This week, the last remaining arms control agreement between Russia and the U.S. (New START) expired; the U.S., EU, and Japan announced they will coordinate on action plans for critical mineral supply chain resilience; Russia and Ukraine exchanged prisoners following U.S.-brokered peace talks in Abu Dhabi; the U.S. and Iran held nuclear talks in Oman; and the U.S. and India agreed to a trade deal.
Read more below.
This Week’s Content Highlights
Features from Aspen Strategy Group Members
Condoleezza Rice interviewed by Martha MacCallum for Fox News: “Condoleezza Rice Praises Trump’s Fed Pick Kevin Warsh as ‘Intellectually Curious’”
Anja Manuel spoke at the World Governments Summit in the UAE, joined Keir Simmons for NBC News, and was interviewed by Gianluca Di Donfrancesco for Il Sole
Kay Bailey Hutchison interviewed by Walter Isaacson for PBS’ Amanpour and Company: “Trump’s Fmr. NATO Ambassador on Trump, Putin, and Nuclear Arms Control”
Stephen Biegun at the American Academy in Berlin: “The Day After the War in Ukraine”
Chris Coons interviewed by Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach at the McCourt School of Public Policy’s Whittington Lecture: “U.S. Senator Chris Coons Urges ‘Opportunity, Security and Justice’ at Whittington Lecture”
Elizabeth Economy interviewed Lingling Wei for the Hoover Institution’s China Considered podcast: “Beyond the Headlines in China With Lingling Wei”
Michael Froman for the Council on Foreign Relations: “U.S., Allies Aim to Break China’s Critical Minerals Dominance”
Jane Harman for The Hill: “Return the Homeland Security Department to Its Bipartisan Roots”
David Ignatius for The Washington Post: “Tulsi Gabbard Is Showing Why Her Job Shouldn’t Exist”
Meghan O’Sullivan for the Harvard Kennedy School: “National Security Expert Meghan O’Sullivan on ‘Middle Powers’”
David Petraeus interviewed by Mike Spivey for the Status Check With Spivey podcast: “Leadership With General David H. Petraeus”
David Rubenstein interviewed Mike Pence for The David Rubenstein Show
David E. Sanger and William J. Broad for The New York Times: “Nuclear Arms Control Era Comes to End Amid Global Rush for New Weapons”
Anne-Marie Slaughter for Project Syndicate: “Building a Middle-Power World Order”
Dan Sullivan quoted by Charles Creitz for Fox News: “Russia, China Squeeze U.S. Arctic Defense Zone as Trump Eyes Greenland”
Jake Sullivan interviewed by Steve Inskeep for NPR’s Morning Edition: “Former National Security Adviser on the Nuclear Talks Between the U.S. and Iran”
Post of the Week
Young Leaders Spotlight
Features from ASG Rising Leaders and Former Fellows
Rachel Brooks-Bitterli (‘24) and Yanique Campbell (‘22) selected as International Strategy Forum Fellows
Liana Fix (‘23) for Foreign Affairs: “Europe’s Next Hegemon”
Akanksha Ray (‘25) quoted by Michael Brady for CX Dive: “What CX Leaders Need to Consider as the AI Regulatory Landscape Evolves”
Helen Toner (‘21) et al. for The New York Times: “Where Is A.I. Taking Us?”
Things to Know
Content Relevant to Aspen Security Forum Discussions
Emma Bubola for The New York Times: “Argentina and U.S. Sign Sweeping Trade Deal as Alliance Deepens”
Thompson Chau for Nikkei Asia: “In Beijing, Taiwan’s KMT Echoes Xi Jinping’s ‘National Rejuvenation’ Call”
Benoit Faucon for The Wall Street Journal: “Iran Refuses to End Nuclear Enrichment in Talks With U.S.”
France24: “Right-Winger Laura Fernandez Elected Costa Rica President, Promising El Salvador-Style Crackdown”
Kamila Hrabchuk and Emma Burrows for AP News: “U.S. and Russia Agree to Reestablish Military Dialogue After Ukraine Talks”
Sam Jones, Peggy Hollinger, and Ian Bott for the Financial Times: “Russian Spy Spacecraft Have Intercepted Europe’s Key Satellites, Officials Believe”
Yolande Knell and Hafsa Khalil for BBC News: “Israel Reopens Gaza’s Key Rafah Border Crossing With Egypt”
Kat Lay for The Guardian: “Aid Cuts Could Cause 22M Avoidable Deaths by 2030, Study Finds”
Ruben Nyanguila for Semafor: “DR Congo Strikes New Minerals Deal With U.S.”
Marta Pacheco for Euronews: “EU, U.S., and Japan to Cooperate on Critical Raw Materials Supply Chains”
Barak Ravid, Dave Lawler, Marc Caputo, and Colin Demarest for Axios: “Scoop: U.S. and Russia Agree to Observe New START Nuclear Pact After Expiration”
Raquel Coronell Uribe for NBC News: “Trump and Colombia’s Gustavo Petro Strike Positive Tone After a Year of Sniping at Each Other”
Pranshu Verma for The Washington Post: “U.S. and India Seal Trade Deal After Months of Diplomatic Tensions”
Foster Wong, Josh Xiao, Courtney Subramanian, and Annmarie Hordern for Bloomberg: “Trump, Xi Discuss Taiwan and Trade Ahead of Planned Summit”
From the Archives
Revisit our conversation on Indo-Pacific security from the 2025 Aspen Security Forum.
Charting a Course in the Indo-Pacific
Nicholas Burns, Co-Chair, Aspen Strategy Group; Former Ambassador of the United States to China; Roy and Barbara Goodman Family Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Relations, Harvard Kennedy School
Kevin Rudd, Ambassador of Australia to the United States; Former Prime Minister of Australia
Michael J. Green, Professor and CEO, United States Studies Centre; Former Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs and Senior Director for Asian Affairs, National Security Council
Moderator: Demetri Sevastopulo, Financial Times
Book of the Week
The Doom Loop: Why the World Economic Order Is Spiraling Into Disorder
By Eswar S. Prasad
“In The Doom Loop, economist Eswar Prasad argues that the very forces that we long believed could stabilize the world order are fueling its destabilization. Rather than promoting shared prosperity, globalization has instead deepened economic inequality, stoked political backlash, and prompted escalating trade wars…. Prasad argues that we are caught in a destructive feedback loop between economics, domestic politics, and geopolitics. The Doom Loop offers a clear-eyed and bracing account of a world spiraling into disorder and makes it clear that old solutions cannot pull us out—we need radically new solutions to solve the world’s problems.”
Podcast of the Week
Eyck Freymann and Harry Halem joined Sheena Chestnut Greitens and Ryan Vest for the Texas National Security Review’s Horns of a Dilemma podcast: “Ensuring U.S. Military Readiness in the Indo-Pacific”
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