The Weekly Leaf
The Aspen Strategy Group will be hosting the Aspen Security Forum in Aspen, Colorado from July 16-19, 2024. Our flagship Forum will feature an array of decision-makers and thought leaders from Washington, DC and around the world. All of our sessions will be livestreamed. You can register here to receive the link for our livestreamed content.
We will have very limited seating for the public; if you are interested in attending in person, please submit a request to attend below. We look forward to celebrating the Forum's 15th anniversary with you whether you are joining us in person or virtually this July.
ASG U.S.-China Track II Dialogue
A delegation from the Aspen Strategy Group, led by our Co-Chair Joseph Nye and Executive Director Anja Manuel, met in Beijing with a high-level delegation convened by our counterparts at the Central Party School of the People’s Republic of China to discuss critical issues affecting our bilateral relationship. Both delegations shared their perspectives on a number of issues, frankly discussed points of divergence, and searched for areas where we can enhance our cooperation.
The ASG delegation also met with Ambassador R. Nicholas Burns, U.S. Ambassador to China and former ASG Executive Director; Liu Jianchao, Minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee; Ma Zhaoxu, Executive Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs; Zheng Bijian, Founding Chairman of the China Institute for Innovation & Development Strategy; and Hu Shuli, Founder and Publisher of Caixin Media.
Aspen Strategy Group Programming
Building on our 2023 report, “A Sum Greater Than Its Parts: Integrated Deterrence and Strategic Competition,” the ASG hosted a salon dinner this week in partnership with MITRE on how to pursue and strengthen mutually beneficial relationships with Emerging Market and Middle-Income Countries to advance American and allied interests. We were pleased to bring together a high-level group of government officials, business leaders, scholars, and think tank experts to discuss this important topic and begin to develop actionable recommendations on this theme.
This Week's Content Highlights
Features from Aspen Strategy Group Members
Condoleezza Rice quoted by Ryan Heath for Axios: “AI Hits Trust Hurdles With U.S. Military”
Anja Manuel for the Financial Times: "The U.S. and Europe Need a Strategy for the Geopolitical Contest Over AI"
Elizabeth Economy for Foreign Affairs: “China’s Alternative Order”
Susan B. Glasser for The New Yorker: “Is 2024 Doomed to Repeat 1968 or 2020–Or Both?”
Jane Harman interviewed by Kailey Leinz and Joe Mathieu for Bloomberg: “Jane Harman on Cease-Fire Talks, Saudi Arabia”
David Ignatius for The Washington Post: “The FBI Director’s Concerns Over Terrorism Are at ‘A Whole Other Level’”
Nicholas Kristof for The New York Times: “How Protesters Can Actually Help Palestinians”
David Sanger interviewed by Ian Bremmer for GZERO: “Are We on the Brink of a New Cold War?”
Anne-Marie Slaughter for The Washington Post: “Gaza-Israeli Peace Will Come Only by Putting People Before States”
Robert B. Zoellick for The Wall Street Journal: “REPO Act Lets Biden Boost Ukraine”
Tweet of the Week
Rising Leaders Program Highlights
Features from ASG Rising Leaders
“We need to focus on adaptability, not certainty…. In AI, this means having a clear picture of where the technology is and where it’s going and having plans in place for what to do in different scenarios. Concretely, this means things like investing in our ability to measure what AI systems can do.”
Helen Toner (‘21) for TED: “How to Govern AI – Even if It’s Hard to Predict”
Things to Know
Content Relevant to Aspen Security Forum Discussions
Graham Allison interviewed by Martin Soong for CNBC International TV: “Blinken’s China Visit Went ‘Well and Predictably,’ Says Professor”
AP News: “Turkey Halts All Trade With Israel Over Military Actions in Gaza”
Paula Dobriansky, Heather Conley, Daniel L. Davis, John J. Mearsheimer, and moderator John Donvan at the Council on Foreign Relations: “Open to Debate: Should Congress Stop Funding the War in Ukraine?”
Mathias Hammer for Semafor: “China Declines to Meet With U.S. on Nuclear Arms Control, U.S. Official Says”
Raya Jalabi for the Financial Times: “Hamas Leader Says Examining Gaza Ceasefire Proposal in ‘Positive Spirit’”
Emmanuel Macron at the Sorbonne: “Europe–It Can Die. A New Paradigm at the Sorbonne”
Larry Madowo for CNN: “U.S. Is ‘Best’ Choice for Africa Over Russia or China, U.S. Commerce Secretary Says”
Evan S. Medeiros for Foreign Affairs: “The Delusion of Peak China”
Matt Murphy for BBC: “Russia Using Chemical Choking Agents in Ukraine, U.S. Says”
Luke Pardue for The Washington Post: “U.S. Productivity Is Popping. And It’s Not Because of AI.”
Manuela Tobias and Kevin Simauchi for Bloomberg: “Argentina Cuts Rates to 50% as Milei Wrestles Inflation Down”
From the Archives
Revisit our conversation on innovation and U.S.
competitiveness from the 2023 ASF: DC Edition.
Doug Beck, Director, Defense Innovation Unit; Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Defense, U.S. Department of Defense
General Bryan Fenton, Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command
Michèle Flournoy, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, WestExec Advisors; Former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, U.S. Department of Defense
Moderator: Courtney Kube, NBC News Pentagon Correspondent, NBC News
Book of the Week
by David Ignatius
“In Phantom Orbit, [Ignatius] presents a story both searing and topical, with stakes as far-reaching as outer space. It follows Ivan Volkov, a Russian student in Beijing, who discovers an unsolved puzzle in the writings of the seventeenth-century astronomer Johannes Kepler. He takes the puzzle to a senior scientist in the Chinese space program and declares his intention to solve it. Volkov returns to Moscow and continues his secret work. The puzzle holds untold consequences for space warfare...
With this timely novel, Ignatius addresses our moment of renewed interest in space exploration amid geopolitical tumult. Phantom Orbit brims with the author’s vital insights and casts Volkov as the man who, at the risk of his life, may be able to stop the Doomsday clock.”
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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.