Key Reads
Euro Zone Welcomes New Greek Debt Proposals, More Work to Do
Renee Maltezou, Jan Strupczewski / Reuters
Euro zone finance ministers welcomed new Greek proposals for a cash-for-reform deal on Monday but said they required detailed study and it would take several days to determine whether they can lead to an agreement to avert a default.
Turks Open Border Crossing with Syria, Hundreds of Syrian Refugees Return to Reclaimed Town
Associate Press
Hundreds of refugees are returning to the Syrian town of Tal Abyad after Turkey reopened a nearby border crossing. Tal Abyad was captured by Kurdish forces last week from the Islamic State group, dealing a major blow to the extremists’ ability to wage war in Syria by cutting off a vital supply line to the group’s self-proclaimed capital, Raqqa.
American Competitiveness
Hector Barreto / Huffington Post
Right now, a trio of airlines from the Persian Gulf isn’t playing by the rules — the very rules that their own governments agreed to. Government subsidies are not allowed under the Open Skies agreements that both the United Arab Emirates and Qatar signed with the United States, yet those two countries are pumping tens of billions of dollars in subsidies into their state-owned airlines in order to give them an unfair advantage over U.S. airlines.
The Economist
Representatives, postponed Barack Obama’s hopes of securing the authority he needs to negotiate a trade deal with a dozen Pacific countries, and then another with the EU. Mr. Obama now finds himself in the unfamiliar position of relying on the two most senior Republicans in Congress, John Boehner in the House and Mitch McConnell in the Senate, to rescue him. If they are unable to do so then Mr. Obama’s foreign policy, which is forever proclaiming its pivot to Asia, will merely resemble a plank.
National Security & Strategy
Carter: U.S. To Provide Weapons, Aircraft, Commandos For NATO
Lolita Baldor / Associated Press
The U.S. will contribute weapons, aircraft and forces, including commandos, for NATO’s rapid reaction force, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Monday, to help Europe defend against security threats, including Russia from the east and violent extremists from the south.
U.S. Won’t Let Russia ‘Drag Us Back to the Past’: Pentagon Chief
Phil Stewart / Reuters
The United States and its allies won’t let Russia “drag us back to the past”, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said in an address in Berlin on Monday, as he accused Moscow of trying to re-create a Soviet-era sphere of influence.
The Fantasy Mr. Putin Is Selling
Editorial Board / New York Times
President Vladimir Putin of Russia is not veering from the mythology he created to explain away the crisis over Ukraine. It is one that wholly blames the West for provoking a new Cold War and insists that international sanctions have not grievously wounded his country’s flagging economy.
Asymmetric Operations
Tripoli Forces Hit Islamic State in Libya with Air Strikes
Patrick Markey / Reuters
The self-declared government in control of the Libyan capital Tripoli has launched air strikes on Islamic State fighters in the city of Sirte, officials and witnesses said on Monday.
Syrian Kurds, On the Offensive, Push Deeper Into Islamic State Territory
Tom Perry / Reuters
Kurdish-led forces advanced on Monday deep into territory in Syria held by Islamic State, showing new momentum after they unexpectedly swiftly seized a border crossing from the jihadists last week.
Taliban Attacks Afghan Parliament
Hamid Shalizi / Reuters
A Taliban suicide bomber and six gunmen attacked the Afghan parliament on Monday as lawmakers met to consider a new defense minister, and another district in the volatile north fell to the militants as they intensified a summer offensive.
Climate Security
EPA, DOT target Greenshouse Gases from Trucks
Eugene Scott / CNN
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration will propose standards for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles Friday that they hope will bolster energy security and spur manufacturing innovation.
EPA Boss: Climate Change Could Kill Thousands
John Sutter / CNN
Farmers are expected to bear the brunt of climate change in New Zealand, where global warming is expected to bring hotter summers and severe drought within the coming decades, government officials warned over the weekend.
Energy Security
Speculators Retreat From Oil as OPEC Oversupply Crowds Out Shale
Moming Zhou / Bloomberg
Hedge funds reduced both bullish and bearish bets on oil for a fourth week as rising OPEC output was met with forecasts for a contraction in U.S. supply.
America’s Self Punishing Oil Export Ban
Harold Hamm / Wall Street Journal
Crude oil fell on Monday as the Greek debt crisis boosted the dollar and raised concerns about demand for petroleum in Europe, and as the U.N. started talks to try to bring peace to Yemen, where OPEC heavyweight Saudi Arabia is involved in a civil war.
Nuclear Security
Saudi Arabia, Russia Sign Nuclear Power Cooperation Deal
Reem Shamseddine / Reuters
Saudi Arabia and Russia have signed an agreement to cooperate on nuclear energy development, a Saudi government body in charge of such projects said.The government body, the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy, announced the cooperation deal on its website on Thursday but gave no further details.
Iran Lawmakers Add Pressure on Rouhani with Nuclear Deal Bill
Ladane Nasseri, David Lerman / Bloomberg
Iranian lawmakers approved the outlines of a bill to ban inspections of military sites and require the lifting of all international sanctions under any nuclear deal with world powers.
On Our Flashpoint Blog
Greece and Europe Still Looking For a Deal
Clark Derrington
As the end of the month looms, the Greek Government faces a deadline to make a 1.6 billion euro repayment to the International Monetary Fund. Events of the past several weeks have introduced new complications to these delicate negotiations and cast doubt over Greece’s continued membership in the eurozone.
The Weekly Fusion: A Look at Current News in Fusion Energy
William Furlow
Two young researcher are jumping leaps and bounds in the nuclear fusion field, in hopes to one day achieve the ultimate energy dream of fully understanding fusion energy. According to MIT News, two Phd candidates Adam, Kuang and Alex Creely, are looking at trying to fully understand two major questions and problems that arise when dealing with nuclear fusion.
World Refugee Day: Most Ever, and More Coming
Andrew Holland
Saturday, June 20 is the annual World Refugee Day. The UN High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) was chartered in 1950 to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Today, 65 years after the UN was chartered, we see more people displaced from their homes than ever before, and we see a changing climate that threatens to leave millions and millions more without a home to go back to.
ASP Recently Published
White Paper: Economic Diplomacy
American Security Project
Economic diplomacy is the utilization of all national economic instruments in furtherance of the national interest when engaging with other nations. It is the new frontier of foreign policy in an interconnected world. Principles in Action: Economic Diplomacy as the New Face of American Global Leadership, explains and analyses a variety of U.S. economic diplomacy efforts, and provides key recommendations for improvement.
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