This week, the U.S. and Israeli military campaign against Iran entered its second week amid regional escalation and sustained retaliatory strikes from Tehran, China released its 15th Five-Year Plan at the National People’s Congress, President Donald Trump met with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the White House, and Prime Minister of Canada Mark Carney and Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi met in New Delhi.
Read more below.
This Week’s Content Highlights
Features from Aspen Strategy Group Members
Condoleezza Rice interviewed by Bret Baier for Fox News’ Special Report: “To Say Iran Is Not a Threat Is ‘Ahistorical’”
Nicholas Burns at the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: “Former Ambassador to China on U.S.-China Relations”
Anja Manuel interviewed by Julian Heissler for WirtschaftsWoche: “‘Regime Change Has Become More Likely’”
Kay Bailey Hutchison interviewed for BBC World News
Antony Blinken interviewed by David Gura for Bloomberg’s Big Take podcast: “Former Secretary of State on the Two Keys to Ending War in Iran”
Christian Brose quoted by Sakura Murakami and Alastair Gale for Bloomberg: “Iran War Shows Limits of High-end Air Defense, Anduril Exec Says”
Chris Coons quoted by Ali Vitali for MS NOW: “On Iran, Democrats Thread the Needle With a Single Word: ‘But’”
Mark Esper interviewed by David Faber for CNBC’s Squawk on the Street: “Former Defense Secretary Mark Esper Says U.S. Made the ‘Right Decision’ on Iran”
Michael Froman for the Council on Foreign Relations: “What’s Next for the War in Iran?”
Jane Harman for The Bulwark: “Congress Can Control Trump’s Iran War”
David Ignatius for The Washington Post: “The Dangerous Rise of Decapitation Warfare”
Dina Powell McCormick quoted by Brooke Singman and Emma Colton for Fox News: “Trump Brings Big Tech Executives to White House to Curb Power Costs for American Households Amid AI Boom”
Meghan O’Sullivan interviewed by Andrew Ross Sorkin for CNBC’s Squawk Box: “The Iranian Regime Was Constructed to Withstand the Loss of Top Leadership”
David Petraeus interviewed by Kaitlan Collins for CNN’s The Source
Penny Pritzker and Bryan Traubert at City Club Chicago: “Chicago Talent Challenge: Connecting Thousands of Chicagoans to Good Jobs”
Jack Reed interviewed by Dana Bash for CNN’s State of the Union: “‘I Don’t Think It’s Remotely Possible’: Sen. Jack Reed on Regime Change in Iran”
David Rubenstein interviewed by Charles Bobrinskoy at The Economic Club of Chicago
David E. Sanger for The New York Times: “Trump Says He Should Have Role in Choosing Iran’s Next Leader”
Anne-Marie Slaughter interviewed by Catherine Cullen for CBC’s The House podcast: “Why Carney and Poilievre Are Each Going Global”
Jake Sullivan interviewed by Willie Geist, David Ignatius, Jonathan Lemire, and Joe Scarborough for MS NOW’s Morning Joe: “‘There Was No Imminent Threat’: Fmr. Biden WH Official on U.S. Strikes Targeting Iran”
ASG Members Around Washington, DC
Aspen Strategy Group Member and former Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel B. Poneman, with the inaugural Daniel B. Poneman Chair for Nuclear Energy Policy Jennifer T. Gordon, Executive Vice President of the Atlantic Council Jenna Ben Yehuda, and ASG Director Niamh King at an Atlantic Council event honoring the naming of the Daniel B. Poneman Chair for Nuclear Energy Policy.
Post of the Week
Young Leaders Spotlight
Features from ASG Rising Leaders and Former Fellows
The Aspen Strategy Group was pleased to bring together members of our Rising Leaders Program for an alumni reception and discussion at the Danish Ambassador’s Residence with Ambassador of Denmark to the U.S. Jesper Møller Sørensen and Head of Greenland Representation Jacob Isbosethsen with opening remarks by ASG Co-Chair Ambassador R. Nicholas Burns. The wide-ranging conversation covered U.S.-Denmark relations, defense spending, the role of Greenland in Arctic security, and more.
Now in its sixth year, the Rising Leaders Program has a robust alumni network of over 180 young professionals.
María Fernanda Bozmoski (‘26) for the Atlantic Council: “One Month In, Can Honduras’ New President Put the Country on the Path to Lasting Economic Gains?”
Clara Kaluderovic (‘26) and David Petraeus for Foreign Policy: “The Drone Attrition Trap”
Sahil Shah (‘21) et al. for the European Leadership Network: “Network Reflections: The Iran War – What Role Should Europe Be Playing?”
Helen Toner (‘21) interviewed by Matt Miller for Bloomberg’s Open Interest: “OpenAI Sweeps In to Take Pentagon Deal After Rival Anthropic Was Rejected”
Things to Know
Content Relevant to Aspen Security Forum Discussions
Alex Berry for DW: “Trump and Merz Discuss Iran, Tariffs, and Ukraine”
Josh Boak and Matthew Daly for AP News: “Trump Says Deal On Data Centers Will Lower Electricity Prices As Tech Companies Vow to Cover Costs”
Luis Ferré-Sadurní, Eric Schmitt, and José María León Cabrera for The New York Times: “Why Ecuador Invited the U.S. Military to Help With Its Drug Gangs”
Ilya Gridneff and Andres Schipani for the Financial Times: “Mark Carney and Narendra Modi Target Canada-India Trade Deal By Year-End”
Chloé Hoorman for Le Monde: “France’s Nuclear Deterrence Takes Major Step Toward Europe”
Bilal Hussain for Bloomberg: “Pakistan Army Chief Links Peace to Afghanistan Ending Terror”
Daniel Kiss and Elvan Kivilcim for The Wall Street Journal: “How the Iran Conflict Is Widening, in Maps”
Emery Makumeno, Alfred Lasteck, and Wycliffe Muia for BBC News: “U.S. Sanctions Rwanda’s Military and Top Commanders Over Fighting in DR Congo”
Noah Robertson, Ellen Nakashima, and Warren P. Strobel for The Washington Post: “Russia Is Providing Iran Intelligence to Target U.S. Forces, Officials Say”
Rafael Salido for Euronews: “‘No to War’: Sánchez Reaffirms Spain’s Stance Against Trump’s Iran Offensive”
Wataru Suzuki for Nikkei Asia: “China Lays Out Tech Spending Boost, Soft Growth Goals in Five-Year Plan”
From the Archives
Revisit our fireside chat with the National Security Advisor of the Kingdom of Bahrain from the 2024 Aspen Security Forum.
Middle East Fireside Chat with Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa
Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, National Security Advisor, Kingdom of Bahrain
Moderator: David Ignatius, The Washington Post
Book of the Week
The Coming Storm: Power, Conflict, and Warnings From History
By Odd Arne Westad
“The outbreak of global war among today’s Great Powers seems increasingly likely. Such war, as Odd Arne Westad powerfully argues in this urgent book, would be of a magnitude and devastation never before seen. To understand the threats that face us in this complex new terrain, we must look to the lessons of the past, and especially the late nineteenth and early twentieth century—a time when Great Powers clashed and sought regional dominance, nationalism and populism were on the rise, and many felt that globalization had failed them; a time when tariffs increased, immigration and terrorism were among the biggest issues of the day, and a growing number of people blamed the citizens of other countries for their problems. A time, in other words, that carries eerie parallels with our own.”
Around the Institute
This week, the Solidarity in Action initiative published policy recommendations to support peace and democracy in the Western Balkans emanating from their meeting in Tirana last fall. The initiative was launched in 2025 by Aspen Institute Germany in cooperation with the Aspen Strategy Group, Aspen Institute Romania, and Aspen Institute Italia. It brought together 20 emerging civil society leaders from the Western Balkans, the United States, and the European Union to develop policy recommendations addressing the region’s most pressing political and socio-economic challenges. Through a series of virtual discussions and a working meeting in Tirana, participants produced a set of action-oriented proposals intended for policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic.
The 2025 Global Changemakers Workshop, cohosted by the Aspen Institute International Partners and Aspen Institute Colombia, convened young leaders from 14 countries to explore one of today’s defining challenges: migration in an age of movement. Tasked with building a nonpartisan policy agenda for the next decade, participants call for a shift from crisis management to anticipation and design—maximizing the benefits of migration while safeguarding human rights and national interests.
Podcast of the Week
Thomas Small interviewed Tom Tugendhat and Wassim Nasr for Message Heard’s Conflicted podcast: “The Iran War: British Uncertainty vs. French Resolve”
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