This week, Israel attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities and killed top military officials, the U.S. and China announced a trade agreement, over 290 people died in an Air India plane crash, and tensions escalated surrounding anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles.
Read more below.
2025 Aspen Security Forum: Limited Public Passes Available
The Aspen Strategy Group will host the 2025 Aspen Security Forum in Aspen, CO from the evening of Tuesday, July 15 to midday Friday, July 18. Our flagship Forum will feature an array of decision-makers and thought leaders from Washington, DC and around the world. We have a very limited number of passes available for the public. If you are interested in attending in person, please submit a request to attend here.
This Week’s Content Highlights
Features from Aspen Strategy Group Members
Condoleezza Rice interviewed by Lara Trump for Fox News: “We Benefit From Foreign Students Coming for the ‘Right Reasons’”
Anja Manuel, Michelle Zatlyn, Wataru Mizunashi, Benedict Macon-Cooney, and moderator Mat Honan at the World Economic Forum Global Technology Retreat
Chris Coons quoted by Abigail Hauslohner for The Washington Post: “Trump’s Top General Contradicts His Assessment of Putin, L.A. Unrest”
Elizabeth Economy interviewed Michael McFaul for the China Considered podcast: “Axis, Rivalry, or Chaos? The U.S.-China-Russia Equation With Michael McFaul”
Peter Feaver and William Inboden in Lessons from the New Cold War: America Confronts the China Challenge (edited by Hal Brands): “Chapter 13: China, Domestic Politics, and America’s Global Role”
Jendayi E. Frazer, Mark F. Brzezinski, Cameron R. Hume, and James M. Lindsay at the Council on Foreign Relations: “Diplomacy in a Changing World: Challenges for Representing U.S. Interests”
Michael Froman interviewed by Jon Fortt for CNBC: “Many Countries Still in ‘Wait and See’ Mode When It Comes to U.S. Trade Deals”
Susan B. Glasser for The New Yorker: “Donald Trump’s Dictator Cosplay”
Michael J. Green for Foreign Policy: “America’s Asian Alliances Will Survive Trump”
Jane Harman for TIME: “Trump’s Parade Can’t Cover Up How He Made America Weaker”
David Ignatius interviewed by Willie Geist for MSNBC: “Israel Launches Major Attack on Iran, Striking Nuclear Sites and Killing Top Commanders”
Meghan L. O’Sullivan quoted by Keith Bradsher for The New York Times: “Oil Prices Surge and Stock Markets Stumble After Israel Attacks Iran”
Jack Reed quoted by Leo Shane III for the Navy Times: “Lawmakers Condemn Trump’s Use of Guard, Active Duty Troops in LA”
David Rubenstein quoted by Liz Hoffman for Semafor: “Can AI Bail the U.S. Out of Its Debt Hole?”
Jake Sullivan interviewed by Larry Jacobs at the University of Minnesota: “Jake Sullivan Reflects on U.S. Foreign Policy, Global Risks, and Democracy at Humphrey School Event”
Lawrence H. Summers quoted by Abha Bhattarai for The Washington Post: “GOP Bill Could Worsen Inflation and Lead to Financial Crisis, Economists Warn”
Post of the Week
Things to Know
Content Relevant to Aspen Security Forum Discussions
Koh Ewe and I-ting Chiang for BBC News: “Taiwan Jails China Captain for Undersea Cable Sabotage in Landmark Case”
Farnaz Fassihi, Aaron Boxerman, Ephrat Livni, and Euan Ward for The New York Times: “What to Know About Israel’s Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Program and Military Leaders”
Mike Gallagher for The Wall Street Journal: “Trump’s Big Opportunity in Japan”
Erich Grunewald and Tim Fist for the Center for a New American Security: “Countering AI Chip Smuggling Has Become a National Security Priority”
Fintan Hogan and Samuel Lovett for The Times: “The City of Angels Ignites”
Ramy Inocencio and Tucker Reals for CBS News: “Trump Says U.S. Trade Deal With China Is Done, After Tariff Talks in London Yield ‘Framework Deal’”
Sahal Qureshi, Karishma Mehrotra, and Supriya Kumar for The Washington Post: “More Than 240 Dead in India’s Deadliest Plane Crash in Decades”
Demetri Sevastopulo for the Financial Times: “Pentagon Launches Review of AUKUS Nuclear Submarine Deal”
Michael Singh for Foreign Affairs: “Why the Right Hates the National Security State”
Sasha Vakulina for Euronews: “Russia Attacks Kyiv Residential Areas and Odesa Maternity Hospital With Missiles and Drones”
Guillaume Vénétitay for Forbidden Stories: “Torture and Forced Disappearances: Inside Wagner’s Secret Prisons in Mali”
Dov S. Zakheim for The Hill: “The U.S. Should Join Its Allies in Sanctioning Smotrich and Ben-Gvir”
From the Archives
Revisit our conversation on critical minerals and national security from the 2023 Aspen Security Forum.
Between a Rock and a Hard Place: Critical Minerals and National Security
Heidi Heitkamp, Director, University of Chicago Institute of Politics; former U.S. Senator for North Dakota
Meghan L. O’Sullivan, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
Mike Pompeo, then Distinguished Fellow, Hudson Institute; 70th U.S. Secretary of State
Moderator: Misha Glenny, Journalist and Rector, Institute for Human Sciences, Vienna
Book of the Week
Breaking the Engagement: How China Won & Lost America
By David Shambaugh
“For over five decades following the 1972 rapprochement between the United States and China, the two countries seemed to be steadily building a sound relationship, even accounting for periodic setbacks like the Tiananmen Square massacre. The last decade, though, has seen a sharp increase in tensions and a complete reorientation of American policies toward China—from ‘engagement’ to ‘competition’…
Shambaugh attributes the recent sharp deterioration of relations to a combination of China’s actions and American expectations. Xi Jinping’s increasingly assertive foreign policy and domestic repression has directly challenged American interests. More deeply, he argues that the real underlying cause is America’s longstanding paternalistic approach to transform China into a liberal state and society which conforms with the U.S.-led global liberal order. When China has generally evolved in this direction—politically, economically, socially, intellectually, and internationally—it corresponds with American aspirations and the two could cooperate. But when Beijing pushes back against this transformative strategy—which Beijing sees as subversion—Americans become disillusioned and U.S. policymakers see China as a malign regime, which must be countered. By focusing on the role of perceptions and U.S. expectations in fueling the shift towards competition and rivalry in the last decade, Shambaugh provides a unique new perspective on this critical global relationship.”
Podcast of the Week
Kumar Garg joins Jordan Schneider on the ChinaTalk podcast: “Can Donors Save Science?”
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