Center for Strategic Communication

Russian Parliament Will Back Crimea Split From Ukraine

Paul Sonne / Wall Street Journal

Russia’s upper house of parliament will support Crimea in its bid to join Russia and award the Black Sea peninsula the full powers of any other Russian region, the speaker of Russia’s upper house said Friday, the highest-level confirmation yet that Crimea could soon become part of Russia.

 

China opposes Ukraine sanctions

Zhu Ningzhu / Xinhau.net

China on Friday voiced opposition to sanctions and called for a political solution to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine’s southern Crimea autonomous republic.

 

Countdown to Egypt’s presidential election to start next week

Gamal Essam El-Din / Ahram Online

The law regulating the presidential election is expected to be issued next week after a lengthy process of amendment.

 

Economy adds 175,000 jobs in February

Ylan Mui / Washington Post

The U.S. economy added a solid 175,000 jobs in February, despite harsh winter weather that many analysts expected would curtail hiring, according to government data released Friday morning.

 

U.S. trade deficit steady in January as exports bounce back

Chicago Tribune

The U.S. trade deficit was little changed in January as a rebound in exports matched an increase in imports.

 

Turkey PM Erdogan threatens to ban Facebook and YouTube

BBC News

Turkey’s PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his government could ban Facebook and YouTube, arguing that opponents are using social media to attack him.

 

Iran says nuclear talks with powers ‘substantive and useful’

Reuters

A senior Iranian official said on Friday that expert-level talks between Iran and six world powers on Tehran’s nuclear program had been “substantive and useful”.

 

Enbridge Seeks to Expand Oil Flow Without Keystone Review

Jim Snyder and Rebecca Penty / Bloomberg News

A Canadian company may have found a way to ship more oil across the U.S. border without becoming enmeshed in the red tape that’s tied up the proposed Keystone XL pipeline — by relying on a permit it got four decades ago.

 

Lasers, Rail Guns and the Future of the U.S. Navy

Armed with Science

The Navy is about to take a big step for military-kind; this summer they will add the first ship-mounted laser to their fleet.

 

ASP Recent Publications

 

ASP Briefing Note: The Ukraine Crisis and the Geopolitics of Energy

Andrew Holland

A briefing note on the Ukraine Crisis and the Geopolitics of Energy – click to find out the facts and way forward the United States could take.

 

Mapping the Conflict in Aleppo, Syria

American Security Project

Over the course of four months American Security Project supported Caerus Associates and First Mile Geo in what may be the highest fidelity, time series analysis of the ongoing human tragedy unfolding inside of Aleppo, Syria

 

Fact Sheet — Executive Authority in US Trade Policy

Brendan Connell

There has been an increasing discussion regarding the possibility of Congress granting the US presidency “fast track” authority in free trade agreements. This report gives the facts.

 

America’s Energy Choices – 2014

American Security Project

Three years after ASP first released “America’s Energy Choices” in 2011, the U.S. remains stuck in a political stalemate over energy. Even so, the energy choices made years or even decades ago by politicians, businesses, and consumers have led to a revolution in how the U.S. produces energy. The reality of change in America’s energy system is far different from the stagnation of the political debate.

 

On Our Flashpoint Blog

 

New START is A Good Thing, Then and Now

Nathan Daniels

Earlier this week, Russia’s Strategic Rocket Forces carried out a test-fire of an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM). However, U.S. officials have made remarks that the launch was pre-planned, viewed as “non-threatening”, and was not connected with what is going on in Crimea, Ukraine.

 

Climate Change: Threat Multiplier

Nathan Alvarado-Castle

Over the last decade, Leon Fuerth, former National Security Advisor to Vice President Al Gore, has been advocating for a radical shift in governance in a world of accelerating change and complex challenges – most notably in the context of Climate Change.

 

The U.S. Does Not Have As Much Leverage Over Russia’s Energy As You Think

Andrew Holland

I have seen a number of commentators over the last few days say that the American shale gas revolution means that the U.S. could simply announce new LNG exports and that would undercut Russian gas.

 

Secretary Kerry Follows the Military’s Lead on Climate Change

Consensus for American Security

Secretary of State John Kerry recently gave a speech in Jakarta, Indonesia, where he compared climate change to other transnational security threats such as “terrorism, epidemics, poverty, [and] the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.”  But the U.S. military was already there.

 

QDR – the national security challenge of climate change

Paul Hamill

Today, the Department of Defense released the much anticipated Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR). As the Pentagon notes, the “QDR is a legislatively-mandated review of Department of Defense strategy and priorities.

 

Europe Should Embargo Imports of Russian Natural Gas

Andrew Holland

The situation in the Ukraine is getting out of control. To put pressure on Russia, the Europeans should cease buying natural gas through the Nord Stream.

 

NERC Geomagnetic Disturbance Events (GMD) Reliability Standards: Comments Due Soon

Andrew Charles Wills

With over 200,000 miles of transmission lines spanning from coast-to-coast, purveyors of the North American power grid, from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to the North American Reliability Corporation (NERC) and all the utilities and energy entities in between, must stay abreast of potential threats to the viability and reliability of consistent energy.

 

Are We Underestimating the Benefits of US Trade?

Brendan Connell

Paul Krugman’s recent column in the NY Times called the economic effects of TPP overstated, saying that failed TPP negotiations would be “no big deal”. But should we be restricting the utility of US trade within the bounds of just pure economics?

 

ASP in the News

 

ASP Congratulates Rose Gottemoller on Her Confirmation as Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security

Undersecretary Gottemoeller is a superb public servant and an experienced diplomat.  She has an astute understanding of today’s security problems and knows how to resolve them.

 

ASP’s Pittsburg Event on The Allegheny Front

American Security Project’s Brig. General Stephen Cheney, CEO, was quoted in a recent article in the Allegheny Front.

 

ASP’s Andrew Holland in The Allegheny Front

American Security Project’s Andrew Holland, Senior Fellow for Energy and Climate, was quoted in a recent article in the Allegheny Front.

 

ASP’s Andrew Holland in Mother Jones

American Security Project’s Andrew Holland, Senior Fellow for Energy and Climate, was quoted in a recent article on Mother Jones.

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