The Weekly Leaf - May 2
- The Aspen Strategy Group
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
The Weekly Leaf
This week, Mark Carney was elected prime minister of Canada, Ukraine and the U.S. signed a critical minerals deal, Mike Waltz was removed as national security advisor and will be nominated as UN ambassador, and power outages hit parts of Spain, Portugal, and France.
Read more below.
This Week's Content Highlights
Features from Aspen Strategy Group Members
Nicholas Burns at the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard University: “2025 Charles Neuhauser Memorial Lecture Featuring Ambassador R. Nicholas Burns — Lessons From the Front Lines of the U.S.-China Relationship”
Antony Blinken interviewed by Tim Miller for The Bulwark podcast: “Tony Blinken: America Alone”
Chris Brose quoted by Courtney Albon for Defense News: “Anduril Announces Lighter, Smaller Pulsar Jammer”
Kurt Campbell and Rush Doshi interviewed by Derek Thompson for the Plain English podcast: “Is This the Chinese Century?”
Elizabeth Economy and Ethan Harris interviewed by Tom Keene for Bloomberg: “Single Best Idea: Economy & Harris”
Michael Froman interviewed Robert E. Lighthizer for the Council on Foreign Relations: “C. Peter McColough Series on International Economics With Robert E. Lighthizer”
Susan Glasser for The New Yorker: “Mike Waltz Learns the Hard Truth About Serving Donald Trump”
Michael J. Green interviewed Ben Buchanan for the Asia Chessboard podcast: “Is AI a Game Changer in U.S.-China Competition?”
Jane Harman for The Bulwark: “Mike Waltz Is Out. Pete Hegseth Is Probably Next.”
David Ignatius for The Washington Post: “A Trumpworld Power Struggle Muscles Waltz Out”
Dina Powell McCormick interviewed by Betsy Fischer Martin for the Vital Voices podcast: “Vital Voices LIVE: A Conversation With Dina Powell McCormick With Guest Host Betsy Fischer Martin”
Joseph S. Nye for Project Syndicate: “Will We See More Nuclear Proliferation?”
Meghan L. O’Sullivan, Gonçalo Saraiva Matias, Samantha Gross, and Constanze Stelzenmüller at Brookings: “Europe’s Energy Transition in a Geopolitical Storm”
David M. Rubenstein interviewed by Joubin Mirzadegan for the Grit podcast: “From White House to Wall Street: David Rubenstein”
Dan Sullivan at the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee: “Sullivan Presses Commerce Nominee on NOAA Surveys Needed for Alaska Fishermen”
Jake Sullivan interviewed by Martha Raddatz for ABC News: “Trump’s Foreign Policy ‘Is Terrible Damage to America’s Credibility’”
Lawrence H. Summers interviewed by Bill Kristol for the Conversations with Bill Kristol podcast: “Trump, Tariffs, and Threats to the Economy”
Philip Zelikow interviewed by Nathan Kiker and Carson Becker for the Clearer Than Truth podcast: “Episode 20: Philip Zelikow”
Tweet of the Week
Rising Leaders Program Highlights
Features from ASG Rising Leaders
Liana Fix (‘23) and Michael Kimmage for Foreign Affairs: “What If America Abandons Ukraine?”
Ian Platz (‘23) for Semafor: “One Good Text”
Things to Know
Content Relevant to Aspen Security Forum Discussions
Nikolai Antoniadis, Cornelius Dieckmann, Christian Esch, Georg Fahrion, Christoph Giesen, and Fedir Petrov for Der Spiegel: “Meet the Chinese Soldiers Fighting in Russia’s Army”
Robert Fife and Steven Chase for The Globe and Mail: “Liberals Return to Power With Fourth Consecutive Mandate”
France24: “UK and U.S. Forces Launch Joint Air Strikes on Houthi Target in Yemen”
Keoki Jackson and MITRE colleagues offer options for the Trump administration’s acquisition reform agenda for DoD and broader international cooperation: “Mission-Focused and Industry-Driven Rapid Acquisition | MITRE” and “Strengthening Allied Defense Cooperation | MITRE”
Keith Johnson for Foreign Policy: “Spain’s Blackout Brings a New Meaning to Energy Security”
Michael Kranish and Jeff Stein for The Washington Post: “How Peter Navarro Went From Democrat to Inmate to Trump’s Tariff Guru”
Christopher Miller and James Politi for the Financial Times: “How Zelenskyy Lured Trump With Ukraine’s Minerals”
Samuel Misteli, Arlette Bashizi, Cian Jochem, Adina Renner, and Kaspar Manz for the Neue Zürcher Zeitung: “Congo’s Most Powerful Rebel Militia Is Earning Millions From a Coltan Mine – and the Metal Is Ending Up in Our Phones”
Ashley Roque and Aaron Mehta for Breaking Defense: “Hegseth Orders ‘Comprehensive Transformation’ of U.S. Army, Merging Offices and Cutting Units”
Rudy Ruitenberg for Defense News: “European Defence Fund Funnels Money to Drones, Hypersonic Defense, AI”
Sushant Singh for Foreign Affairs: “India and Pakistan Are Perilously Close to the Brink”
Isaac Stanley-Becker, Ashley Parker, Jonathan Lemire, and Shane Harris for The Atlantic: “Inside Mike Waltz’s White House Exit”
Shannon Tiezzi and Mitch Shin for The Diplomat: “Back-to-Back Resignations Throw South Korea’s Acting Presidency Into Turmoil”
Lingling Wei and Raffaele Huang for The Wall Street Journal: “Beijing Doesn’t Want America to See Its Trade-War Pain”
Vivian Yee and Hwaida Saad for The New York Times: “Death Toll Rises Sharply in a Wave of Sectarian Violence in Syria”
Upcoming Event
Please join us for a conversation with ASG member, Chairman and Co-founder of The Asia Group, and former Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and U.S. National Editor and Columnist at the Financial Times Edward Luce on Zbig: The Life of Zbigniew Brzezinski, America's Great Power Prophet.
Tuesday, May 13
5:00 - 7:00 PM
Aspen Institute Headquarters
2300 N St NW in Washington, DC
From the Archives
Revisit our conversation on U.S.-Canada relations from the 2023 Aspen Security Forum.
Chrystia Freeland, then Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Canada
Moderator: Matthew Kaminski, Co-Founder, POLITICO Europe
Book of the Week
By Admiral William H. McRaven
“Throughout his 40-year career, Admiral McRaven has experienced every manner of calamity imaginable. From managing failed hostage rescues to responding to student unrest, McRaven has learned how to successfully navigate crises—those moments that push the limits of your experience and challenge your confidence, when leadership skills alone may not be enough.
Conquering Crisis provides a new set of tools for facing these stressful moments with poise. It breaks crises down into five phases—assess, report, contain, shape, and manage—and provides concrete steps to come out the other side stronger. With incredible personal stories, thought-provoking parables, and memorable lessons, Admiral McRaven sheds light on the ways we can rise to the occasion in times of crisis and act as leaders, no matter the situation.”
Featured Partner Event
FTWeekend Festival: U.S. Edition
The Financial Times Weekend Festival returns on Saturday, May 10 in Washington, D.C. and online! Experience the paper come to life with debates, tastings, performances, and more.
With speakers including Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Anthony Scaramucci, Katherine Maher, Teresa Carlson, and many more—this is a Saturday you will not want to miss!
As a Leaf subscriber, claim 25% off your pass today using promo code AspenxFT25!
Podcast of the Week
Jennifer Lind and Lami Kim join Sasha Polakow-Suransky on Foreign Policy’s Counterpoint podcast: “Should South Korea Develop Nuclear Weapons?”
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