U.S. Trade Suffers, Envoys Say, for Want of Jet Fare
Mark Landler / New York Times
For those seeking to dramatize the high cost of across-the-board budget cuts in Washington, the temptation, understandably, is to paint in bold strokes: an aircraft carrier pulled out of the Persian Gulf or air traffic control towers gone dark.
SkyTruth, the environment and the satellite revolution
Neely Tucker / Washington Post
About 430 miles above you, moving at 17,000 miles per hour, a polar-orbiting satellite is taking your photograph, and a geologist named John Amos is looking at you and cataloguing offenses.
U.S. Official Visits Senior Egypt Islamist in Jail
Hamza Hendawi / AP
A top U.S. diplomat held talks with a jailed senior leader of the Muslim Brotherhood on Monday as part of mediation efforts to end the standoff between Egypt’s military-backed government and protesters supporting ousted President Mohammed Morsi, Egyptian officials said.
State Dept: Posts in 19 Cities to Remain Closed
Alicia Caldwell / AP
U.S. diplomatic posts in 19 cities in the Mideast and Africa will remain closed for the rest of the week amid intercepted “chatter” about terror threats, which lawmakers briefed on the information likened to intelligence picked up before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Services Expansion Points to a Pickup in U.S. Growth: Economy
Victoria Stilwell / Bloomberg
Service industries in the U.S. expanded in July at the fastest pace in five months, complementing a rebound at the nation’s factories and showing the economy is gaining traction. The Institute for Supply Management’s non-manufacturing index increased to 56, exceeding all forecasts in a Bloomberg survey of economists, from a more than three-year low of 52.2 in June, a report from the Tempe, Arizona-based group showed today.
In Jordan, Comedy Masks Deepening Refugee Concern
Suha Philip Ma’ayeh / Middle East Real Time
“Where are the Arabs, where?. Where are the millions?,” is a funny song about Jordan’s changing demographics, but it also addresses a more sensitive issue regarding the country’s tradition of hospitality towards refugees and asylum seekers and the worry that such a flood of people over the years is making many Jordanians feel like a minority in their own country.
McGinn approved for Navy RE post
Richard Kessler / Recharge News
The US Senate has unanimously approved renewable energy advocate Dennis McGinn as the Navy’s assistant secretary for energy, installations and environment.
ASP Recent Publications
Fact Sheet- U.S.- EU Trade and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership
Justin Winikoff
The United States and European Union recently began negotiations on what would be, if completed, the largest trade agreement in world history. The TTIP intends to eliminate barriers to transatlantic trade, including tariffs, duties and burdensome regulations. This fact sheer provides a detailed history of U.S.- EU trade relations, and explains the goals, economic benefits and security imperatives of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
American Security Quarterly V2 Issue 3
Over the past quarter, ASP has continued to examine a host of issues and their implications for our national security. From American competitiveness to Nuclear Strategy to Public diplomacy, we have published a wide array of articles on what we feel are the most pressing matters in the security dialogue of our nation.
Fact Sheet- DoD Installation Energy
Andrew Holland, Nick Cunningham, Kaitlyn Huppmann, and William Joyce
Military installations are important for preparing, training and housing war fighters. These bases are the staging grounds for emergency response scenarios such as responding to natural disasters. They are therefore critical to national security. DoD is undertaking ambitious efforts to install renewable energy and energy storage at its military installations. This fact sheet details some of the military’s efforts to improve resiliency and redundancy on its bases through clean energy.
Fact Sheet- Yemen
Ollie Engebretson
Yemen is currently in a historic period of political transition following the 2011 revolution and the end of former President Saleh’s regime. At the mid-point of its National Dialogue process, designed to forge a unified solution to the various issues beleaguering the country, Yemen still faces many challenges to achieving political stability and economic growth. Here are some basic facts about what the U.S. is doing in Yemen, organized into three broad categories of relevance.
On Our Flashpoint Blog
Linking Climate Change and Conflict – New Report Stirs Old Debate
Andrew Holland
For national security planners and professionals, we don’t need a scientific consensus directly linking past changes in climate or temperature to violent conflict. When national security planners look at threats to our security, they know that you cannot act with certainty: once you have 100% certainty, it is too late to act. The truth is that so long as there’s a persuasive chance that climate change will cause conflict, prudent actions to mitigate that threat are in order.
Gauging the Possibility for Change in Iran’s Nuclear Stance
Chris Smith
Iranian President-Elect Hassan Rouhani, while running for Iran’s presidency, campaigned on pursuing a less antagonistic approach in the nuclear negotiations. After assuming his constitutional responsibilities, his main priority will be fixing the Iranian economy. Of course, he is well aware of the effects of the West’s sanctions, and previously led Iran’s nuclear negotiations from 2003 to 2005.
Public Diplomacy-You may not know it when you see it
Christian Mull
In thinking about public diplomacy, one usually thinks of radio broadcasts, exchange programs, television ads, newspaper prints, embassy events, internet videos and speaking tours. While these modes of public diplomacy are perhaps the most common, there are many other types of public diplomacy constantly taking place right under our noses though we may not realize it.
“Grand Bargain” Makes an Age-Old Jobs Argument for Competitiveness
Justin Winikoff
Earlier this week in a speech in Chattanooga, Tennessee, President Barack Obama unveiled his “grand bargain” on jobs in a series of speeches on stimulating the American economy and increasing employment. While promoted as a compromise on middle class job growth, the “grand bargain” addresses two key competitiveness issues facing the United States: corporate tax policy and infrastructure.
Tight Oil Gives West Leverage over Iran
Warren Dym
Chief among the geopolitical consequences of the U.S. tight oil boom is the greater leverage it gives Western powers over Iran. OECD nations and emerging markets can reduce their imports with greater certainty that the world market will remain loose.
Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy is Back
Christian Mull
After a nineteen month hiatus, the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy (ACPD) was reauthorized and signed into law.
Looking Back in History: The Public Diplomacy of Free France During WWII
Paul Rockower
De Gaulle and Free France’s use of public diplomacy to rally a down-yet-not-out France remains a stirring example of how a semi-official national movement can project legitimacy and rally support for its cause.
Event Recap – Yemen’s Political Transition and National Dialogue: Progress and Challenges
Ollie Engebretson
Ambassador Bodine paraphrased one of her Yemeni acquaintances in stating that by focusing on security concerns, Yemen will never move beyond those security concerns and address the core issues, like unemployment, that first brought Yemenis to the streets in 2011.
Justin Winikoff
This morning, the American Security Project hosted “The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership: Implications for Global Security and Western-Chinese Relations”, a discussion regarding the proposed American-European trade agreement and the effect it may have on China.
Exporting Public Diplomacy to Egypt
Christian Mull
What are the barriers to U.S. public diplomacy in Egypt?
ASP in the News
Op-ED from ASP Board Member Christine Todd Whitman Featured in NY Times
ASP Board Member Christine Todd Whitman contributed to a recent NY Times op-ed piece regarding the Republican case for climate change action.
ASP cited by the Climate Desk
The Climate Desk cited ASP recently in an article on the increasing frequency of superstorms in the future.
ASP CEO BGen Quoted in “Breaking Energy”
ASP’s CEO Brigadier General Stephen Cheney, USMC (Ret.) was quoted in an article in “Breaking Energy” about the connection between climate change and national security.
Adjunct Fellow Dan Grant Writes Op-Ed on TTIP for “The Hill”
ASP Adjunct Fellow Dan Grant recently published a blog for “The Hill” on the impact of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) on China.
