Center for Strategic Communication

Obama cancels U.S.-Egyptian military exercises

David Jackson / USA Today

President Obama said Thursday his government “strongly condemns” violence in Egypt, and as a result is canceling U.S.-Egyptian military exercises scheduled for next month.

UN team to investigate alleged chemical attacks in Syria

BBC

The UN says weapons inspectors are to depart shortly for Syria to investigate the alleged use of chemical weapons.

Brotherhood plans Cairo march after crackdown

Aljazeera

Supporters of Egypt’s deposed president Mohamed Morsi plan to march in the capital, Cairo, and reiterated that they are committed to peaceful struggle one day after hundreds of their supporters were killed in a bloody crackdown.

The East is grey

Economist

China is the world’s worst polluter but largest investor in green energy. Its rise will have as big an impact on the environment as on the world economy or politics.

US Airways-American: Preserving ‘Competition’ by Destroying Jobs

Douglas Holtz-Eakin and Sam Batkins / Yahoo

Tuesday the Obama Administration issued a surprise ninth inning initiative to scuttle the proposed merger between American Airlines and US Airways. It was unfortunate timing, contained weak economic foundation, and likely cemented thousands of layoffs.

Euro Zone Returns to Growth, but Malaise Lingers

Marcus Walker and Charles Forelle / Wall Street Journal

The euro zone’s marathon recession has ended, spurred by solid economic performances in both Germany and France. But the modest recovery won’t go very far in fixing the bloc’s deeper problems and threatens to stoke a sense of complacency in European capitals.

Texas Oil and Gas Numbers Fly Off the Charts

David Blackmon / Forbes

The growing scale of the oil and natural gas boom in Texas continues to stun most observers.

ASP Recent Publications

Fact Sheet — Iranian Ballistic Missiles

Chris Smith and Matthew Wallin

As the international community remains concerned about Iran’s nuclear program, policy makers should also consider the parallel Iran’s evolution of Iran’s other offensive capabilities. This includes a robust ballistic missile program that could potentially include delivery systems for a nuclear weapon.

Fact Sheet – America’s Infrastructure: Challenges and Opportunities

Ben Secrist

For decades the American infrastructure has been allowed to decay. Poor quality of wireless broadband access, deteriorating roads, unsafe bridges, and power interruptions are all indicators of a lack of investment in infrastructure.

Fact Sheet – American Competitiveness and National Security

Wes Reichart

The security of our nation inherently depends upon the strength of our ability to compete in the global market place while simultaneously raising living standards at home. “American Competitiveness” thus includes a wide array of interconnected issues, linking economic prosperity and national security imperatives.

Perspective- U.S. Public Diplomacy towards Iran

Livia Pontes Fialho and Matthew Wallin

This report explores several types of public c diplomacy aimed towards Iran, and looks in to some of the challenges and potential of these programs as part of an overall strategy for addressing U.S. national security interests.

On Our Flashpoint Blog

Loss of Louisiana Wetlands Increases Vulnerability to Climate Change

Nicholas Cunningham

Louisiana has experience its fair share of severe storms, but the loss of wetlands means the Gulf Coast is losing one of its key insurance policies against climate change.

Bay of Bengal- A Hotspot for Climate Insecurity

Andrew Holland

On the Bay of Bengal’s coast these problems of a changing climate combine with already existing social problems like religious strife, poverty, political uncertainty, high population density and rapid urbanization to create a very dangerous cocktail of already security threats.

ASP in the News

ASP’s Andrew Holland cited in Washington Post

Brad Plummer of the Washington Post’s WonkBlog wrote an interesting article on the ongoing academic research on the link between climate change and violence, and linked to a blog post written by ASP’s Andrew Holland.

Paul Rockower in the Huffington Post: The Public Diplomacy of Free France During WWII

ASP Adjunct Fellow Paul Rockower’s piece on Free France’s public diplomacy during WWII has subsequently appeared in the Huffington Post.

BGen Stephen Cheney publishes op-ed in Stars and Strips

ASP’s CEO wrote a piece in stars and Strips urging policy makers to fill high ranking diplomatic positions at the State department.