What We Are Reading
Egypt’s President Mansour calls for meeting over new elections law
Gamal Essam El-Din / Ahram Online
Egypt’s interim President Adly Mansour has called for an urgent meeting on Wednesday with top political figures to reach a consensus on a newly issued law governing the country’s upcoming presidential elections.
Swedish-British journalist Nils Horner shot dead in central Kabul
Katharine Houreld, Thomson Reuters / Global Post
A gunman shot dead a Swedish journalist outside a restaurant in a brazen attack in one Kabul’s most heavily guarded districts on Tuesday, police and embassy sources said, underscoring growing insecurity threatening next month’s elections.
China Details Plans to Liberalize Interest Rates and Encourage Private Banks
Neil Gough / The New York Times
The head of China’s central bank and other top financial regulators offered new details on Tuesday on the country’s steps toward a more market-driven economy, including plans to liberalize interest rates as early as next year and to allow the establishment of the first privately owned official banks.
Front Companies, Embassies Mask North Korean Weapons Trade – U.N.
Reuters
North Korea has developed sophisticated ways to circumvent U.N. sanctions, including the suspected use of its embassies to facilitate an illegal trade in weapons, a United Nations report issued on Tuesday said.
5 Things About North Korea’s Election
The Wall Street Journal
North Korea said on Tuesday that all 687 state-selected candidates for its Sunday election of members of its rubber-stamp parliament received 100% support from voters. Beyond the façade of democratic process, the election results provide some interesting insights into the power structures inside the regime.
Malaysia Airlines MH370: Stolen Passports ‘No Terror Link’
BBC News
Two men travelling on stolen passports on board a missing Malaysian airliner were Iranians with no apparent links to terrorist groups, officials say.
Senator Expresses Concerns About Nuclear-Waste Tanks
Matthew L. Wald / The New York Times
Most of the youngest and sturdiest of the giant tanks that the Energy Department uses to store high-level radioactive waste at its Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington State show some of the same construction problems as a tank that began leaking in late 2012. The Energy Department is counting on the tanks, built in the 1960s and 1970s, to last for decades more, and has pumped into them thousands of gallons of radioactive liquids scavenged from older tanks that leaked or were at risk of leaking.
The Numbers Behind America’s Mass Transit Resurgence
Jenny Xie / The Atlantic Cities
Americans are choosing public transportation in record numbers. The American Public Transportation Association announced this morning that the U.S. made 10.7 billion mass transit trips in 2013, the highest figure in 57 years..
Ousted Ukraine president warns of civil war, criticizes U.S. for aiding current government
Kathy Lally / The Washington Post
Ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych on Tuesday backed up Russia’s version of the situation in his country, saying a junta in Kiev had provoked Crimea to secede by spreading lawlessness and refusing to protect civilians from violence.
Kerry Orders U.S. Diplomats to Press Case for Climate Action
Andrew C. Revkin / The New York Times
Over the weekend, ahead of a round of low-level climate treaty talks that kicked off today in Bonn, Germany, Secretary of State John Kerry sent a fresh signal that he plans to keep global warming at the top of the State Department’s agenda.
On Our Flashpoint Blog
The 2014 QDR and Public Diplomacy
Madeline Bersch
Earlier this month, the Department of Defense released the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review, released every four years to “adapt, reshape, and rebalance [the] military to prepare for the strategic challenges and opportunities” to be faced in the coming years. While recent news items have paid extensive attention to the shrinking size of the U.S. military force, this Report underscores the need to focus resources towards the protection of science and technology capabilities, especially those in the cyber realm. It also emphasizes the ability of climate change to escalate stressors leading to terrorism.
Briefing Note: Climate Change and National Security
Andrew Holland
Last night, a number of Senators talked throughout the night about climate change. The American Security Project, as a national security-focused think tank, believes that concern about climate change should be a non-partisan issue. While we know that the argument about solutions will be partisan, both sides should start with a common understanding that climate change poses real threats to national security.
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.
ASP Recent Publications
Briefing Note: Climate Change and National Security
Andrew Holland
Last night, a number of Senators talked throughout the night about climate change. The American Security Project, as a national security-focused think tank, believes that concern about climate change should be a non-partisan issue. While we know that the argument about solutions will be partisan, both sides should start with a common understanding that climate change poses real threats to national security.
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.
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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