Climate Adaptation Faces Funding Crisis Warn UN Officials
Sophie Yeo / RTCC
Flows of money towards climate adaptation projects are becoming increasingly unpredictable, making it difficult for vulnerable countries to prepare for the hardships caused by global warming.
Hundreds of Students Occupy Taiwan’s Legislature to Protest China Pact
Ray Sanchez / CNN
Hundreds of students remained barricaded in Taiwan’s Legislature early Wednesday in protest of the ruling party’s push for a trade pact with China, which demonstrators claim will hurt the island.
U.S. Expanding Sanctions Against Russia Over Ukraine
Mark Landler / The New York Times
President Obama on Thursday announced he would expand sanctions against Russia, targeting individuals who support the government and a bank with ties to them, and delivering on his warning earlier this week that the United States would ratchet up costs on Russia if it moved to annex the breakaway province of Crimea.
Milton Ezrati /The National Interest
With last weekend’s vote in the Crimea and troop movements on Ukraine’s border, Russia has significantly raised the ante in its standoff with the West. Europe and the United States have already imposed sanctions, so far mostly visa restrictions and asset freezes. These will motivate the oligarchs to pressure Putin. They are exposed, for as a matter of course they ship their wealth into Western real estate, commercial interests, and financial assets.
Obama Announces More Sanctions Against Russia
Aamer Madhani / USA Today
President Obama announced on Thursday that he is levying additional sanctions against 20 high-level Russian officials and associates of Russia President Vladimir Putin as well as a bank in response to Moscow’s move to annex the Crimea region of Ukraine.
How Ukraine’s Military Stacks Up Against Russia’s
Charles Recknagel / Defense One
The worst-case scenario in the Russia-Ukraine crisis would be a war between the two states. How do their respective forces compare?
On Our Flashpoint Blog
Space Based Solar Power – A Promising Technology
Farhad Mirzadeh
Collecting solar energy in space for military use on earth is a new technology being developed by the U.S Naval Research Laboratory (NRL). This would give the military ultimate flexibility to direct power to anywhere on the planet – a powerful new tool for the DoD.
Negotiations on Iran’s Nuclear Program – 2nd Round of Political Talks
Nathan Daniels
Today, representatives from the P5+1, led by Catherine Ashton, High Representative for Foreign Affairs & Security Policy for the EU, concluded the second round of political talks in Vienna with Iran regarding a comprehensive solution to eliminating the Iranian nuclear threat.
U.S. Suspends Diplomatic Relations with Syria
Nathan Daniels
Three years since the start of the bloody civil war in Syria that has killed more than 140,000 people and resulted in more than 2.5 million refugees, with this week marking the anniversary of the Syrian revolution, the United States notified the Syrian government today that it must immediately suspend operations of its Embassy in Washington, D.C. and its honorary consulates in Troy, Michigan, and Houston, Texas.
Scientists Release Report on the Risks of Climate Change
Nathan Alvarado-Castle
The report focuses on the potential impacts and risks that climate change will pose to the United States and the world. Like the recently released report “Climate Change, Evidence & Causes” from the US National Academy of Sciences and the UK Royal Society, this shows that scientists are beginning to engage in the debate about the risks and realities of climate change – an important development.
Prospects for the Egyptian Economy are Linked Directly to Security
Dina Khayat
In the end, issues of security will determine the presidential candidate the majority of Egyptians will vote for, as well as the future of the country’s economic prospects. It is true that the fate of Egypt is directly linked to the performance of the economy in the few years to come. It is also true that these are inextricably linked to security.
A Military View: Climate Change is Threatening our National Security
BGen Stephen A. Cheney USMC (Ret.)
Climate change is threatening our national security, and indeed the security of hundreds of millions around the world. It is a “threat multiplier” or an accelerant of instability” that affects issues like food and water availability and energy security. It will drive migration and create economic challenges.
ASP Recent Publications
American Security Quarterly V3 Issue 1
American Security Project
We see it in the news nearly every day. The world is rapidly shifting before our eyes as countries sprout up, struggle to gain a foothold in our international community, and sometimes fall just as quickly. One equally important trend is the interrelationship between the United States and international players on this stage. Never before have we seen the level of interdisciplinary security issues that we see today occurring in all corners of the globe.
National Security and Climate Change
Andrew Holland
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.
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.
ASP Upcoming 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
April 7, 7:30-9:00 P.M.
Today, the U.S. Navy is preparing for an open Arctic, the Marines are deploying in response to historic typhoons, and the Army is preparing their bases to use less energy than they produce. We know the effects of climate change are here. Meanwhile, many American politicians continue to ignore climate change.
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