The Weekly Leaf
This week, the Assad regime collapsed in Syria, President of France Emmanuel Macron named François Bayrou his new Prime Minister, China held a major naval exercise near Taiwan, and the U.S. Department of Defense announced the creation of the Artificial Intelligence Rapid Capabilities Cell.
Read more below.
Aspen Strategy Group Programming
Former Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates joined ASG Executive Director Anja Manuel to discuss his experience cutting overhead costs as Secretary of Defense, advice for the new Department of Government Efficiency, and more for the Aspen Strategy Group’s Global Leaders Series. Watch here and revisit last week’s conversation with DOGE Co-Lead Vivek Ramaswamy from the Aspen Security Forum: DC Edition here.
This Week's Content Highlights
Features from Aspen Strategy Group Members
Joseph S. Nye, Jr. for Project Syndicate: “Anticipating Trump’s Foreign Policy”
Condoleezza Rice interviewed by Shannon Bream for Fox News: “AI Is the ‘Most Important Technological Arms Race,’ Says Condoleezza Rice”
Robert D. Blackwill and Richard Fontaine for the Council on Foreign Relations: “No Limits? The China-Russia Relationship and U.S. Foreign Policy”
Chris Coons for TIME: “Why Trump’s Talk of Recess Appointments Is Dangerous”
Elizabeth Economy interviewed Joerg Wuttke for China Considered: “China Unveiled: 30 Years of Business Insight with Joerg Wuttke”
Mark T. Esper interviewed by Jake Tapper for CNN: “Former Trump Defense Secretary on the ‘Key Question’ in Syria”
Michèle Flournoy interviewed by Preet Bharara for the Stay Tuned In Brief podcast: “The Battle for the Pentagon”
Michael Froman interviewed Samantha Power for the Council on Foreign Relations: “Future of USAID: A Conversation with Samantha Power”
Susan B. Glasser for The New Yorker: “Trump Is Picking Fights. Will Anyone Hit Back?”
Michael J. Green interviewed Jina Kim for The Asia Chessboard podcast: “Deciphering Seoul’s Indo-Pacific Tilt”
David Ignatius for The Washington Post: “Syrian Rebels Had Help From Ukraine in Humiliating Russia”
Nicholas Kristof for The New York Times: “The Winners and Losers Following the Fall of al-Assad”
David Rubenstein interviewed Carla Hayden for Bloomberg: “The David Rubenstein Show: Carla Hayden”
David E. Sanger for The New York Times: “With Assad Gone, a Brutal Dictatorship Ends. But the New Risks Are Huge.”
Lawrence H. Summers and Robert B. Zoellick interviewed by Adam S. Posen for the Peterson Institute for International Economics: “Implications of a New U.S. Foreign Economic Policy”
Philip Zelikow, Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar, Eric Schmidt, and Jason Matheny for the Hoover Institution: “Defense Against the AI Dark Arts: Threat Assessment and Coalition Defense”
Tweet of the Week
Rising Leaders Program Highlights
Features from ASG Rising Leaders
Liana Fix (‘23) and Tara Varma interviewed by Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend for the Brussels Sprouts podcast: “Turmoil in Paris and Berlin Going Into a Second Trump Term”
Geo Saba (‘22) and John Leganski interviewed by Amira Valliani for The Politics of Bits podcast: “How Pro-Crypto Is the New Congress?”
Things to Know
Content Relevant to Aspen Security Forum Discussions
Maj. Gen. Peter B. Andrysiak Jr. and Maj. Bryan J. Quinn for War on the Rocks: “Empowering the Combatant Commands Is Critical for the Future Fight”
The Economist: “Chinese Hackers Are Deep Inside America’s Telecoms Networks”
Evan Gershkovich with Drew Hinshaw, Joe Parkinson, and Thomas Grove for The Wall Street Journal: “Tracking Putin’s Most Feared Secret Agency–From Inside a Russian Prison and Beyond”
Hassan Hassan for The New York Times: “The War on Terror Had an Unexpected Outcome”
Jesse Johnson for The Japan Times: “Taiwan Says China Naval Deployment Is Largest in Decades”
Eka Kevanishvili, Lela Kunchulia, and Luke Allnutt for Radio Free Europe/Free Liberty: “The Bitter Standoff Over Georgia's Next President”
Paul Kirby for BBC News: “Macron Names Centrist Bayrou as French PM in Bid to End Political Instability”
Constantin Leclerc for DW: “Foreign Fighters Defend DR Congo From M23 Rebels”
Michael McFaul for Foreign Affairs: “How Trump Can End the War in Ukraine”
Ciara Nugent and Michael Stott for the Financial Times: “Argentina: Has Javier Milei Proved His Critics Wrong?”
Radha Plumb quoted by Brad Dress for The Hill: “Pentagon Announces New AI Office as It Looks to Deploy Autonomous Weapons”
Jeremy Sharon for The Times of Israel: “Netanyahu, 1st PM to Testify as Criminal Defendant, Ridicules Charges, Denies Illicit Media Ties”
Mitch Shin for The Diplomat: “In Defiant Address, Yoon Denies Treason Charges, Vows to Fight on”
From the Archives
Revisit our conversation on Ukraine, NATO, the EU, and more from the
Clément Beaune, Former Minister of State for European Affairs, France
Enrique Mora Benavente, Deputy Secretary-General for Political Affairs/Political Director, European External Action Service
Kajsa Ollongren, Former Minister of Defense; Former Deputy Prime Minister, The Netherlands
Jens Plötner, Foreign and Security Policy Advisor to the Chancellor, Germany
Moderator: Peter Spiegel, U.S. Managing Editor, Financial Times
Book of the Week
By ASG Rising Leaders Class of 2024
“The Aspen Strategy Group is proud to announce the release of On the Rise: Perspectives on Foreign Policy, the capstone project of the Rising Leaders Program Class of 2024. The Rising Leaders Program fosters the development of young foreign policy and national security leaders, encouraging them to work together on complex global challenges. Hailing from diverse backgrounds, sectors, and political affiliations, all Rising Leaders have one thing in common: their passion for national security and foreign policy.
Through the year-long program, participants exchange ideas on critical foreign policy issues with key decisionmakers—and each other—under the aegis of the Aspen Strategy Group. This publication is the product of these vital conversations and presents the Rising Leaders’ perspectives on key challenges in U.S. foreign policy and national security.”
Podcast of the Week
Ryan C. Berg and host Bonny Lin for the ChinaPower podcast: “China’s Relations with Latin America: A Conversation with Dr. Ryan Berg
Featured Partner Event: FTWeekend Festival: U.S. Edition
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Register here.
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As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the Aspen Institute is nonpartisan and does not endorse, support, or oppose political candidates or parties. Further, the views and opinions of our guests and speakers do not necessarily reflect those of the Aspen Institute.
