International News Coverage
Climate Change
John Kerry: climate change is now a security issue
Suzannne Goldenberg | The Guardian
John Kerry, the US secretary of state, will call on world leaders to reach for an ambitious deal to fight climate change in a visit to UN negotiations on Thursday.
Politico Magazine
President Obama’s sixth year in office might be his greenest yet, with new Environmental Protection Agency rules to reduce power plant emissions and ozone pollutants, plus what he called a “historic” climate agreement with China. Some even say these are the boldest environmental steps the United States has taken since the 1970 Clean Air Act.
East Asia
North Korea ‘to have 20 nuclear warheads by 2016’
Julian Ryall | Tokyo
North Korea is likely to have 20 nuclear warheads by 2016 and can be expected to carry out a number of new test detonations as it seeks to miniaturize the devices, according to a leading US nuclear scientist.
Akio Takahara | The New York Times
That empty expression President Xi Jinping of China made when he shook hands with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan was his blandest face of the entire APEC summit last month.
Middle East & North Africa
Egypt cautiously accepts reconciliation with Qatar
Walaa Hussein | Al Monitor
Egypt declared acceptance of a Gulf initiative, spearheaded by Saudi Arabia, for reconciliation with Qatar. However, certain signs indicate that the agreement has not gone past its formal appearance.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Boko Haram: The Other Islamic State
Jeremy Ashkenas, Derek Watkins & Arche Tse | The New York Times
While much of the world has been focused on the rise of the Islamic State, another proto-Islamic state has been waging a campaign of terror while dreaming of a caliphate in Nigeria.
Energy
Oil resumes decline, falling toward $64, oversupply weighs
Alex Lawler | Reuters
Oil resumed its downward move on Thursday, falling towards $64 a barrel and within sight of a five-year low, pressured by signs that already ample supply will be even more plentiful in 2015.
Oil Slide Drives Central Banks to Action
Josie Cox | The Wall Street Journal
The steep slide in the price of oil is hammering an increasingly broad spectrum of the global financial market, particularly pummeling stocks and currencies of oil-dependent economies, and even driving central banks to action.
Iran
Iran’s budget tackles falling oil prices
Bijan Khajehpour | Al Monitor
On Dec. 7, President Hassan Rouhani presented his budget bill for the Iranian year 1394 (which begins March 21, 2015) to the Iranian parliament. The budget bill was anticipated by various stakeholders, especially considering low and falling oil prices as well as the wait-and-see mode in the nuclear negotiations that have induced massive uncertainties into Iran’s economic outlook.
Nuclear Security
India to build nuclear reactors with Russia
Al Jazeera
India is to build at least ten more nuclear reactors with Russia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said after talks with President Vladimir Putin in New Delhi.
Science & Technology
Jonathan Blitzer | The New Yorker
Remote as they might seem, asteroids are commanding increasing attention on Earth, both as threats to human existence and as targets of human industry.
Russia
Armenia Wins Backing to Join Trade Bloc Championed by Putin
David M. Herszenhorn | The New York Times
Russia’s lower house of Parliament voted unanimously on Wednesday to approve a treaty allowing Armenia to join a trade bloc of former Soviet states that President Vladimir V. Putin has championed as an alternative to the European Union.
Pentagon to Press Russia on Arms Pact Violation
Michael R. Gordon | The New York Times
The Pentagon has developed a range of military options to pressure Russia to correct its violation of a landmark arms control agreement, a senior Defense Department official told Congress on Wednesday.
Latin America
US Co-opted Cuba’s Hip-Hop Scene To Spark Change
Desmond Butler, Michael Weissenstein, Laura Wides-Munoz, & Andrea Rodriquez | The AP
For more than two years, a U.S. agency secretly infiltrated Cuba’s underground hip-hop movement, recruiting unwitting rappers to spark a youth movement against the government, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.
Employment Opportunities
ASP is looking for current or recently graduated students interested in hands-on public policy experience for full- and part-time internships. Interns will support ASP researchers and staff in multiple areas including communications, development, programming and research.
On Our Flashpoint Blog
GCC starting to create regional security
Fadi Elsalameen
This week saw the Gulf Cooperation Council (the GCC) take major security and political steps together.
Pakistan – Aid, Trade, and Security
Maggie Feldman-Piltch
On December 9th, ASP hosted a roundtable discussion sponsored by FTI Consulting with Admiral William Fallon, USN (Re.), Mr. Daniel Grant, Assistant to the Administrator for Pakistan in the USAID office of Afghanistan and Pakistan Affairs and Mr. Mark Thompson of APCO Worldwide, titled “Pakistan – Aid, Trade, and Security.”
ASP’s Holland Testifies about the Arctic before House Foreign Affairs Committee
Andrew Holland
On Wednesday, December 10, 2014, Andrew Holland, ASP’s Senior Fellow for Energy and Climate, testified before the House Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats. The hearing, “The United States as an Artic Nation: Opportunities in the High North” took place in 2200 Rayburn House Office Building Washington.
Caroline Julia von Wurden
December 9th, the FY-15 Omnibus was posted by the Rules Committee. Listen to ASP’s Andrew Holland explain the details and the importance of fusion to America’s long term energy security.
Hochstein: “Energy plays a critical role in national security”
Caroline Julia von Wurden
Amos J. Hochstein, Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs leading the Bureau of Energy Resources (ENR) at the U.S. Department of State spoke at the American Security Project on Monday about energy policy and the critical role it plays in global and national security.
Electricity Supply: What it means for Security, Development, and Geopolitics
American Security Project
The nexus of electricity, development, and security is significant, yet its nuances are too often overlooked. American Security Project’s half-day conference on November 19th, “Electricity Supply: What it means for Security, Development, and Geopolitics,” brought together development and energy experts, government officials, business leaders, and policy makers to discuss the importance of electricity to development.
Upcoming Events
4th Annual Defense, National Security & Climate Change Symposium
January 7 @ 8:00AM – 5:00PM
Location: Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, 2660 Woodley Rd NW, Washington DC, 20008
Join us for the 4th Annual Defense, National Security & Climate Change Symposium from January 7-8, 2015. Use the code: ASP-Discount-2015 at check-out to receive a 20% discount.
Economic Diplomacy: How Economic Ties Can Strengthen National Security with Amb. Rivkin
January 15 @ 12:30PM – 1:30PM
Location: American Security Project, 1100 New York Ave. NW – 7th Floor – West Tower, Washington DC, 20005
Join ASP on January 15, 2015 as we welcome Assistant Secretary for Economic and Business Affairs Charles H. Rivkin for Economic Diplomacy: How Economic Ties Can Strengthen National Security.
About the American Security Project: The American Security Project is a non-profit, non-partisan public policy and research organization dedicated to fostering knowledge and understanding of a range of national security issues, promoting debate about the appropriate use of American power, and cultivating strategic responses to 21st century challenges.
For more information, visit www.americansecurityproject.org info@americansecurityproject.org
The post What We Are Reading appeared first on American Security Project.
