This week, President Trump terminated trade negotiations with Canada, the U.S. launched strikes on alleged drug boats in the Pacific expanding its campaign beyond the Caribbean, the Chinese Communist Party held its fourth plenum in Beijing, and President Trump imposed new sanctions on Russian oil companies.
Read more below.
Applications Open | Rising Leaders Program
We are pleased to share that applications for the Rising Leaders Class of 2026 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.
Out Next Week: New ASG Publication
Meeting China Anew: Rethinking Assumptions and Redefining U.S.-China Strategy in a Shifting Global Landscape
On October 29, the Aspen Strategy Group will release our annual collection of papers emanating from the 2025 ASG Summer Workshop on the evolving U.S.-China relationship. Authored by our members and invited experts, this compilation questions underlying assumptions about the relationship, examining areas of competition such as technology, trade and economics, military power, and more.
Contributors include Graham Allison, Zack Cooper, Elizabeth Economy, Jane Harman, Kay Bailey Hutchison, David Ignatius, Leland Miller, Anne Neuberger, David Petraeus, Lawrence Summers, Kent Walker, and Arne Westad, with an introduction by ASG Co-Chairs Condoleezza Rice and Nicholas Burns and ASG Executive Director Anja Manuel.
Look for the collection to be released next week!
This Week’s Content Highlights
Features from Aspen Strategy Group Members
Condoleezza Rice interviewed by Guy Benson for The Guy Benson Show: “Condoleezza Rice Breaks Down ‘Robust’ Israel Ceasefire Deal, Future of the Russia-Ukraine Conflict”
Nicholas Burns interviewed by Melanie Hart at the Atlantic Council: “What to Expect at APEC and Beyond: A Conversation With Nicholas Burns”
Kay Bailey Hutchison and Phil Gramm for the Houston Chronicle: “We Served Texas in the Senate. Now We’re Backing John Cornyn”
Chris Brose interviewed by Billy Mitchell and Meagan Metzger for DefenseScoop’s CTRL + ALT + DEFENSE podcast: “Chris Brose: How Anduril Is Paving Its Path as the Next Defense Unicorn”
Kurt Campbell quoted by Lingling Wei for The Wall Street Journal: “China’s New Strategy for Trump: Punch Hard, Concede Little”
Chris Coons interviewed by Trace Gallagher for Fox News: “It’s STRIKING the House Hasn’t Come to Work in Weeks: Dem Senator”
Elizabeth Economy interviewed by Tom Keene and Paul Sweeney for the Bloomberg Surveillance podcast: “Gold Rout Deepens”
Mark T. Esper for Fox News: “America’s Allies Are Finally Paying Their Fair Share for Defense. Now They Must Pay Their Bills.”
Michael J. Green for Foreign Affairs: “Asia’s Trump Problem: The Region Lacks Leaders Who Connect With the U.S. President”
David Ignatius for The Washington Post: “Trump Is Ignoring the Real Threat Matrix”
Dina Powell McCormick spoke on a panel at the Meridian Summit: “Geoeconomic Confrontations: Sovereignty, Strategy, and Global Cooperation”
Meghan L. O’Sullivan and Jason Bordoff for Foreign Affairs: “The Return of the Energy Weapon: An Old Tool Creating New Dangers”
David Petraeus at The Cipher Brief’s 2025 Threat Conference
Jack Reed quoted by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali for Reuters: “In Surprise Move, Head of U.S. Military for Latin America to Step Down”
David M. Rubenstein interviewed John Grisham for C-SPAN’s America’s Book Club podcast: “From the Library of Congress: John Grisham on Storytelling and Justice”
Lawrence H. Summers and Jake Sullivan at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Industrial Policy and Economic Security Conference: “Conclusions and Policy Implications”
Robert Zoellick at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Industrial Policy and Economic Security Conference: “Industrial Policy? Lessons From the Past, Insights for Today”
Post of the Week
Rising Leaders Program
Features from ASG Rising Leaders
Geo Saba (‘22) and Mike Moriarty co-founded Arsenal Pulse
Things to Know
Content Relevant to Aspen Security Forum Discussions
Juan Forero and Kejal Vyas for The Wall Street Journal: “Colombia’s Ex-Guerrilla President Is Relishing a Fight With Trump”
Alex Horton, Dan Lamothe, and Noah Robertson for The Washington Post: “U.S. Kills Five on Alleged Drug Boats in the Pacific, Widening Trump’s Campaign”
Callum Keown for Barron’s: “Trump Ends Trade Talks With Canada Over Anti-Tariffs Ad”
Roula Khalaf and Owen Walker for the Financial Times: “Singapore’s Prime Minister Warns of ‘Messy’ Transition to Post-American Order”
Spencer Kimball for CNBC News: “U.S. and Australia Sign Critical Minerals Agreement With $8.5 Billion Project Pipeline”
Aaron-Matthew Lariosa for USNI News: “Trump Inks Deal for American and Finnish Yards to Deliver First Arctic Security Cutters by 2028”
Harsh V. Pant and Shivam Shekhawat for Foreign Policy: “India Warily Welcomes the Taliban”
Karim Sadjadpour for Foreign Affairs: “The Autumn of the Ayatollahs: What Kind of Change Is Coming to Iran?”
Lara Seligman, Michael R. Gordon, and Alexander Ward for The Wall Street Journal: “U.S. Lifts Key Restrictions on Ukraine’s Use of European Long-Range Missiles”
CK Tan for Nikkei Asia: “U.S. and China to Start High-Stakes Trade Talks in Malaysia”
Tuki Tatsumi for The Diplomat: “Takaichi Is Officially Prime Minister. What Now for Japan’s ‘Iron Lady’?”
Ione Wells for BBC News: “Bolivia Elects Centrist Rodrigo Paz, Ending Decades of Socialist Rule”
Eric Wong for The New York Times: “U.S. Diplomats Will Work With Troops to Maintain Gaza Cease-Fire, Rubio Says”
Skylar Woodhouse for Bloomberg: “Trump Will Boost Russia Sanctions After Putting Off Putin Summit”
From the Archives
Revisit our conversation on the strategic importance of the Western Hemisphere from the 2024 Aspen Security Forum.
General Laura Richardson, Then Commander, U.S. Southern Command
Moderator: Dafna Linzer, Executive Vice President and Editorial Director, U.S. News and World Report
Book of the Week
The Party’s Interests Come First:
The Life of Xi Zhongxun, Father of Xi Jinping
By Joseph Torigian
“China’s leader, Xi Jinping, is one of the most powerful individuals in the world—and one of the least understood. Much can be learned, however, about both Xi Jinping and the nature of the party he leads from the memory and legacy of his father, the revolutionary Xi Zhongxun (1913–2002)….The Party’s Interests Come First is the first biography of Xi Zhongxun written in English. This biography is at once a sweeping story of the Chinese revolution and the first several decades of the People’s Republic of China and a deeply personal story about making sense of one’s own identity within a larger political context. Drawing on an array of new documents, interviews, diaries, and periodicals, Joseph Torigian vividly tells the life story of Xi Zhongxun, a man who spent his entire life struggling to balance his own feelings with the Party’s demands. Through the eyes of Xi Jinping’s father, Torigian reveals the extraordinary organizational, ideological, and coercive power of the CCP—and the terrible cost in human suffering that comes with it.”
Around the Aspen Institute
This week, Aspen Ideas: Economy took place in Newark, NJ.
Revisit Daleep Singh’s conversation: How Did We Get Here?
Podcast of the Week
Robert Lightfoot joined Guy Taylor and Ben Wolfgang for The Washington Times’ Threat Status podcast: “Why Space Is Now a Crucial Warfighting Domain”
Join Our Team!
The Aspen Strategy Group is seeking a Scowcroft-Nye Fellow with a strong interest in foreign policy and national security. Join our small, fast-paced, collaborative team and contribute to the main pillars of our work, including the Aspen Security Forum, the Rising Leaders Program, and Track II Dialogues.
Thank you for sharing this opportunity with your networks.
