This week, Hezbollah rejected the U.S.-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon as both sides continued to exchange strikes, Ukraine launched strikes in St. Petersburg following Russia’s attacks in Kyiv, and Trump-backed candidate Abelardo de la Espriella took the lead in the first round of Colombia’s presidential election.
Read more below.
This Week’s Content Highlights
Features from Aspen Strategy Group Members
Condoleezza Rice for The Wall Street Journal: “What the U.S. Has Accomplished in Iran”
Nicholas Burns interviewed by Michael Scarsciotti for Fidelity Institutional’s Insight & Outlook series: “U.S.–China Relations: Insights From Former U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns”
Anja Manuel and Oby Ezekwesili interviewed by Sanjay Puri for The Regulating AI Podcast: “The Global Majority Cannot Be Left Behind Again”
Kay Bailey Hutchison interviewed by Marc Lotter and Sharla McBride for Newsmax’s Wake Up America: “Proposed Iran Deal a ‘Good Beginning’”
Steve Biegun, Kuyoun Chung, Choi Jong Kun, Kathleen Stephens, and moderator David Sanger at the Asia Society Policy Institute: “The U.S.-South Korea Partnership in an Era of Strategic Competition”
Chris Brose quoted by Marcus Weisgerber for The Wall Street Journal: “Army ‘Jailbreaks’ Its Own Weapon Systems to Counter Drone Threats”
Mark T. Esper interviewed for CNBC’s Squawk on the Street: “Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper Says U.S.-Iran Deal Is Broken Down ‘For the Foreseeable Future’”
Jane Harman for The Hill: “Wrong Person at the Wrong Time: Bill Pulte and America’s Intelligence Gap”
David Rubenstein interviewed for The Business Times: “Private Equity Giant Carlyle Can Grow Bigger but Needs to Stay On Its Toes”
David E. Sanger for The New York Times: “High-Wire Negotiations With Iran? Trump Finds It ‘Very Boring.’”
Anne-Marie Slaughter interviewed by Leslie Vinjamuri for the Chicago Council on Global Affairs’ Deep Dish podcast: “Rise of Middle Powers: ‘A New Order Is Gradually Being Born’”
Jake Sullivan interviewed by Rosemary Barton for CBC: “Former U.S. National Security Adviser Feels ‘Deep Bilateral Friction’ Between Canada, U.S.”
Post of the Week
Young Leaders Spotlight
Features from ASG Rising Leaders and Former Fellows
Jessica Ji (‘26) quoted by Eoin Higgins for IT Brew: “Anthropic’s Glasswing Spreads Its Wings”
Felicia Schwartz (‘24) for POLITICO: “U.S. Isn’t Offering Upfront Sanctions Relief to Reopen Hormuz, Rubio Says”
Helen Toner (‘21) has been named Executive Director of Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology”
Things to Know
Content Relevant to Aspen Security Forum Discussions
Matthew Mpoke Bigg for The New York Times: “What to Know About Ethiopia’s Election”
The Economist: “Nvidia Wants to Supercharge Your Laptop”
Matthew Ferren and Vinh Nguyen for the Council on Foreign Relations: “Assessing Trump’s Executive Order on AI Oversight”
Kathy Hochul announced the membership of New York’s FutureWorks Commission, including ASG Member Emerita Zoë Baird
Megan Janetsky and Astrid Suárez for the AP: “Pro-Trump Candidate Pulls Ahead in Colombia Presidential Vote as Ruling Party Sows Doubt in Results”
Rikard Jozwiak for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: “Ukraine, Moldova to Start EU Accession Talks After Minority Rights Breakthrough”
Stephen Kalin for The Wall Street Journal: “Iran Ratchets Up Pressure on Trump With Kuwait Airport Attack”
Sam Knight for The New Yorker: “The World Cup According to Gianni Infantino”
Le Monde With AFP: “Ukrainian Drones Strike Saint Petersburg as Russian Economic Forum Opens”
Javier Milei for the Financial Times: “Argentina Invites AI to Free Itself”
Thomas Mukhwana and Basillioh Rukanga for BBC: “Two People Shot Dead Amid Kenya Protests Against U.S. Ebola Quarantine Centre Plan”
Brian Platt, Thomas Seal, and Josh Wingrove for Bloomberg: “Canada Makes New U.S. Trade Proposals, Warns of ‘Turbulence’”
Gerry Shih, Suzan Haidamous, and Lior Soroka for The Washington Post: “Hezbollah Denounces Israel-Lebanon Ceasefire Deal as a ‘Farce’”
Edward White and Malcolm Moore for the Financial Times: “Falling Chinese Oil Imports ‘Shield’ Global Market From Higher Prices”
From the Archives
Revisit our conversation on the European defense landscape from the 2025 Aspen Security Forum.
Tanks But No Tanks: The Future of European Defense
Baiba Braže, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Latvia
Wolfgang Schmidt, Former Federal Minister and Head of the Chancellery; Chairman, Board of Trustees, MSC Foundation
Thórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörd Gylfadóttir, Special Envoy of the Secretary General on the Situation of Children of Ukraine, Council of Europe; Former Minister for Foreign Affairs, Iceland
Julie Smith, President, Clarion Strategies; Former U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO
Moderator: Shashank Joshi, The Economist
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Book of the Week
Stolen Revolution: Betrayal and Hope in Modern Iran By Yeganeh Torbati and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin
“In 1979, a revolution in Iran swept aside a monarchy, fueled by the Iranian people’s dreams of social justice and political freedom. But in the years that followed, the movement’s leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, and his acolytes instead built a system that served their narrow faction and worsened beyond imagination the brutality and corruption that had existed under the previous government. In Stolen Revolution, award-winning journalists Yeganeh Torbati and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin tell the entwined stories of six Iranians who, together, have lived the arc of modern Iranian history in all its bitter twists and enduring hopes….
Today, Iran is caught between crisis and hope. In this vivid and unforgettable narrative, Stolen Revolution centers ordinary Iranians and their destiny, and conveys a gutting view of life in a modern authoritarian state.”
Podcast of the Week
Zack Cooper, Melanie Marlowe, and Christopher Preble for the Stimson Center’s Net Assessment podcast: “Mexico’s Fight Against the Cartels”
