International News Coverage
Middle East, Terrorism and Counterterrorism
Iraq Begins Offensive to Recapture Tikrit From ISIS
Omar Al-Jawoshy and Tim Arango / The New York Times
The Iraqi military, alongside thousands of Shiite militia fighters, began a large-scale offensive on Monday to retake the city of Tikrit from the Islamic State, a battle that could either deepen the country’s bloody sectarian divide or become a pivotal fight in the campaign to reclaim north and west Iraq.
Libya’s Haftar appointed army chief for recognized government
Esam Omran Al-Fetor/ Reuters
Former Libyan general Khalifa Haftar was appointed as army commander for the country’s internationally recognized government on Monday in a decision that may complicate U.N. talks to end fighting in Libya.
Main U.S.-Backed Syrian Rebel Group Disbanding, Joining Islamists
Jamie Dettmer / Daily Beast
The Syrian rebel group Harakat al-Hazm, one of the White House’s most trusted militias fighting President Bashar al-Assad, collapsed Sunday, with activists posting a statement online from frontline commanders saying they are disbanding their units and folding them into brigades aligned with a larger Islamist insurgent alliance distrusted by Washington.
Bomb blast in downtown Cairo wounds 9 people
Associated Press
A midday bomb blast in one of the busiest boulevards in downtown Cairo wounded nine people on Monday, the police said. Shortly after the explosion, a little-known group claimed responsibility for the attack.
Europe
Greece secures eurozone bailout extension for four months
Ian Traynor / The Guardian
Greece’s new leftwing government faces months of fraught negotiations with its creditors over how to ease its unsustainable debt levels and austerity programmes after securing – but only conditionally – a eurozone lifeline on Tuesday that wins it time until the end of June.
Thousands march to remember slain Putin critic
Michael Birnbaum / The Washington Post
Russians turned out by the tens of thousands Sunday to mourn an opposition leader who was murdered only a few steps from the Kremlin, amid fears that his death was just the beginning of a new wave of violence.
Danish Police Hold Third Man Suspected of Assisting Gunman
Anna Molin / Wall Street Journal
Police on Friday detained a third man on suspicion of helping the Copenhagen gunman who killed two people and wounded five in twin attacks on a free-speech event and a synagogue earlier this month.
The Americas
Detained American Missionaries Leave Venezuela
William Neuman / The New York Times
Ratcheting up tensions with the United States, President Nicolás Maduro on Saturday ordered a sharp reduction in the number of diplomats at the American Embassy here, said Americans would now need visas to enter the country and took other measures to retaliate for sanctions imposed by Washington on Venezuelan officials.
Amid twists in Argentine prosecutor case, thousands stage protests
Irene Caselli / The Washington Post
A month after prosecutor Alberto Nisman was found dead in his bathroom, thousands of Argentines marched Wednesday evening to protest the unsolved mystery and criticize the government’s handling of the case.
Homeland Security funding drama darkens U.S. fiscal outlook
Richard Cowan and David Lawder / Reuters
Congress narrowly averted a partial shutdown of the U.S. domestic security agency late on Friday night, but the forces behind the chaotic episode remain – fractious Republicans and House Speaker John Boehner’s lack of control over them.
Africa
Nigerian mob kills girl accused of being suicide bomber
Associated Press
A crowd has beaten to death a teenage girl accused of planning to be a suicide bomber and then set her body on fire, according to police and witnesses. A second suspect, also a teenage girl, was arrested at Muda Lawal, the biggest market in the city of Bauchi.
Ghana police academy scam ensnares hundreds
BBC News
Police in Ghana have made five arrests over a scam that sent some 200 would-be recruits to police training centres over the weekend. The job-seekers, most of them young men, went to five centres across the country, believing that they had been selected for the force.
Asia
Hong Kong arrests 38 as anti-China protesters scuffle with police
Venus Wu and Bobby Yip / Reuters
Protesters in Yuen Long, in the New Territories just a stone’s throw from mainland China, chanted “Cancel the multiple-entry permit,” and “Topple the Chinese Communist Party,” as they complained about so-called parallel traders, who make profits by selling across the border goods bought in Hong Kong.
North Korea Launches 2 Missiles into Sea to Protest U.S. War Games with South
Choe Sang-Hun / The New York Times
North Korea flouted United Nations resolutions on Monday by launching two Scud-type ballistic missiles toward the sea between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, as the United States and South Korea started their annual joint military drills.
Burma declares state of emergency after dozens of soldiers die in rebel region
Associated Press
Burma has granted its military unprecedented powers to deal with fighting between ethnic minority rebels and government troops in the Kokang region, after week-long clashes left dozens of soldiers dead and sent tens of thousands of refugees fleeing to neighbouring China.
Energy Security, Science and Technology, Climate Change
FCC Tests Its Authority Over States
Drew Fitzgerald / Wall Street Journal
Federal regulators are testing how deeply their authority extends into the Internet. They’re also testing how broadly it extends over the states.
A Year in the White House: John Podesta reflects on Obama’s environmental record
Juliet Eilperin / The Washington Post
On his last day in the White House — Feb. 12 — John Podesta reflected on the year he had spent serving as President Obama’s senior counselor. Here’s an edited version of the interview.
Documentary on Air Pollution Grips China
Chris Buckley / The Washington Post
Millions of Chinese, riveted and outraged, watched a 104-minute documentary video over the weekend that begins with a slight woman in jeans and a white blouse walking on to a stage dimly lit in blue. As an audience looks on somberly, the woman, Chai Jing, displays a graph of brown-red peaks with occasional troughs.
On Our Flashpoint Blog
ASP Senior Fellow Seyom Brown Discusses Obama’s National Security Policy
William George
On Wednesday, February 25, 2015, the American Security Project hosted Dr. Seyom Brown in a discussion of President Obama’s national security policy. Dr. Brown sat down with ASP CEO BGen Stephen Cheney, USMC (Ret) and examined key questions regarding the current Administration’s national security policy choices.
Concerns Over the Daesh and Libya
Luke Lorenz
The recent beheadings of 21 Egyptian workers by a Libya based ISIS affiliate has revealed that extremist ideology is bourgeoning in this environment of destabilization.
The Long Final Leap Against Polio in Pakistan
Kennington Cung
On February 23, 2015, in Quetta, Pakistan over 400 teams of healthcare workers began an eight day campaign to inoculate of 478,000 children against polio. The men and women bring with them paperwork, information handouts, coolers containing the vaccines, and an extensive military security detail. With another four workers found murdered just ten day prior, bringing the death toll to eighty six, the heightened security is not only important for the safety of health workers but also crucial to keep the momentum to eradicate polio. Being a health worker in Pakistan and Afghanistan has become a deadly profession that has led to the increase of polio cases over the past few years in the region.
CVE—is about the choice we set
Paul Hamill
Today we have seen the arrest of three Americans plotting to commit terrorist acts here in the homeland and join Daesh/ ISIS. We also saw earlier this week three young women fly from the UK to Turkey, and now possibly enter Syria to do the same – and join Daesh.
Falsely Framed Debates about Our Options on Iran
BGen Stephen A. Cheney and Sungtae “Jacky” Park
The two actual alternatives that Washington must choose between are an Iran without nuclear weapons as a result of a deal or an Iran with nuclear weapons which could eventually emerge out of failed negotiations.
Upcoming Events
Congressional Breakfast Conversation on National Security Strategy
March 11 @ 9:30am – 10:00am
Well-informed congressional leaders are key to ensuring the national security of our nation. For that reason, American Security Project (ASP), is hosting a breakfast roundtable discussion on strategic approaches to national security issues from a nonpartisan perspective.
Discussion with Gov. Christine Todd Whitman: Climate Change Calls for Clean and Safe Energy
April 10 @ 10:00am – 11:00am
Join Governor Whitman at the World Affairs Council of Hilton Head Island as she discusses the important issue of climate change and its impact on clean, safe energy. She will recount her experience as governor as well as the Administrator of the EPA. Come join this exciting event.
ASP Recently Published
Global Natural Gas Pivot to Asia
American Security Project
Asia currently has two of the world’s three largest economies, and its energy needs to fuel these economies are continuing to grow. Energy suppliers are increasingly looking to exploit this market demand, trying to secure their market share in an economy with a long term demand. To this effect, energy suppliers are looking to how they can best fulfill the needs of the Asian energy markets.
Effective Measures for Tackling Climate Change — Divestment
American Security Project
This report focuses on how effective fossil fuel divestment campaigns in the United States would be in combating the effects of global climate change, as well as explore various solutions that aim to mitigate and eventually reverse the effects of our current accelerating climate change.
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