This week, President Trump traveled to Beijing to meet with President Xi, EU defense ministers met in Brussels, Israeli and Lebanese leaders began a second round of peace talks, and the Department of War canceled the deployment of about 4,000 troops to Poland.
Read more below.
Rising Leaders Alumni Event at the Mexican Cultural Institute
The Aspen Strategy Group was pleased to bring together members of our Rising Leaders Program for an alumni reception and discussion at the Mexican Cultural Institute hosted by Ambassador of Mexico to the U.S. Esteban Moctezuma Barragán. The wide-ranging conversation covered the U.S.-Mexico bilateral relationship, the upcoming USMCA review, international efforts to counter drug trafficking, the World Cup, and more.
This Week’s Content Highlights
Features from Aspen Strategy Group Members
Nicholas Burns interviewed by Audie Cornish for CNN: “Former U.S. Ambassador to China: Xi ‘Fired a Shot Across Our Bow’ on Taiwan”
Anja Manuel quoted by Lingling Wei for The Wall Street Journal: “U.S. and China Pursue Guardrails to Stop AI Rivalry From Spiraling Into Crisis”
Anja Manuel quoted by Brad Ryan and Emilie Gramenz for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation: “Iran War Boosts Beijing Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit in China, Experts Say”
Anja Manuel, Laura Barrón-López, and Julian Gewirtz interviewed by Ana Cabrera for MS NOW
Kay Bailey Hutchison interviewed for Newsmax
Kurt Campbell for Foreign Affairs: “The Stakes of Trump vs. Xi”
Chris Coons interviewed by Kate Bolduan for CNN: “Sen. Coons on Trump-Xi Talks: ‘Trump Ran on Peace Through Strength, That Requires Actual Strength’”
Elizabeth Economy interviewed by Jonathan Ferro and Lisa Abramowicz for Bloomberg Surveillance
Michael Froman interviewed by Michael Santoli and Melissa Lee for CNBC’s Closing Bell Overtime: “Council on Foreign Relations President Talks Takeaways From Trump-Xi Meeting”
David Ignatius for The Washington Post: “Harvard Has a Defense-Tech Incubator. Pete Hegseth Should Visit It.”
Dina Powell McCormick and Andrew Bosworth interviewed by Tammy Haddad for the Washington AI Network podcast
Penny Pritzker and Bryan Traubert for the Chicago Tribune: “Chicago 2050: Penny Pritzker and Bryan Traubert on the Importance of Chicagoans’ Civic Life”
Jack Reed interviewed by Shannon Bream for Fox News: “Democrat Rep Says Trump Is ‘Terribly Weakened’ Ahead of Xi Meeting”
David E. Sanger for The New York Times: “Trump Was Flattering, Xi Was Resolute. The Difference Spoke Volumes.”
Jake Sullivan interviewed by Joe Scarborough and Willie Geist for MS NOW’s Morning Joe: “Trump Bringing CEO’s to Beijing to Help China, Not Americans”
Post of the Week
Young Leaders Spotlight
Features from ASG Rising Leaders and Former Fellows
María Fernanda Bozmoski (‘26) for the Atlantic Council’s Dispatches: “Costa Rica’s Paradox of Political Continuity”
Emily Lawrence is transitioning from her role as Aspen Strategy Group Fellow to join MITRE
Kelly Piazza (‘23), Tahina Montoya, Kelly Atkinson, and Michael Pollard for the Yale Journal of International Affairs: “Population, Power, and Security: Demographic Pressures Shaping U.S.-China Strategic Competition”
Things to Know
Content Relevant to Aspen Security Forum Discussions
Andrew England and Henry Foy for the Financial Times: “Saudi Arabia Floats Middle Eastern Non-Aggression Pact With Iran”
France 24: “Israeli Strikes Wound Dozens in Lebanon as Talks in U.S. Enter Second Day”
Julian Gewirtz for The New York Times: “Xi Is Planning for China’s Final Victory Over the U.S.”
Anselm Gibbs for AP News: “Bahamas Prime Minister Davis Declares Victory for Party in Snap Election”
Paul Gribben and Tom McArthur for BBC News: “CIA Chief Visits Cuba as Energy Crisis Worsens”
Le Monde: “Kremlin Says No ‘Specifics’ on Ending Ukraine War Despite Putin’s Words”
Hannah Miao and Yoko Kubota for The Wall Street Journal: “Five Takeaways From the Trump-Xi Summit”
Rael Ombuor and Rachel Chason for The Washington Post: “Macron’s Charm Offensive in Kenya Meets Backlash”
Ramon Royandoyan and Ella Hermonio for Nikkei Asia: “ICC Confirms Arrest Warrant Issued for Duterte Ally Over Drug War”
Angela Skujins for Euronews: “Late Warnings and a Minister’s Fall: Latvia’s Air-Defence Failures Revealed”
Padma Rao Sundarji for The Times: “Narendra Modi Walks a Diplomatic Tightrope as Iran War Strains Alliances”
Roxana Tiron for Bloomberg: “Pentagon Halts Plans to Deploy 4,000 Army Troops to Poland”
From the Archives
Revisit our conversation on U.S.-China relations from the 2025 Aspen Security Forum: DC Edition.
Steve Biegun, Vice Chairman, National Endowment for Democracy; Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State
Anja Manuel, Executive Director, Aspen Strategy Group and Aspen Security Forum
Mike Pillsbury, Senior Advisor, The Heritage Foundation
Moderator: Steve Clemons, The National Interest
Book of the Week
This Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis & Clark
By Craig Fehrman
“This Vast Enterprise offers a novel take on the expedition: a gripping narrative that draws on lost documents, stunning analysis, and Native perspectives. Craig Fehrman spent five years visiting more than thirty archives, interviewing more than a hundred sources, and collecting oral history passed down over centuries. He came to see that the success of Lewis and Clark depended on much more than just Lewis and Clark. We all know Sacajawea, and some of us know York, the Black man Clark enslaved. But here we meet John Ordway, a working-class soldier who fought grizzlies and towed the captains’ hulking barge. We hear from Wolf Calf, a Blackfoot teenager who watched his friend die in a battle with Lewis and his men….Fehrman balances the story’s adventure with the humanity of its protagonists. The result is a thrilling reminder that even the most familiar moments in history can still surprise us.”
Around the Institute
Join the Aspen Economic Strategy Group for a conversation with Josh Tyrangiel, staff writer for The Atlantic and author of AI for Good: How Real People Are Using Artificial Intelligence to Fix Things That Matter.
In AI for Good, Tyrangiel explores how, in practice, AI can actually improve our lives and tells the stories of everyday citizens at the forefront of this new “AI entrepreneurship.” Following teachers, doctors, and bureaucrats who often stumbled into AI as a means to solve specific, tangible problems, he highlights lessons for everyone who’s interested in using AI to build a better world today.
Tyrangiel will join AESG Director Melissa S. Kearney at The Aspen Institute for a discussion of the book’s themes and the implications for U.S. economic policy.
Podcast of the Week
Jarrod Agen joined Sophia Cai for the POLITICO Energy podcast: “A Trump Adviser on Venezuela Oil Deals, the Iran Conflict, and $5 Gas Fears”
