ASP: In case you missed it …. 1 August 2013

 

Californians surveyed on climate change, fracking, hybrid cars
Paul Rogers / Mercury News
People in other states may be chanting “drill, baby, drill” — but not Californians. A new poll shows that a majority of Golden State residents oppose both new offshore oil drilling and expanding hydraulic fracturing.

US and Pakistan to resume key high-level security talks
BBC
The agreement was made after Mr Kerry met senior Pakistani politicians, including new PM Nawaz Sharif. The talks were stalled after 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed in US air strikes on a Pakistani post on the Afghan border in 2011.

Hagel Gives Dire Assessment of Choices He Expects Cuts to Force on the Pentagon
Thom Shanker / New York Times
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel warned on Wednesday that if across-the-board budget cuts were not lifted, the United States would have to reduce its global security objectives by trading away the size of its armed forces or its edge in technology as the Pentagon seeks to remain solvent.

Karzai backers seek delay in Afghan vote
Kevin Sieff / Washington Post
With a major election just eight months away, power brokers across southern Afghanistan are pressing President Hamid Karzai not to leave office on schedule in 2014, a decision that could complicate the U.S. withdrawal.

Pentagon propaganda websites under fire
Tom Vanden / USAToday
Pentagon propaganda websites aimed at countering terrorism in foreign countries would be shut down under a Senate measure sponsored by the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, according to his office.

Terror Detainees on Agenda as Obama Meets Yemeni Leader
Margaret Talev / Bloomberg
President Barack Obama meets today with Yemeni President Abdurabu Mansur Hadi, whose economically strapped nation remains an al Qaeda terrorist base, as the U.S. considers sending detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, back to the Arabian nation.

U.S. raises military assistance to the Philippines
Reuters
Washington will raise its military assistance to the Philippines by about two-thirds, Manila’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday, helping its oldest security ally in Asia defend vast maritime borders against what it sees as Chinese assertiveness.

Ford to launch F-150 that can run on natural gas
Zain Shauk / FuelFix
Ford Motor Co. will offer a natural gas option for its 2014 F-150 pickup truck models, turning drivers of America’s most popular vehicle into potential consumers of the low-cost fuel.

Hybrid Solar Power Works Even When It’s Not Sunny
Kevin Bullis / Technology Review
Combining the strengths of two different solar technologies could yield “hybrid solar power” that works even at night or when it’s cloudy.

Sending Message to Iran, House Approves Tougher Sanctions
Rick Gladstone / New York Times
The House overwhelmingly approved legislation on Wednesday that would impose the toughest sanctions yet on Iran, calling the measure a critical step to cripple the country’s disputed nuclear program and brushing aside calls for restraint by critics who said the Iranian president-elect should first be given a chance to negotiate.

Yemen: Reorienting Public Spending Would Create Jobs, Fight Poverty
IMF
In an interview, IMF mission chief Khaled Sakr discussed the challenges Yemen faces in cultivating this nascent recovery in fighting unemployment and poverty.

Pentagon, Lawmakers Deal Blows to Navy Fast-Strike Missile Effort
Elaine Grossman / Global Security Newswire
Senate appropriators on Tuesday moved to cancel a U.S. Navy program to develop a medium-range missile for launch by fast-attack submarines.

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
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.

Event Review- The Transatlantic trade and Investment Partnership: Implications for Global Security and Western-Chinese Relations
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
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.

About the American Security Project: The American Security Project is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy and research organization dedicated to fostering knowledge and understanding of a range of national security issues, promoting debate about the appropriate use of American power, and cultivating strategic responses to 21st century challenges.

For more information, visit www.americansecurityproject.org. info@americansecurityproject.org