State Department Issues Worldwide Travel Alert
Eyder Peralta / NPR
The U.S. State Department has issued a worldwide travel alert because of an al-Qaida threat that is particularly significant in the Middle East and North Africa.

A Republican Case for Climate Action
William D. Ruckelhaus, Lee M Thomas, William K. Reilly, Christina Todd Whitman / The New York Times
EACH of us took turns over the past 43 years running the Environmental Protection Agency. We served Republican presidents, but we have a message that transcends political affiliation: the United States must move now on substantive steps to curb climate change, at home and internationally.

Fill Nonproliferation Post to Keep Americans Safe
Stephen A. Cheney, Norman Seip, and John Adams / Stars and Stripes
The authors discuss the need to fill vacant nonproliferation offices within the Department of State.

U.S. House Passes Iran Sanctions Bill to Slash Oil Exports
Timothy Gardner / Reuters
The House of Representatives easily passed a bill on Wednesday to tighten sanctions on Iran, showing a strong message to Tehran over its disputed nuclear program days before President-elect Hassan Rouhani is sworn in.

Big Oil Would Henceforth Like to be Known as Not-Really-Big-But-Still-Nicely-Profitable Oil
Steve LeVine / Quartz
Chevron has just joined the rest of Big Oil in reporting a miserable second quarter. And there do not seem to be consistently better days ahead. These gigantic energy companies face higher costs, trouble maintaining their size, and fierce competition from smaller, nimbler players.

John Kerry Pledges to End Pakistan Drone Strikes
BBC
US Secretary of State John Kerry has concluded a visit to Pakistan by pledging to end drone strikes against militants “very, very soon”.

Syria Conflict: Assad Says He is ‘Sure of Victory’
BBC
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said he is “sure of victory” over rebels fighting to topple him, in a message to the army.

Chinese Video Game Lets Players Seize Japan-Controlled Islands
Michael Lipin / VOA
A Chinese online game developer has released a military-backed video game that allows players to fight alongside Chinese troops in seizing disputed Japanese-controlled islands in the East China Sea.

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
Today, we have a new entrant into the academic debate about the link between climate change and conflict. This is a well-trodden path, but the comprehensiveness of this new paper seems to indicate a direct and clear link between interpersonal violence and spikes in temperature.

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.

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.

ASP in the News
Op-Ed from ASP Board Member Christine Todd Whitman Featured in NY Times
Christine Todd Whitman, an ASP Board Member and former Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President George W. Bush, contributed to a recent op-ed piece in the New York Times that proposed “A Republican Case for Climate 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.

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