Key Reads
Turkey Says It is Prepared to Join U.S. in ‘Comprehensive Struggle’ Against Islamic State
Ayla Albayrak / The Wall Street Journal
Turkey said Wednesday it is preparing to join the U.S. in a more substantive military effort against Islamic State as the U.S. stepped up armed drone flights over northwestern Syria.
Greece’s Tsipras says loan deal with lenders close
Michele Kambas / Reuters
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Wednesday that Greece was close to concluding a deal with lenders on a multi-billion-euro bailout, which he said would end doubts over its place in the euro zone.
American Competitiveness
Virtu Starts Trading in China as Regulator Cracks Down on Algos
John Detrixhe and Sam Mamudi / Bloomberg
Virtu Financial Inc., one of the world’s biggest high-speed trading firms, has started trading in its 35th country: China.
Greek Banks Losing Half in Value Send Stocks Down for Third Day
Sofia Horta e Costa / The Washington Post
Greek banks extended a rout that has wiped out more than half their value this week, sending the nation’s stocks lower for a third day.
National Security & Strategy
Al Qaeda branch calls for new attacks against United States
Dugald McConnell and Brian Todd / CNN
Al Qaeda’s branch in Yemen, which officials have called the terror group’s most dangerous affiliate, has issued two threatening new communiques praising recent lone-wolf style attacks against the West and calling for more of them.
Asymmetric Operations
Russia says no common approach yet with U.S. on fighting the Islamic State
David Brunnstrom and Gabriela Baczynska / Reuters
Russia and the United States have not been able to agree on a common approach to fighting Islamic State, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday, after his second meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in recent days.
Syrian Islamist group says had been in talks with Iran
Reuters / The Jerusalem Post
Syrian Islamic insurgent group Ahrar al-Sham said on Wednesday it had been in talks with an Iranian delegation regarding the Syrian city of Zabadani but that the discussions had been halted.
Climate Security
Speed of glacier retreat at worldwide ‘historically unprecedented,’ says report
Tim Radford / The Guardian
The world’s glaciers are in retreat. The great tongues of ice high in the Himalayas, the Andes, the Alps and the Rockies are going back uphill at ever greater speeds, according to new research.
Energy Security
Sarah Berger / International Business Times
If President Obama has his way, a growing number of states will be using sunshine for more than just a healthy dose of Vitamin D. From the East Room of the White House Monday, Obama laid out his ambitious plan for Americans to employ solar energy to power their homes, and energy experts predict they will, largely due to increasing affordability.
Oil Prices Fall to Multi-Month Lows
Nicole Friedman / The Wall Street Journal
Oil prices fell near multi-month lows Wednesday after weekly inventory data showed a larger-than-expected drop in U.S. crude supplies but a small increase in production.
How the growth of wind and solar let EPA toughen up its carbon rules
Chris Mooney / The Washington Post
The Obama administration’s new Clean Power Plan, released Monday, is being heralded as a “game-changer.” In fact, a better description is that it’s trying to cement changes already occurring in how we get electricity, and in particular, the stunning recent boom in solar energy — as well as in wind.
Nuclear Security
Obama Begins Campaign in Congress for Iran Nuclear Deal
Julie Hirschfeld Davis / The New York Times
President Obama is rolling out a campaign of private entreaties and public advocacy over the next several weeks to build support in Congress for the nuclear deal with Iran, an effort to counter a well-financed onslaught from critics who have promised to use a month-long congressional recess to pressure lawmakers to oppose the accord.
Obama warns of dangers to Israel if Iran deal blocked
Jeffrey Heller / Reuters
President Barack Obama told U.S. Jewish leaders it was likely rockets would fall on Tel Aviv if a nuclear deal with Iran was blocked and military action ensued, one of them said on Wednesday.
On Our Flashpoint Blog
Dante Disparte on the Puerto Rico Default
Clark Derrington
On Tuesday, August 4th Business Council for American Security Chairperson Dante Disparte spoke to the BBC World Business Report about the latest development in the Puerto Rican debt crisis. Puerto Rico missed a $58 million bond payment on Monday, sending the island territory into default for the first time. In his interview, Disparte mentioned several of the issues contributing to Puerto Rico’s debt troubles.
A State of Emergency: Tunisia’s New Anti-terror Law and Wall
Riza Kumar
On July 31st, Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi extended the nation’s state of emergency for another two months. With two large-scale terror attacks against foreign nationals since March, President Essebsi and the legislative body have taken a firmer role against terrorist threats. Along with placing the nation under a state of emergency, the government has recently passed an anti-terror law and proposed establishing an “anti-terror” wall to tackle insurgent forces.
The Weekly Fusion: A Look at Current Advancements in Fusion Energy
William Furlow
ASP’s weekly look at what’s new, and what everyone is talking about on fusion energy
Panel Recap: ACCOUNTdown to 2017
Riza Kumar
On Tuesday, the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) hosted the event ACCOUNTdown to 2017: Strengthening a Bipartisan Legacy of Modernizing Foreign Assistance, with key remarks given by Representative Ted Poe, The Honorable Richard G. Lugar and MFAN’s Co-Chair, Carolyn Miles. The primary dialogue centered on how aid donor countries and their partners could reform and necessitate international standards in order to guarantee aid effectiveness.
ASP Senior Officers Statement on Climate Change
American Security Project
Today, retired senior officers from across the services, all members of ASP’s Consensus for American Security, issued the following statement calling for action on climate change.
ASP Recently Published
Perspective—Energy and Geopolitics in the Eastern Mediterranean
American Security Project
Since 2009, there have been a succession of substantial natural gas finds in the Levantine Basin, under the Mediterranean Sea between Israel and Cyprus. How to regulate, tax, and export the gas continues to be controversial in Israeli politics. However, the strategic benefits of using energy resources to more closely tie Israel with its long-hostile neighbors are too compelling to ignore. This report analyzes the risks and opportunities involved in such an endeavor.
Perspective: Potential Areas of Cooperation Between the U.S. and Cuba
American Security Project
Latin America and the Caribbean are critical regions for U.S. security, but the lack of open communication between the U.S. and Cuba weakens America’s ability to operate in these areas. Open dialogue with Cuba will help the U.S. maintain security, and could also bring potential economic opportunities. Understanding that the isolation of Cuba has not proven to be an effective policy, this paper examines a variety of possibilities for cooperation between the United States and Cuba.
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