This week, President Trump announced he will decide in 10-15 days on whether to take military action against Iran after nuclear talks in Geneva ended without a deal, the Board of Peace held its inaugural meeting, U.S.-brokered peace talks between Ukraine and Russia ended without a breakthrough, and Indian Prime Minister Modi and French President Macron met in Mumbai.
Read more below.
This Week’s Content Highlights
Features from Aspen Strategy Group Members
Nicholas Burns interviewed by Yasheng Huang at the MIT Center for International Studies’ Starr Forum: “The Future of U.S.-China Relations”
Kurt Campbell interviewed by Ravi Agrawal for the Foreign Policy Live podcast: “Kurt Campbell on Trump’s China Ambiguity”
Chris Coons interviewed by Michaela Küfner for DW: “‘We Need to Rebuild Some Trust’: U.S. Senator Chris Coons at MSC 2026”
Elizabeth Economy for Foreign Affairs: “Book Review: ‘Autocracy 2.0’ by Jennifer Lind”
Mark Esper interviewed by Joe Mathieu and Kailey Leinz for Bloomberg’s Balance of Power: “Trump Takes Affordability Message on the Road”
Jendayi Frazer for the George W. Bush Institute’s The Catalyst: “Striving for a More Perfect Union”
Michael Froman for the Council on Foreign Relations: “Dispatch From Munich: The Future of Transatlantic Relations”
David Ignatius and Ed Luce interviewed by Joe Scarborough for MS NOW’s Morning Joe: “White House on Iran’s Nuclear Program: Burden Is on Iran to Show Us What Safeguards in Place”
Meghan O’Sullivan interviewed by Kailey Leinz for Bloomberg Radio: “Trump Warns Iran ‘Really Bad Things’ Will Happen Without Deal”
David Petraeus interviewed by Simon Brewer for The Money Maze podcast: “Inside a World Glowing Red: Xi’s Purges, Ukraine’s Realities, Iran’s Options, and the New Risk Regime – With General David Petraeus”
Dan Poneman quoted by Ralina Jakisheva for Kazinform International News Agency: “Daniel Poneman Warns Against Military Solutions to Nuclear Threats”
Susan Rice interviewed by Preet Bharara for the Stay Tuned With Preet podcast: “Democrats Done Playing Nice (With Susan Rice)”
David E. Sanger for The New York Times: “As Trump Weighs Iran Strikes, He Declines to Make Clear Case for Why, or Why Now”
Anne-Marie Slaughter interviewed by Chris Gilson for LSE’s The Ballpark podcast: “America Adrift With Professor Anne-Marie Slaughter”
Jake Sullivan and H.R. McMaster interviewed by Colin Kahl for the World Class podcast: “Two National Security Advisors on Two Breakneck Months of U.S. Foreign Policy”
Frances Fragos Townsend and Richard Haass in conversation with Clifford Chanin at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum: “25 Years Later: Reflections on 9/11 and the War on Terror”
Philip Zelikow and John Herbst interviewed by Joanna M. Gwozdziowski for Network 20/20: “Peace in Ukraine: Deal or Deadlock?”
Post of the Week
Young Leaders Spotlight
Features from ASG Rising Leaders and Former Fellows
Chris Li (‘24) and Rana Mitter for UnHerd: “Xi Jinping’s Private Army”
Helen Toner (‘21) interviewed by Kate Bolduan for CNN News Central: “AI Race Making a ‘Hindenburg-Style Disaster a Real Risk’”
During the interview process for the Rising Leaders Program Class of 2026, we asked applicants to share the best books they have read recently. Check out a selection of some of the titles below.
Stay tuned for an announcement about our new class next week!
Things to Know
Content Relevant to Aspen Security Forum Discussions
Abbas Araghchi interviewed by Joe Scarborough for MS NOW’s Morning Joe: “Iranian Foreign Minister: No Military Solution for Iran’s Nuclear Program, Only Diplomacy”
Osmond Chia for BBC News: “U.S. and Indonesia Finalize Deal to Cut Tariffs to 19%”
France 24: “Kim Jong Un Opens North Korea’s 9th Party Congress, Highlights Economic Gains”
Carlotta Gall and Hussam Hammoud for The New York Times: “Power Shift in Syria Upends an Archipelago for ISIS Prisoners”
Stephen Heintz for the Rockefeller Brothers Fund: “Our Values Guide Us Today and Always”
Megan Lebowitz for NBC News: “Trump Administration Strikes Three More Alleged Drug Boats in the Pacific and Caribbean”
Matthew Lee and Justin Spike for AP News: “Rubio Plugs Orbán’s Bid for Another Term in Hungary’s Elections”
Ken Moriyasu and Yuichi Shiga for Nikkei Asia: “Trump Announces First 3 Projects Under Japan’s $550bn Trade Deal”
James Politi, Steff Chávez, and Abigail Hauslohner for the Financial Times: “Trump Gives Iran 15 Days to Strike a Deal or ‘Bad Things Will Happen’”
Nathalie Segaunes for Le Monde: “Macron and Modi Seek a ‘No-Boundaries’ Partnership”
Manolo Serapio, Jr. for Bloomberg: “U.S. to Deploy More Cutting Edge Missile Systems to Philippines”
Sasha Vakulina for Euronews: “Ukraine-U.S.-Russia Talks: ‘Progress’ on Military Track and Only ‘Dialogue’ on Political Aspect”
Renzo Gómez Vega for El País: “Peru’s Congress Appoints José María Balcázar as President, the Eighth in a Decade”
Lingling Wei for The Wall Street Journal: “How China’s Xi Purged His ‘Big Brother’ to Achieve Absolute Power”
Cleve R. Wootson Jr. and Karen DeYoung for The Washington Post: “Trump Vows $10 Billion Contribution to His Own Board of Peace”
From the Archives
As Russian and Ukrainian officials met for U.S.-brokered peace talks in Geneva this week, revisit our conversation on the conflict from the 2025 Aspen Security Forum.
Frontlines and Fault Lines: Russia, Ukraine, and Beyond
Condoleezza Rice, Co-Chair, Aspen Strategy Group; Tad and Dianne Taube Director and Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public Policy, Hoover Institution, Stanford University; 66th U.S. Secretary of State, U.S. Department of State
Pasi Rajala, Political State Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Defence, Finland
Halyna Yanchenko, Member, Supreme Council of Ukraine; Head of Investment Taskforce for Defense Industry
Susan Glasser, Staff Writer and Columnist, The New Yorker
Moderator: Andrea Mitchell, NBC News
Book of the Week
Axis of Empire: A History of Iran-U.S. Relations
By Afshin Matin-Asgari
“Ironic plot twists and colorful characters abound in Afshin Matin-Asgari’s accessible history of relations between the United States and Iran. The missionaries and educators who descended on Iran in the early nineteenth century made way for the next century’s oilmen, CIA agents, scholars, and arms dealers in the assertion of U.S. imperial priorities. Whether Iran resisted or succumbed to U.S. interests, it couldn’t fail to be shaped by the superpower. A labyrinthine tale of American imperial misadventures, Axis of Empire incorporates and challenges scholarly narratives while offering a sophisticated yet highly readable account of Iran-U.S. history.”
Podcast of the Week
Andy Keiser and Algene Sajery joined Morgan Viña for the National Security Institute’s Fault Lines podcast: “Nigeria: Security Support or Strategic Signal?”
Join Our Team!
The Aspen Strategy Group is seeking a Scowcroft-Nye Fellow with a strong interest in foreign policy and national security. Join our small, fast-paced, collaborative team and contribute to the main pillars of our work, including the Aspen Security Forum, the Rising Leaders Program, and Track II Dialogues.
Thank you for sharing this opportunity with your networks.
