This week, Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire agreement, President Trump’s cabinet nominees began confirmation hearings, President Biden gave his farewell address, President of South Korea Yoon Suk Yeol was arrested, and President of Mozambique Daniel Chapo was sworn into office.
Read more below.
This Week’s Content Highlights
Features from Aspen Strategy Group Members
Anja Manuel interviewed by Joe Mathieu and Kailey Leinz for the Balance of Power podcast: “Hegseth Testifies on Capitol Hill”
Stephen Biegun elected Co-Vice Chair and Jendayi Frazer elected Secretary of the Board of the National Endowment for Democracy
Chris Brose quoted by Cade Metz and Eric Lipton for The New York Times: “A.I. Military Start-Up Anduril Plans $1 Billion Factory in Ohio”
Chris Coons interviewed by Kaitlan Collins for CNN
Elizabeth Economy and Melanie Hart for Foreign Affairs: “America’s China Strategy Is Incomplete”
Michael Froman for the Council on Foreign Relations: “The World Trump Will Inherit”
Susan B. Glasser for The New Yorker: “‘The Trump Effect’: On Deal-Making and Credit-Claiming in Trump 2.0”
Stephen J. Hadley interviewed Jake Sullivan and Michael Waltz at the U.S. Institute of Peace
Jane Harman quoted by Max Boot for The Washington Post: “The U.S. Is Unprepared for a Major War. Can Pete Hegseth Fix That?”
David Ignatius for The Washington Post: “After the Gaza Ceasefire, Getting Serious About Peace”
Jack Reed quoted by Mary Clare Jalonick and Lolita C. Baldor for the Associated Press: “Key Takeaways From Pete Hegseth’s Fiery Confirmation Hearing”
David E. Sanger for The New York Times: “Biden Tightens Cybersecurity Rules, Forcing Trump to Make a Choice”
Dan Sullivan for The Wall Street Journal: “Greenland Is Nice, But Alaska Is Better”
Tweet of the Week
Rising Leaders Program Highlights
Features from ASG Rising Leaders
Chandler Myers (‘24) assisted with a report commissioned by Michael R. Bloomberg: “Strategic Edge: A Blueprint for Breakthroughs in Defense Innovation”
Christina Powell (‘23) and Camilla Vogt (‘23) selected as CNAS Shawn Brimley Next Generation National Security Fellows
Things to Know
Content Relevant to Aspen Security Forum Discussions
Nicholas Burns interviewed by Nick Schifrin for PBS NewsHour
Daniel Byman for Foreign Policy: “One Question Looming Over Israel-Hamas Truce Deal—Why Now?”
William Horobin and Samy Adghirni for Bloomberg: “French Premier Bayrou Survives No-Confidence Vote”
Katharine Houreld and Michael Birnbaum for The Washington Post: “U.S. Puts Sanctions on Sudan’s Military Chief, Citing Civilian Suffering”
Erik Jones and Matthias Matthijs for Foreign Affairs: “The Biggest Threat to Europe”
Charles Mangwiro for Voice of America: “Mozambique President Sworn In Amid Tight Security, Protests”
John McLaughlin for The Cipher Brief: “The New Administration Meets the Intelligence Community: What Should We Expect?”
Anne Neuberger for Foreign Affairs: “Spy vs. AI”
Dan Poneman and Sherri Goodman co-chaired a report for the Commission on Nuclear Energy and American Leadership: “Nuclear Energy & American Leadership: A Blueprint for the Future”
Tim Ross for Politico: “Russia Strikes Kyiv as UK’s Starmer Arrives to Sign 100-Year Treaty with Zelenskyy”
Keir Starmer for the Financial Times: “Britain Doesn’t Need to Walk a U.S. or EU Path on AI”
Sam Winter-Levy for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: “With Its Latest Rule, the U.S. Tries to Govern AI’s Global Spread”
Dasl Yoon, Soobin Kim, Timothy W. Martin for The Wall Street Journal: “South Korea Arrests President on Second Attempt. It Took 1,000 Police.”
Nadine Yousif for BBC News: “Mark Carney Runs for Leader of Canada’s Liberal Party”
From the Archives
Revisit our conversation on foreign policy challenges for the second Trump administration from the 2024 Aspen Security Forum: DC Edition.
Foreign Policy Challenges for the Next Administration
Stephen Hadley, Founding Principal, Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel LLC; Former U.S. National Security Advisor
Jane Harman, Chair, Commission on the National Defense Strategy; Former Member of Congress
Keoki Jackson, Senior Vice President & General Manager, MITRE National Security
Susan Rice, Former U.S. National Security Advisor
Moderator: Susan Glasser, Staff Writer and Columnist, The New Yorker
Book of the Week
Leadership: In Turbulent Times
By Doris Kearns Goodwin
“Doris Kearns Goodwin draws upon the four presidents she has studied most closely—Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson (in civil rights)—to show how they recognized leadership qualities within themselves and were recognized as leaders by others. By looking back to their first entries into public life, we encounter them at a time when their paths were filled with confusion, fear, and hope.
Leadership tells the story of how they all collided with dramatic reversals that disrupted their lives and threatened to shatter forever their ambitions. Nonetheless, they all emerged fitted to confront the contours and dilemmas of their times. At their best, all four were guided by a sense of moral purpose. At moments of great challenge, they were able to summon their talents to enlarge the opportunities and lives of others. Does the leader make the times or do the times make the leader?”
Podcast of the Week
Sarang Shidore joins Eric Olander and Cobus van Staden for The China in Africa Podcast: “China and the Global South in the Trump 2.0 Era”
Join Our Team!
The Aspen Strategy Group is looking to hire a talented Program Coordinator with a strong passion for national security and foreign policy. Join our small, fast-paced team and contribute to the main pillars of our work, including the ASG Summer Workshop, the Aspen Security Forum, and the Rising Leaders Program. You will play a key role in coordinating high level convenings and supporting our team’s administrative operations.
Learn more about the role and apply here. Thank you for sharing this opportunity with your networks.
