Center for Strategic Communication

Obama Encourages Russia to Open Talks with Ukraine

Nedra Pickler / Associated Press

President Barack Obama on Thursday encouraged Russia to open talks with the new government coming into power in Ukraine or face continuing costs imposed by the world’s leading economies if its provocations continue.

 

Congress to press administration on Iran nuclear deal

Al-Monitor

Congressional action on Iran is heating up again as the July 20 deadline for a final nuclear deal between Iran and world powers fast approaches.

 

‘No apologies’ on Bergdahl release, Obama says

Katie Zezima and Zachary Goldfarb

“We saw that we had an opportunity and we seized it,” the president said during a press conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron.

 

A ‘decompression’ process for Bowe Bergdahl before he heads home

Anne Gearan / Washington Post

Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the longest-serving­ American prisoner of war since Vietnam, is undergoing a staged “decompression” and reintroduction to the outside world that is akin to the slow ascent of a deep-sea diver, according to U.S. officials.

 

Witnesses: Boko Haram Militants Slaughter Hundreds

Haruna Umar / Associated Press

Boko Haram militants dressed as soldiers slaughtered at least 200 civilians in three villages in northeastern Nigeria and the military failed to intervene even though it was warned that an attack was imminent, witnesses said on Thursday.

 

Yemen says 500 al Qaeda militants, 40 soldiers killed in campaign

Reuters

Five hundred al Qaeda militants and 40 soldiers have been killed since the military launched an offensive against the group in April, Yemeni army spokesman, Colonel Saeed al-Faquih, told a news conference on Thursday.

 

China sentences nine to death for terrorism offences in Xinjiang

Guardian

Chinese authorities handed down the death penalty to nine people, sentenced a further 72 to lesser sentences and made 29 new arrests in a huge crackdown in the far west following deadly attacks blamed on Muslim extremists, state media and officials said on Thursday.

 

Brazil’s Homeless Workers Hold Peaceful March On World Cup Arena

Reese Ewing and Nacho Doce / Reuters

Thousands of homeless workers on Wednesday marched peacefully on Brazil’s Arena Corinthians stadium, which is to host the opening game of the soccer World Cup next week, pressing their cause under the spotlight of the global sporting event.

 

German nuclear waste may be headed to South Carolina site

Harriet McLeod / Reuters

The U.S. Department of Energy said on Wednesday it will study the environmental risk of importing spent nuclear fuel from Germany that contains highly enriched uranium, a move believed to be the first for the United States.

 

Quantum teleportation is just the latest mind-blowing innovation made possible by breakthroughs in subatomic physics

Dominic Basulto / Washington Post

Researchers in the Netherlands have just demonstrated that the quantum teleportation of information is now possible. For now, researchers are only quantum teleporting information a distance of ten feet, but conceivably, it means that larger objects can be transported even longer distances.

 

On Our Flashpoint Blog

Egypt Sweating

Jeffrey Lloyd

When I lived in the northern city of Alexandria, Egypt in the summer of 2010, blackouts were an annoying fact of life. Living in a cramped apartment on the seventh floor without air-conditioning was hard enough, but when the fan shut off due to the failing electrical grid, there was no escape. Luckily for me I only endured such heat and unpredictable electricity for six weeks, but my Egyptian colleagues were not as fortunate.

 

GMACCC Report Details World Security Threats Posed by Climate Change

On June 5th, 2014, the Global Military Advisory Council on Climate Change (GMACCC) released a summary of the key findings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) and its implications for defense. The GMACCC report found that climate change poses an increasing threat to world security.

 

Whitman discusses GOP, Climate Change

Kendall Strong

Christine Todd Whitman, former New Jersey governor and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator under President George W. Bush, speaks on changing the GOP’s approach to climate change.

 

Russian Propaganda Permeates International Borders

Thomas Campbell

While the U.S. government maintains that Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the current situation in Ukraine clearly “violate the Ukrainian constitution and international law,” an extensive propaganda campaign facilitated by the Kremlin appears to be influencing a large portion of global public opinion.

 

Military Engagement on Climate Strengthens Ties in Asia

Andrew Holland

Last weekend, senior leaders from across Asia and the Pacific gathered in Singapore for the IISS Shangri-la Security Dialogue. It looks like there was some fireworks, according to my  old boss, Nigel Inkster, who said “The gloves came off.”

 

U.S. – Iran Relations: Past, Present, and Future

Theresa Shaffer

Yesterday the Atlantic Council South Asia Center held an event featuring Mr. Seyyed Hossein Mousavian, former Iranian diplomat and author, and Mr. John Marks, President and Founder of Search for Common Ground, a conflict prevention and conflict resolution NGO.

 

A Dearth in Seafarers Could Impact National Security

Jeffrey Lloyd

The shipping industry is the backbone of the world’s economic system, making up more than 90 percent of global trade. “Without shipping, intercontinental trade, the bulk transport of raw materials and the import/export of affordable food and manufactured goods would simply not be possible.”

 

Wallin and Willard in The Diplomat: Asking the Right Questions About U.S. International Broadcasting

ASP Fellow Matthew Wallin and Adjunct Fellow Jed Willard recently penned an op-ed for The Diplomaton the pending legislation regarding America’s international broadcasting.

 

Statement on the Egyptian Election

BGen Stephen A. Cheney (USMC (Ret.)

On behalf of the American Security Project, I would like to congratulate the Egyptian people on democratically electing Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to the office of the President.

 

Upcoming Events

 

Listening in Public Diplomacy: The 2014 ASDA’A Burson Marsteller Arab Youth Survey

June 10 @ 12:30 – 1:30PM

Join us at ASP on June 10, 2014 as Jay Leveton presents the findings of the 2014 ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller Arab Youth Survey and what this means for the Middle East.

 

SAN ANTONIO EVENT – Climate Change: Risks for National Security

June 10 @ 7:00 – 9:00PM

Join us June 10, 2014 at 7:00pm for a discussion at the University Presbyterian Church in San Antonio, Texas. In 2014-2015, the American Security Project (ASP) is undertaking a grassroots effort to build a consensus among Americans around the country from left to right, and especially among the non-political, that climate change is not simply a low-priority ‘green’ issue: but instead it is a pressing national security threat.

 

LAS VEGAS EVENT – Climate Change: Risks for National Security

June 11 @ 5:30 – 8:00PM

Join us June 11, 2014 at 5:30pm for a discussion at the Spanish Trail Country Club in Las Vegas, Texas. In 2014-2015, the American Security Project (ASP) is undertaking a grassroots effort to build a consensus among Americans around the country from left to right, and especially among the non-political, that climate change is not simply a low-priority ‘green’ issue: but instead it is a pressing national security threat.

 

Lasting Impact: A Call to Business and Education

June 12 @ 6:30 – 9:30PM

Join the HBS Club on June 12, 2014 at the Embassy of France as they discuss new research on improving the educational system of the United States.

The post What We Are Reading… June 05, 2014 appeared first on American Security Project.