The Weekly Leaf
This week, debate over the future of U.S. foreign policy began after the Democratic Party secured majorities in both the House and Senate, Russia struck a humanitarian aid center in Ukraine, the U.S. conducted defensive strikes on Iran’s Qeshm Island, and President Trump said that the U.S. would cut military aid to Israel by year’s end.
Read more below.
This Week’s Content Highlights
Features from Aspen Strategy Group Members
Anja Manuel, Douglas Rand, Nii-Quartelai Quartey, and Rik Mehta interviewed by Arjun Samar Mahendran and Samiksha Srivastava for NDTV World: “What Are the Key Issues for Voters in U.S. Midterm 2026?”
Kay Bailey Hutchison interviewed by Wilfred Frost about the U.S. midterm elections for Sky News
William Burns quoted by David Ignatius for The Washington Post: “America’s Rejection of Trump and the GOP Was Broad and Deep”
Chris Coons interviewed by Joe Mathieu and Kailey Leinz for Bloomberg TV: “Democrats’ Top Priority Is Lowering Costs”
Elizabeth Economy interviewed Isaac Kardon for the Hoover Institution’s China Considered podcast: “China, the U.S., and the Contest for the Indo-Pacific”
Mark Esper interviewed by Sandra Smith for Fox News’ America Reports: “Former Defense Secretary Warns Against Abrupt End to Iran Conflict”
Michael Froman interviewed by Morgan Brennan for CNBC’s Morning Call: “Foreign Policy Issues Are Very Much on the Agenda”
Dina Powell McCormick and moderator Emma Tucker at WSJ Tech: “Meta’s Vision for the Future”
Daniel Poneman interviewed Dan Brouillette for the Nuclear Energy and National Security Coalition’s Atomically Speaking podcast: “From Welder to Secretary of Energy: A Conversation With Dan Brouillette”
Penny Pritzker and Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson interviewed Chris Kempczinski for Semafor’s The CEO Signal podcast: “How McDonald’s CEO Is Rethinking What Made the Company Successful”
David M. Rubenstein for the Substack In Pursuit: “Jimmy Carter”
David E. Sanger for The New York Times: “Political Losses Deepen the Stakes as Trump Contemplates Renewed Iran Attack”
Jake Sullivan interviewed by Hansong Li for the WorldViews podcast: “In Dialogue With Jake Sullivan, Former U.S. National Security Advisor: Where, Now, Is the North Star?”
Registration Open | Aspen Security Forum: DC Edition
Please join us for an afternoon of conversations on the most pressing national security and foreign policy challenges of our time. The Forum will feature an array of decision-makers and thought leaders from Washington, DC and around the world. A light lunch will be included in programming, followed by an evening cocktail reception.
If you are interested in attending, apply at the link below.
Post of the Week
Features from ASG Rising Leaders and Fellows
Liana Fix (‘23) published her new book: “Germany Rearmed: The Return of War and the End of Illusions”
Michael Manansala (‘25) started a new position as Commercial and Business Affairs Officer – Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the U.S. Department of State
Keome Rowe (‘23) contributed to the German Marshall Fund’s Shaping the Future of the Indo-Pacific collection: “Fraud as a Security Threat”
Things to Know
Content Relevant to Aspen Security Forum Discussions
Atlantic Council: “Experts React: Democrats Just Swept the U.S. Midterms. Here’s What It Means for the World.”
Bill Curry, Mercedes Stephenson, and Stephanie Levitz for The Globe and Mail: “Carney’s Second Budget to Focus On Affordability, Sovereignty”
Euronews: “‘Too Early’ to Say if Europe Flight Bomb Threats Linked, EU Transport Chief Says”
Peter D. Feaver and Heidi Urben for Foreign Affairs: “The New Congress Can Repair Civil-Military Relations”
France 24: “France Hit by Fresh Nationwide Strikes as Workers March for ‘Dignified Wage’”
Niniek Karmini for The Sydney Morning Herald: “Indonesia’s Military Deploys Thousands of Troops to Jakarta After Generals’ Arrest”
Aamer Madhani, Michelle L. Price, Samy Magdy, and Cara Anna for the AP: “U.S. Has Conducted Defensive Strikes on Iranian Targets in the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Official Says”
Monica Mark for the Financial Times: “U.S. Moves to Strip South Africa and Rwanda of Duty-Free Trade Access”
Alba Morgade for BBC: “Fake Nuclear Warnings Issued After Ukrainian and Russian Air Alert Apps Hacked”
Siobhán O’Grady and Liubov Sholudko for The New York Times: “Strike On Ukraine Humanitarian Hub Is Feared to Be Among War’s Deadliest”
Sella Oneko for DW: “Thousands Flee Ethiopia for Kenya as Regional Conflict Rages”
Gerry Shih and Michael Birnbaum for The Washington Post: “Trump to Stop $4 Billion in Annual Funding for Israeli Arms Purchases”
Dasl Yoon for The Wall Street Journal: “North Korea, on Busiest Missile-Testing Spree in Years, Rebuffs Trump Diplomacy”
From the Archives
Revisit our conversation on modern day political polarization with a look back at our founding documents, civil-military relations, and more from the 2026 Aspen Security Forum.
The American Example: 250 Years On
Karl Rove, Senior Advisor & Deputy Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush
Jane Harman, Former Member, U.S. Congress
Kori Schake, Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute
Bryan Fenton, 13th Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command
Moderator: Edward Luce, Financial Times
Around the Institute
The Aspen Cyber Summit is the nation’s premier annual technology and cybersecurity policy gathering, bringing together the top voices from government, industry, and civil society to create a safer world, online and off. As threats move faster than ever, from complex nation-state operations to the rapid integration of AI in our daily lives, we’re moving beyond simply identifying risks to driving actionable, cross-sector solutions.
The Summit will take place in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, November 18, 2026, at Capital Turnaround. Aspen Digital is offering a 50% comped code “CYBERFRIENDS” to friends of the Aspen Strategy Group. Register to secure your spot today!
Book of the Week
Bringing Order to Anarchy: Governing the World to Come
By Charles A. Kupchan
“The stable and open international order erected on America’s watch is unraveling. Democracy is losing ground to autocracy; globalized markets are fragmenting; and the era of perpetual peace foreseen at the close of the Cold War has given way to great-power rivalry. This fracture of the international system comes just as many of our greatest challenges, such as climate change, the threat of pandemics, and rapidly changing technologies, require collective action.
Charles A. Kupchan diagnoses the sources of global disarray and offers a handbook for building a new order fit for the emerging multipolar world. Drawing on the Concert of Europe, which preserved great-power peace after the Napoleonic Wars, Kupchan proposes a global system of concerts—high-level steering groups that cut across ideological dividing lines—to anchor a regionalized, polycentric world. The mission of order building must begin with the revival of American democracy and the nation’s steady leadership abroad. Only when democracies can outperform illiberal and autocratic alternatives, Kupchan says, will they be able to guide the world through the coming transition and ultimately bend the arc of history back toward freedom.”
Podcast of the Week
Cameron Abadi and Adam Tooze for Foreign Policy’s Ones and Tooze podcast: “U.S. and Israeli Elections”
2027 Rising Leaders Program | Now Accepting Applications
We are pleased to share that applications for the Rising Leaders Class of 2027 are now open! Throughout the year-long program, Rising Leaders learn from key decision-makers—and most importantly, each other—under the aegis of the Aspen Strategy Group. Apply now or share this opportunity with your networks.
