International News Coverage
The Americas
US, Cuba patch torn relations in historic accord
Julie Pace and Matthew Lee | Associated Press
“These 50 years have shown that isolation has not worked,” Obama said in remarks from the White House. “It’s time for a new approach.”
Obama announces U.S. to restore diplomatic ties with Cuba
Daniel Trotta and Steve Holland | Reuters
In a major policy shift, the United States plans to restore diplomatic relations with Cuba after 50 years.
The basics of the major new US-Cuba deal
Amanda Taub | Vox
The US and Cuba have announced a broad agreement between the countries that will be a first and historic step toward normalizing relations after more than 50 years of hostility.
Reaction to Cuba deal sharply split on Capitol Hill
Sean Sullivan and Ed O’Keefe | Washington Post
Key members of Congress hailed the release of American contractor Alan Gross from Cuban custody on Wednesday, and several traveled back to the Washington area with him.
Chief of Agency for International Development to Step Down
Ron Nixon | New York Times
Rajiv Shah, the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development and the highest ranking Indian-American in the Obama administration, announced on Wednesday that he would step down as head of the agency early next year.
Middle East, Terrorism and Counterterrorism
Pakistan school: Devastation where 148 were slain
Rebecca Santa and Riaz Khan | Associated Press
The attack at the Army Public School and College in the city of Peshawar on Tuesday was the deadliest slaughter of innocents in the country and horrified a nation already weary of unending terrorist assaults.
Pakistani Army Chief Asks Afghans to Help Find Taliban Commanders behind Massacre
Ismail Khan | New York Times
Pakistan’s army chief, Gen. Raheel Sharif, traveled to Afghanistan on Wednesday to seek help in locating the Pakistani Taliban commanders who orchestrated the massacre at a Peshawar school on Tuesday in which 148 people, mostly schoolchildren, were killed.
EU court says Hamas should be removed from terror list
Philip Blenkinsop | Reuters
The Palestinian Islamist group Hamas should be removed from the European Union’s terrorist list, an EU court ruled on Wednesday, saying the decision to include it was based on media reports not considered analysis.
U.N. Security Council renews cross-border Syria aid authorization
Louis Charbonneau | Reuters
The U.N. Security Council on Wednesday renewed for 12 months its authorization for humanitarian access without Syrian government consent into rebel-held areas of Syria at four border crossings from Turkey, Iraq and Jordan.
Ebola
Getting ‘to zero’ in the fight against Ebola
PBS
This year’s Ebola outbreak has claimed the lives of more than 6,800 people, according to the World Health Organization. “If you leave a single case untreated and then if you let that transmission continue, it could explode again,” Dr. Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank, tells the NewsHour. Kim joins Judy Woodruff to discuss challenges of wiping out the disease.
On Our Flashpoint Blog
Hamill: U.S. Needs to Rethink its Space Business
Giancarlo Lima
The U.S. will have to modernize its strategy of developing and deploying space technology if it is to maintain its space superiority.
The Year(s) Ahead in Public Diplomacy
Matthew Wallin
In 2014, the myriad challenges the United States faces in the public diplomacy (PD) field mounted and still continue to grow. Many of them are the result of long-brewing failures of policy, and will persist without an overall strategy to mitigate them.
Disparte: Bad Things Happen in the Dark
Maggie Feldman-Piltch
The following post by Dante Disparte is cross-published with International Policy Digest on December 12. Disparte is the CEO of Risk Cooperative and a member of ASP’s Business Council for American Security (BCAS).
Disaster Risk and Climate Change: The Frog in the Boiling Pot
Sophia Dahodwala
Climate change and the increasing severity of natural hazards are pressing global concerns that necessitate attention, action, and investment. Join ASP and special guest, Mr. Dante Disparte, for a discussion on disaster risk management in the wake of climate change.
U.S.- Russia Relations – new ISAB Report
BGen Stephen A. Cheney USMC (Ret.)
After over a year’s worth of work by a very distinguished board, you’ll find a report that doesn’t whitewash anything – be it Putin, Ukraine, or nuclear weapons. I found it refreshing and professional, and encourage you to read it in its entirety.
GCC starting to create regional security
Fadi Elsalameen
I was glad to see that the GCC took steps to create what I suggest is an Arab NATO – for Arabs to take leadership and ownership in their own security.
Upcoming Events
Economic Diplomacy: How Economic Ties Can Strengthen National Security with Amb. Rivkin
January 15 @ 12:30pm – 1:30pm
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.
Deputy Under Secretary of Defense John Conger: DoD Efforts on Climate Adaptation
January 21 @ 10:00am – 11:30am
Join ASP on Wednesday, January 21 as Deputy Under Secretary of Defense John Conger discusses the Department of Defense’s Climate Adaptation Roadmap, its implications, and how the military is planning for climate change.
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