This week, world leaders commemorated the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. and Iran held nuclear talks which are slated to continue next week, Pakistan declared “open war” with Afghanistan following an exchange of cross-border attacks, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
Read more below.
ASG Rising Leaders Class of 2026
We are thrilled to introduce the ASG Rising Leaders Class of 2026!
Over the course of this year-long program, the class will contribute to the conversation on critical national security and foreign policy issues while honing their leadership skills.
This Week’s Content Highlights
Features from Aspen Strategy Group Members
Nicholas Burns at the MIT Energy Initiative: “Sustaining Diplomacy Amongst Competition in U.S.-China Relations”
Anja Manuel interviewed by Shruthi Nair at the World Governments Summit
Antony Blinken interviewed by Andrew Ross Sorkin for CNBC’s Squawk Box: “Former Sec. of State Blinken: Pres. Trump Has the Opportunity to Reach a Better Iran Deal Than Obama”
Kurt Campbell, Randall Schriver, Yun Sun, and Michael Swaine interviewed by Nick Schifrin for PBS News’ Compass Points: “What’s Next for the U.S. and China in a New Era of Confrontation”
Chris Coons interviewed by Joe Mathieu and Kailey Leinz for Bloomberg’s Balance of Power: “Sen. Coons Warns Trump Could Launch Iran Strike Within ‘Days’”
Elizabeth Economy for the Hoover Institution’s China Considered Quick Takes: “Sovereignty First: China’s Territorial Agenda”
Mark Esper interviewed by Morgan Brennan for CNBC’s Worldwide Exchange: “Mark Esper: We Are Not Prepared for a Long Term Conflict With Iran”
Michael Froman interviewed by Soumaya Keynes for the Financial Times’ The Economics Show podcast: “Trump’s Tariffs Are Not Dead Yet, With Michael Froman”
David Ignatius for The Washington Post: “The Shadow War That’s Strengthening Europe”
David Petraeus interviewed by Ravi Agrawal for the Foreign Policy Live podcast: “What a U.S. Attack on Iran Will Look Like”
Daniel Poneman, Robert Einhorn, Stephen Rademaker, and moderator Paul Saunders at the Center for the National Interest: “U.S.-Saudi Arabia Civil Nuclear Agreement: U.S. Interests and Priorities”
Jack Reed joined Michael E. O’Hanlon at Brookings’ Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology: “U.S. Policy in a Changing Nuclear Landscape”
David Rubenstein interviewed Al Gore for Bloomberg’s The David Rubenstein Show
David E. Sanger, Mark Mazzetti, Edward Wong, and Julian E. Barnes for The New York Times: “In Trump’s Case for War, a Series of False or Unproven Claims”
Susan Schwab interviewed by Joe Mathieu for Bloomberg’s Balance of Power: “Susan Schwab on Expectations of Tariffs After Supreme Court Ruling”
Anne-Marie Slaughter for the Financial Times: “Europe and America Are Locked in a Struggle Over ‘Western Civilisation’”
Jake Sullivan and Jon Finer for The Long Game podcast: “Mexico, Iran, Anthropic, and the SOTU Signals”
Philip Zelikow for the Hoover Institution’s Freedom Frequency: “The New Global Tariffs Are Also Unlawful”
Around the Institute
This week, the Aspen Economic Strategy Group released its latest volume: Demographic Headwinds: The Economic Consequences of Lower Birth Rates and Longer Lives, edited by AESG Director Melissa Kearney and Policy Director Luke Pardue. This series of four papers considers the long-term economic impact posed by the country’s falling birth rate and aging population, including the effects on the U.S. labor market, U.S. fiscal sustainability, state and local public finances, and environmental sustainability.
Post of the Week
Young Leaders Spotlight
Features from ASG Rising Leaders and Former Fellows
Liana Fix (‘23) and Benjamin Harris for the Council on Foreign Relations: “Defending Europe if Russia Steps Out of the Gray Zone”
Georgiy Kent interviewed by Bakhti Nishanov for the Helsinki Commission’s The Transatlantic podcast: “What Do Americans Think About Ukraine? Views From Biking Across America”
Things to Know
Content Relevant to Aspen Security Forum Discussions
Gavin Butler and Jake Kwon for BBC News: “North Korea Could ‘Get Along’ With U.S., Says Kim Jong Un”
Heidi E. Crebo-Rediker and Mahnaz Khan for the Council on Foreign Relations: “Leapfrogging China’s Critical Minerals Dominance”
Babak Dehghanpisheh and Joe Kottke for NBC News: “10 Cubans on U.S. Boat Intended to Carry Out an ‘Armed Infiltration,’ Havana Says”
Emma De Ruiter and Sasha Vakulina for Euronews: “Four Years On, Zelenskyy Says Putin ‘Did Not Win This War’”
Paula J. Dobriansky and Paul J. Saunders for The Washington Post: “How to Make NATO Great Again”
Farnaz Fassihi for The New York Times: “A Deal or War? Talks Will Continue Between U.S. and Iran Next Week”
France 24: “Modi Says India Stands ‘Firmly’ With Israel During Visit”
Stephen Gibbs for The Times: “Mexican Cartels Seek Bloody Revenge After Death of El Mencho”
Miranda Jeyaretnam for TIME: “Pakistan Declares ‘Open War’ With Afghanistan Amid Escalating Attacks: What to Know”
Ian Lovett for The Wall Street Journal: “Violent Militias Stand Between the U.S. and Venezuela’s Vast Mineral Riches”
Aamer Madhani for AP News: “Trump Makes the Case for His Foreign Policy Approach at State of the Union”
Devorah Margolin and Joana Cook for Foreign Policy: “From Bad to Worse in Northeast Syria”
Amrith Ramkumar for The Wall Street Journal: “Anthropic Refuses Pentagon’s Proposal to Loosen AI Guardrails”
John Reed and Andres Schipani for the Financial Times: “How Trump Is Pushing India to Hedge Its Geopolitical Bets”
CK Tan for Nikkei Asia: “Xi Urges Germany’s Merz to Cooperate on AI in Bid to Strengthen Ties”
Josh Xiao, Stephen Stapczynski, and Nectar Gan for Bloomberg: “China Hits Takaichi With Tougher Export Curbs on Japan Firms”
From the Archives
As Iran and the U.S. met for negotiations in Geneva this week, revisit our conversation on the Middle East from the 2025 Aspen Security Forum.
A Conversation on the Middle East
David Petraeus, Partner, Chairman of the Global Institute and Chairman of KKR Middle East; Former Director, U.S. Central Intelligence Agency
Kim Ghattas, Financial Times Contributing Editor; Author of Black Wave
Moderator: David Ignatius, The Washington Post
Book of the Week
Red Dawn Over China: How Communism Conquered a Quarter of Humanity
By Frank Dikötter
“Established in 1921 under the direct guidance of Moscow, for the best part of a decade the Communist Party left a trail of destruction, besieging towns and plundering the countryside. When the Communists managed to hold territory, they reduced the villagers to a state of servitude, undermining belief in their cause as well as the local economy. By 1936 they had the same popular appeal as an obscure religious sect. A brutal war of occupation by Japan allowed them to survive far behind enemy lines. After Soviet troops invaded Manchuria in 1945 and provided more money and munitions, the Communists at long last prevailed through a pitiless war of attrition, driven by an unflinching will to conquer at all costs.
In this riveting tale told with great narrative verve, Frank Dikötter reveals how thirteen delegates gathered in a dusty room in 1921 ended up raising the red flag over the Forbidden City in 1949, forever altering the course of history for a quarter of humanity and shaping the world as we know it today.”
Podcast of the Week
Thom Mason joined Daniel Poneman for the Nuclear Energy and National Security Coalition’s Atomically Speaking podcast: “A Conversation With Dr. Thom Mason: What Does the ‘Fourth Age’ of the Nuclear Landscape Have in Store?”
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.
