This week, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro pleaded not guilty on narco-terrorism charges in a Manhattan courthouse following his arrest by the U.S. in Caracas, the U.S. Coast Guard seized a fifth oil tanker in the Caribbean, the White House said the U.S. is exploring options to acquire Greenland, and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
Read more below.
This Week’s Content Highlights
Features from Aspen Strategy Group Members
Nicholas Burns interviewed by Morgan Brennan for CNBC’s Closing Bell Overtime: “Fmr. Ambassador to China: Pres. Trump and China’s Xi Don’t Want to Rock the Boat With Venezuelan Oil”
Kay Bailey Hutchison interviewed for BBC World News on Ukraine negotiations
Bill Burns interviewed by Amy Mackinnon for the Financial Times: “Former CIA Director William Burns: ‘Imitating Autocrats Is Not a Winning Formula’”
Kurt Campbell interviewed by Chery Kang and Martin Soong for CNBC: “U.S. Action May Embolden China on Taiwan, but Lack of Confidence in Its Military Might Deter Beijing”
Tom Donilon and Theodore Bunzel for Foreign Affairs: “How to Secure the Sky: America Needs a Defense Against Drones”
Mike Froman interviewed by Mike Emanuel for Fox News: “Foreign Relations Expert Predicts Venezuela Regime Change Transition Will Not Be Quick”
Michael J. Green interviewed Ely Ratner for The Asia Chessboard podcast: “Ely Ratner – Does Asia Need a Collective Defense Pact?”
David Ignatius for The Washington Post: “Trump’s Greenland Fixation Curdles Into a Crisis”
Meghan O’Sullivan for the Belfer Center’s Quick Takes: “U.S. Intervention in Venezuela: What Happens Next?”
David Petraeus interviewed by Major Garrett for CBS News’ The Takeout: “Former CIA Director David Petraeus Says U.S. Has ‘Real Leverage’ Coming Out of Maduro’s Capture”
Jack Reed interviewed by Jake Tapper for CNN
David Rubenstein interviewed Ray Dalio for The David Rubenstein Show
Anne-Marie Slaughter for the Financial Times: “Trump’s Latin America Policy Is Rubio’s Revenge”
Jake Sullivan and Jon Finer for The New York Times: “The Danger of Trump’s Flamboyant Violence”
Post of the Week
Rising Leaders Program
Features from ASG Rising Leaders
Ian Platz (‘23) joined the Irregular Warfare Initiative as Chief Communications Officer
Geo Saba (‘22) interviewed by Nancy Scola for Inc.: “America’s Reindustrialization Boom Needs Workers. These Recruiters Are Headhunting Them”
Things to Know
Content Relevant to Aspen Security Forum Discussions
Andrey Biryukov for Bloomberg: “Saudi Arabia Claims UAE Helped Yemen Separatist Leader Flee”
Gavin Blackburn for Euronews: “Iranian Protests Escalate as Authorities Cut Internet and Crackdown Intensifies”
Jason Bordoff for Foreign Policy: “Why ‘Taking’ Venezuela’s Oil Hurts U.S. Energy Security”
Steven Borowiec for Nikkei Asia: “South Korean Leader Touts ‘New Era’ Partnership at Beijing Summit”
Kareem Chehayeb for AP News: “Lebanese Military Moves to New Phase of Disarming Non-State Groups Like Hezbollah”
Jon Emont for The Wall Street Journal: “China Deprives Japan of Rare-Earths Supply, Escalating Dispute”
France 24: “UK, France Strike Suspected IS Group Arms Site Near Syria’s Palmyra”
Steve Hendrix for The Washington Post: “Europe Draws Red Line on Greenland After a Year of Trying to Pacify Trump”
Shelby Holliday, Costas Paris, and Benoit Faucon for The Wall Street Journal: “U.S. Forces Seize Fifth Tanker in Campaign to Track Down Venezuelan Oil”
Jennifer Jett and Yuliya Talmazan for NBC News: “Russia Attacks Ukraine With New Oreshnik Ballistic Missile”
Preeti Jha for Semafor: “Tensions Grow Over Somaliland After Israeli FM Visit”
Le Monde: “Ukraine’s Western Allies Agree on Key Security Guarantees in Paris”
Ryan Mancini for The Hill: “Trump Speaks With Colombia’s Petro Days After Venezuela Strikes”
Attracta Mooney and Peter Foster for the Financial Times: “Donald Trump Orders Mass U.S. Pullout From International Organisations”
Wycliffe Muia for BBC News: “Central African Republic President Wins Third Term by Landslide”
Stephen Neukam for Axios: “Senate Votes to Curb Military Action in Venezuela in Rare Trump Rebuke”
David E. Sanger, Tyler Pager, Katie Rogers, and Zolan Kanno-Youngs for The New York Times: “Trump Says U.S. Oversight of Venezuela Could Last for Years”
Karl Sexton and Kieran Burke for DW: “EU Countries Greenlight Mercosur Free Trade Deal”
From the Archives
Revisit our recent conversation on American grand strategy from the 2025 Aspen Security Forum: DC Edition.
Great Power Competition and American Grand Strategy
General David Berger, USMC (Ret.), 38th Commandant, U.S. Marine Corps
Kori Schake, Senior Fellow and Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute
Kiron Skinner, Taube Family Chair of International Relations and Politics, School of Public Policy, Pepperdine University; Former Director of Policy Planning, U.S. Department of State
Moderator: Jim Sciutto, CNN
Book of the Week
Polar War: Submarines, Spies, and the Struggle for Power in a Melting Arctic
By Kenneth R. Rosen
“In Polar War, Kenneth R. Rosen takes readers on an extraordinary journey across the changing face of the far north. Through intimate portraits of scientists, soldiers, and Indigenous community leaders representing the interests of twenty-one countries across four continents, he witnesses firsthand how rising temperatures and growing tensions are reshaping life above and below the Arctic Circle….Drawing on hundreds of interviews and three years of reporting from the frontlines of climate change and great power competition, Rosen blends incisive analysis with the vivid immediacy of a travelogue. His deeply researched and personal accounts capture the diverse landscapes, people, and conflicted interests that define this complex northern region. The result is both an elegy for a vanishing landscape and an urgent warning about how the race for Arctic dominance could spark the next global conflict.”
Podcast of the Week
David E. Sanger, Tyler Pager, Katie Rogers, and Zolan Kanno-Youngs joined Michael Barbaro for The New York Times’ The Daily podcast: “An Interview With the President”
Read the full transcript of the interview with President Trump here.
