Center for Strategic Communication

What We Are Reading:

Ukrainian Prime Minister to Visit Washington D.C.

Sam Frizell / TIME

Ukraine’s interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk plans to travel to Washington D.C. on Wednesday to discuss the crisis in Crimea and potential international support for his country’s struggling economy with President Barack Obama

Gates: Crimea is Already Gone

J. Dana Stuster / Foreign Policy

The Obama administration is struggling to find a way of forcing Moscow to remove its troops from Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula, but former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said this morning it is already too late to prevent the contested region from being absorbed into Russia.

The Search for the Missing Malaysian Jet

Reuters

Here is a timeline of events in the disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines jetliner which vanished from radar screens on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing early on Saturday.

The Internet Is the New Battleground, Assange Tells SXSW

Patrick Tucker / Defense One

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange appeared on a giant video screen on Saturday morning before a massive crowd of t-shirted and headphoned technology enthusiasts at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, and declared that the Internet has become a battleground between ever-more intrusive governments and the governed. “The transition of the Internet to a political space is the most important phenomenon of the last decade,” he declared. His speech ended with enthusiastic applause.

EU’s Ashton in Iran Says Final Nuclear Deal “Challenging” -State TV

Parisa Hafezi / Reuters

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Sunday it would be “difficult and challenging” to reach a long-term nuclear deal with Iran, as diplomacy intensifies before talks between Tehran and world powers on March 18.

Mysterious New Man-Made Gases Pose Threat to Ozone Layer

Matt Mcgrath / BBC News

Scientists have identified four new man-made gases that are contributing to the depletion of the ozone layer.

Neil DeGrasse Tyson: Media Should Stop Giving Space To Climate Change And Science Deniers

Jack Mirkenson / The Huffington Post

Count everyone’s favorite Astronomer, Neil deGrasse Tyson, among the list of people who think the media should stop giving equal time to climate change deniers and their ilk.

Report Cites ‘Devastating Toll’ on Health of Syria’s Children

Rick Gladstone / New York Times

The Syrian civil war’s impact on the health of Syria’s children is far more insidious than has been widely understood, a leading children’s advocacy group reported Sunday, with large numbers dying or at risk from chronic and preventable diseases that have flourished because the country’s public health system has basically collapsed.

EU-US €120bn Trade Talks Resume Amid Ukraine Crisis and NSA Snooping Tensions

Shane Croucher / International Business Times

A fourth round of trade talks between the US and European Union worth €120bn are underway amid an awkward atmosphere because of the Ukraine crisis and NSA snooping scandal.

Nuclear Energy Rising At The Expense of Renewable Power

Ken Silverstein / Forbes

Just before the Fukushima disaster hit three years ago, nuclear energy had been standing tall. But the earthquake and giant waves knocked out the legs from under the fuel source, killing Japan’s nuclear ambitions as well as that of some other nations that had a robust nuclear power presence.

Afghan VP, EX-Northern Alliance Commander, Dies

Kathy Gannon and Rahim Faiez / Associated Press

Afghanistan’s influential Vice President Mohammad Qasim Fahim, a leading commander in the alliance that fought the Taliban who was later accused with other warlords of targeting civilian areas during the country’s civil war, died Sunday. He was 57.

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 – check out the report to find out the facts and a way forward the United States could take.

Mapping the Conflict in Aleppo, Syria

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.

Upcoming ASP Events:

Norman Augustine on Defense Budget & Acquisition Reform

March 26, 12:30 – 1:30 P.M.

Since sequestration and passage of the new budget the Defense Department has been adjusting to a reduced funding environment – and 2014 won’t be much different. The speaker will discuss the outlook for Pentagon spending in 2014.

Extreme Productivity – An Evening with Bob Pozen

March 27, 6:30 – 9:00 P.M.

Bob Pozen is one of the most productive executives. While serving as full time chairman of a large asset management company and teaching a full course load at Harvard Business School, he wrote a popular book entitled Extreme Productivity: Boost Your Results; Reduce Your Hours.

Cost: $40.00 Member/ $60.00 Non-Members (cost includes copy of Professor Posen’s book, signed upon request) – Click here to buy tickets

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