The Weekly Leaf
This week, EU leaders agreed to a defense spending surge at an emergency summit on Ukraine, Arab leaders endorsed Egypt’s proposal for the reconstruction of Gaza, the White House announced partial tariff exemptions for Mexico and Canada, and South Korean fighter jets mistakenly bombed Nogok.
Read more below.
This Week's Content Highlights
Features from Aspen Strategy Group Members
Condoleezza Rice spoke with Gayle D. Beebe at the Westmont College President’s Breakfast: “Rice Shares Global Vision of Democracy”
Chris Coons interviewed by Wolf Blitzer for CNN: “Sen. Coons: Intelligence Sharing With Ukraine ‘Critically Important’”
Elizabeth Economy interviewed by Martin Soong for CNBC's Squawk Box Asia: “‘Huge Overcapacity’ in China's Critical Cutting-Edge Tech Sectors, Says Analyst”
Michael Froman interviewed by Frank Holland for CNBC: “Trump Uses Tariffs for Leverage, Revenue, and Driving Production to the United States”
Susan B. Glasser for The New Yorker: “Trump’s Golden Age of Bunk”
Michael J. Green hosted Sue-Lin Wong on The Asia Chessboard podcast: “Schemes and Scam Inc. in Southeast Asia”
Stephen Hadley, Daniel Fried, and Franklin D. Kramer for Foreign Affairs: “A Plan for Peace Through Strength in Ukraine”
Jane Harman for The Hill: “Administration Channels Neville Chamberlain With Actions on Ukraine”
David Ignatius for The Washington Post: “The White House’s Risky Cyberoffense Stand-Down”
Joseph S. Nye, Jr. for Project Syndicate: “The Future of World Order”
David Petraeus interviewed by Jay Sapsford for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce: “What Will It Take to Secure Ukraine?”
Tom Pritzker announced Liu Jiakun as the winner of the 2025 Pritzker Architecture Prize
David E. Sanger for The New York Times: “Tariffs by Whim Keep Allies Off Balance, but Do the Same to Markets”
Dan Sullivan quoted by Alexander Bolton for The Hill: “Trump’s Pick for Key Pentagon Role Faces Senate GOP Skeptics”
Tweet of the Week
Rising Leaders Program Highlights
Features from ASG Rising Leaders
Liana Fix (‘23) and Jan Techau interviewed by Steven E. Sokol for the Council on Foreign Relations: “Term Member Meeting: Germany’s Next Chapter—Post-Election Analysis and Global Impacts”
Dale Swartz (‘21), Jason Crow, Tara Murphy Dougherty, and Rob Wittman joined Rachel Hoff at the Ronald Reagan Institute’s 2025 National Security Innovation Base Summit: “Grading America’s Edge: The 2025 NSIB Report Card”
Things to Know
Content Relevant to Aspen Security Forum Discussions
John Bolton for The Wall Street Journal: “How to Protect NATO and Other Alliances From Trump”
The Economist: “China’s Leaders Reveal Their Plan to Cope With 2025”
Jung Min-kyung and Hwang Joo-young for The Korea Herald: “Two South Korean Air Force Jets Mistakenly Bomb Border Village; At Least 15 Injured”
Jorge Liboreiro for Euronews: “EU Leaders Meet to Discuss Ukraine's Future as Trump Pushes for Fast Peace Deal”
Oleksandra Matviichuk for the Financial Times: “Negotiations Over Ukraine Are Missing a Human Dimension”
Le Monde: “South Sudan Vice-President's Allies Arrested in Threat to Peace Deal”
Peter Navarro for USA Today: “Trump Tariffs Will Save American Jobs and Level the Playing Field”
Eric Revell for Fox Business: “BlackRock Inks $23B Deal for Panama Canal Ports”
Zach Schonfeld for The Hill: “Supreme Court Denies Trump Administration Request to Cancel $2 Billion in Foreign Aid”
Milica Stojanovic and Katarina Baletic for BalkanInsight: “Smoke Bombs Thrown, MPs Brawl in Serbian Parliament Amid Protest Crisis”
Aime Williams for the Financial Times: “U.S. Backtracks on Canada-Mexico Tariffs in Latest Sharp Shift on Trade”
Edward Wong and Mark Mazzetti for The New York Times: “State Dept. Plans to Close Diplomatic Missions and Fire Employees Overseas”
Michela Wrong for Foreign Affairs: “How Far Will Rwanda Go in Congo?”
Vivian Yee and Ismaeel Naar for The New York Times: “Arab States Propose Alternative to Trump’s Gaza Plan”
From the Archives
Revisit our conversation about the “America First” foreign policy agenda from the 2018 Aspen Security Forum.
Thomas Friedman, Foreign Affairs Columnist, The New York Times
Jane Harman, then President, Director, and CEO, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars; former Member of Congress
Hugh Hewitt, Host, The Hugh Hewitt Show
Peter Westmacott, former Ambassador of the UK to the U.S.
Moderator: William Kristol, then Editor-at-Large, The Weekly Standard (currently Editor-at-Large of The Bulwark)
Book of the Week
By Mark Galeotti
"Putin's Wars is a timely overview of the conflicts in which Russia has been involved since Vladimir Putin became prime minister and then president of Russia, from the First Chechen War to the two military incursions into Georgia, the annexation of Crimea and the eventual invasion of Ukraine itself.
But it also looks more broadly at Putin's recreation of Russian military power and its expansion to include a range of new capabilities, from mercenaries to operatives in a relentless information war against Western powers. This is an engrossing strategic overview of the Russian military and the successes and failures on the battlefield."
Podcast of the Week
Sara Pantuliano joins Alan Boswell on the International Crisis Group’s
The Horn podcast: “The Aid System Is Collapsing. Now What?”
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