Aspen Strategy Group Members
Chris Coons met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Washington, D.C.
Elizabeth Economy and David Sanger for The Wilson Center: "Between the Eagle and the Dragon: Opportunities for South Korea in the U.S.-China Competition"
Stephen J. Hadley et al. for the Atlantic Council: "Preparing for Victory: A Long-Haul Strategy to Help Ukraine Win the War Against Russia - and Secure the Peace"
Jane Harman discusses Ukraine for Bloomberg Radio
David Ignatius for The Washington Post: "Turkey is Playing With Fire in Northern Syria"
Nicholas Kristof for The New York Times: "Banana Peels for Xi Jinping"
David Sanger for The New York Times: "United States Enters a New Era of Direct Confrontation With Iran"
Lawrence H. Summers for ONE Talks: "Building a Fairer World"
Robert Zoellick interviewed by Erin O'Toole for the Blue Skies Podcast: "North America 2.0 and Foreign Policy Challenges"
Tweet of the Week
Things to Know
Content Relevant to Aspen Security Forum Discussions
Tobias Billström and Pekka Haavisto held a joint press conference
Kurt Campbell interviewed by Evan Feigenbaum for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: "The United States Needs to Step Up Its Game Across the Indo-Pacific"
Tobias Lindner interviewed by Joachim Staron for Internationale Politik Quarterly: "Strengthening Our Partners’ Capabilities Is Going to Be Key"
Abbas Milani interviewed by Melissa De Witte for Stanford News: "Protests in Iran are Part of a 'Long, Almost Sisyphean, Struggle' for Freedom and Equality, Stanford Scholar Says"
David Pekoske quoted by Chris Riotta for Federal Computer Week: "TSA Administrator Says New Cyber Requirements in the Works for Aviation Industry"
Karen Pierce quoted by Laura Kelly for The Hill: "UK 'Looking Closely' at Trade with U.S. Absent Major Agreement"
Arati Prabhakar for the American Association for the Advancement of Science: "Achieving America’s Aspirations"
Zbigniew Rau interviewed by Max Bergmann for CSIS: "Poland and the War in Ukraine"
Dennis Ross interviewed by Ray Hanania for Arab News: "Veteran U.S. Diplomat on Significance of Biden’s Saudi Visit and What It Can Achieve"
Arthur Sinodinos interviewed by Brandon How for InnovationAus: "Australia's U.S. Critical Minerals Opportunity"
Kent Walker for the Google Blog: "In Madrid, a Pitch for 'Open Security'"
Mark Warner for Yahoo!: "Senate Intel Chair on TikTok: 'If I Had a Young Kid, I Wouldn't Want Them on TikTok'"
Mona Yacoubian, Robert Barron, and Hesham Youssef for the United States Institute of Peace: "Could the Israel-Lebanon Maritime Border Deal Be a Game-Changer?"
Todd Young for The Hill: "How to Break China's Grasp on Digital Trade"
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Book of the Week
By Aynne Kokas
"On August 6, 2020, the Trump Administration issued a ban on TikTok in the U.S., requiring that the owner, Beijing-based Bytedance, sell the company to American investors or shut it down. Legions of TikTokers were devastated at the possible loss of their beloved platform, and for what: a political grudge with China? American suitors like Walmart and Oracle tried to make a deal with Bytedance to keep the platform operating in the U.S. But then something curious happened. The Chinese government refused to let Bytedance sell TikTok on national security grounds. As it turns out, the pandemic era platform for dance challenges is a Chinese government asset.
In Trafficking Data, Aynne Kokas looks at how technology firms in the two largest economies in the world, the United States and China, have exploited government policy (and the lack thereof) to gather information on citizens, putting U.S. national security at risk. Kokas argues that U.S. government leadership failures, Silicon Valley's disruption fetish, and Wall Street's addiction to growth have fueled China's technological goldrush. In turn, American complacency yields an unprecedented opportunity for Chinese firms to gather data in the United States and quietly send it back to China, and by extension, to the Chinese government. Drawing on years of fieldwork in the U.S. and China and a large trove of corporate and policy documents, Trafficking Data explains how China is fast becoming the global leader in internet governance and policy, and thus of the data that defines our public and private lives."
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