The Weekly Leaf - March 28
- The Aspen Strategy Group
- Mar 28
- 5 min read
The Weekly Leaf
This week, it came to light that U.S. officials inadvertently included a journalist in a Signal chat where airstrike plans were discussed, Russia and Ukraine committed to a Black Sea ceasefire in separate deals with the U.S., Brazil’s Supreme Court moved to try former President Jair Bolsonaro, and Prime Minister Mark Carney called a snap election in Canada.
Read more below.
This Week's Content Highlights
Features from Aspen Strategy Group Members
Christian Brose quoted by Kirsty Needham for Reuters: “Anduril Says AI Start-Up Sees Good ‘Vibes’ From New Trump Pentagon”
Chris Coons interviewed by Phil Mattingly for CNN: “Surprise Parties Had Better Security Than Trump Admin”
Elizabeth Economy interviewed Matthew Turpin for the China Considered podcast: “Rivalry Redefined: U.S.-China Strategy in a Shifting World with Matthew Turpin”
Mark T. Esper, Christine H. Fox, and Mung Chiang co-chaired the Atlantic Council Commission on Software-Defined Warfare report
Peter Feaver quoted by Helene Cooper and Eric Schmitt for The New York Times: “Inside Pete Hegseth’s Rocky First Months at the Pentagon”
Michael Froman for Foreign Affairs: “China Has Already Remade the International System”
Susan B. Glasser, Jane Mayer, Evan Osnos, and Michael Waldman for The Political Scene podcast: “Will Judges Stick Together to Face Trump’s Defiance?”
Jane Harman for the Financial Times: “Signal Fiasco Should Remind Us That Complacency Invites Catastrophe”
David Ignatius for The Washington Post: “Move Fast and Trip Over Things”
Joseph Nye for The Washington Post: “Trump Is Liquidating America’s Reserves of Soft Power”
Jack Reed and Roger F. Wicker sent a letter to the Department of Defense’s Acting Inspector General Stephen A. Stebbins requesting an investigation of the Signal group chat
Susan Rice interviewed by Alicia Menendez for MSNBC: “‘This Is an Extraordinary Breach’: Amb. Susan Rice Reacts to Leaked Trump War Plans Group Chat”
Anne-Marie Slaughter for Project Syndicate: “How the World Can Keep Trump 2.0 in Check”
Dan Sullivan, Deb Fischer, Marshall Billingslea, Robert Peters, and moderator Derrick Morgan at the Heritage Foundation: “Building America’s Missile Defense Shield”
Tweet of the Week
Rising Leaders Program Highlights
Features from ASG Rising Leaders
Liana Fix (‘23) interviewed by Neil Melvin for the RUSI Global Security Briefing podcast: “The Future of Transatlantic Security”
Matthew Hauwiller (‘24) and moderator Cassie Gale for Sandia National Laboratories’ CMC Seminar Series: “Building Bridges to Foster U.S.-Africa Relations and Counter Chinese Influence”
Daniel Lippman (‘22), Dasha Burns, and Caitlin Oprysko for POLITICO: “Trump’s Crackdown on Top Law Firms Spreads to Congress”
Things to Know
Content Relevant to Aspen Security Forum Discussions
Rushdi Aboualouf and Alex Boyd for BBC News: “Hundreds Join Gaza's Largest Anti-Hamas Protest Since War Began”
Ryan C. Berg for Foreign Policy: “China Won’t Be the Obvious Winner in Latin America”
Bloomberg News: “U.S. Says Black Sea Truce Agreed Even as Russia Lays Out Terms”
William Booth for The Washington Post: “No Dogsled Races. In Greenland, the Vances Will Tour a U.S. Base Instead.”
Abdi Latif Dahir for The New York Times: “South Sudan’s Vice President Has Been Placed Under House Arrest, Party Says”
Jason Douglas and Tom Fairless for The Wall Street Journal: “Trade War Explodes Across World at Pace Not Seen in Decades”
The Economist: “The Strange Revival of Liberal Canada”
Jeffrey Goldberg and Shane Harris for The Atlantic: “Here Are the Attack Plans That Trump’s Advisers Shared on Signal”
Sherri Goodman and Daniel Poneman for The National Interest: “Restoring U.S. Nuclear Energy Leadership”
Joe Leahy and Nian Liu for the Financial Times: “China’s Xi Jinping Meets Foreign CEOs to Urge Trade Stability”
Andrew O’Donohue for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: “Why Türkiye Is at a Tipping Point Between Democracy and Authoritarianism”
Tom Phillips for The Guardian: “Bolsonaro Must Stand Trial Over Alleged Coup Attempt, Brazil’s Top Court Rules”
From the Archives
Revisit our conversation on cyber, fraud, and emerging threats in the global digital economy from the 2024 Aspen Security Forum.
Sir Jeremy Fleming, Former Director, GCHQ
Jon M. Huntsman, Jr., Vice-Chair, Mastercard; Former U.S. Ambassador to China and Russia
Anne Neuberger, then Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology
Kent Walker, President, Global Affairs, Google
Moderator: Steve Clemons, Contributing Editor, The National Interest
Book of the Week
By John Lechner
“In 2014, a well-trained, mysterious band of mercenaries arrived in Ukraine, part of Russia's first attempt to claim the country as its own. Upon ceasefire, the ‘Wagner Group’ faded back into shadow, only to reemerge in the Middle East, where they'd go toe-to-toe with the United States, and in Africa, where they'd earn praise for ‘tough measures’ against insurgencies yet spark outrage for looting, torture, and civilian deaths. As Russia gained a foothold of influence abroad, Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, known as ‘Putin’s Chef,’ went from caterer to commander to single greatest threat Putin has faced in his over-twenty-year rule.
...In this trailblazing account of the Group’s origins and operations, John Lechner—the only journalist to report across its many warzones—brings us on the ground to witness Wagner partner with fragile nation states, score access to natural resources, oust peacekeeping missions, and cash in on conflicts reframed as Kremlin interests. After rebelling, Prigozhin faced an epic demise—but Wagner lives on, its political, business, and military ventures a pillar of Russian operations the world over. Featuring exclusive interviews with over thirty Wagner Group members, Death Is Our Business is the terrifying true tale of the renegade militia that proved global instability is nothing if not an opportunity.”
Susan and John Klein Book Series featuring John Lechner on Death Is Our Business: Russian Mercenaries and the New Era of Private Warfare
Wednesday, April 9, 6:00 - 7:00 PM ET
Join the Aspen Society for an evening discussion with John Lechner as he shares insights from his groundbreaking book, Death Is Our Business. Lechner will provide an in-depth look at the rise of the Wagner Group, its operations across global conflict zones, and its transformation from a covert Russian military force into a powerful global actor that is reshaping geopolitics and business. The conversation will be moderated by David Sanger.
Podcast of the Week
Kori Schake joins Danielle Pletka and Marc A. Thiessen on the American Enterprise Institute’s What the Hell Is Going On? podcast: “WTH? A European Supreme Allied Commander of NATO? Kori Schake Explains”
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