Key Reads
John Kerry and Ernest Moniz: The case for the nuclear deal with Iran
John F. Kerry and Ernest Moniz / The Washington Post
A nuclear-armed Iran is a threat to our allies in the Middle East, as well as to the United States and the international community. By taking this threat off the table, this deal makes it far less complicated to address the many other problems that we have with Iran’s regional actions.
Kerry to visit Gulf Arab states, vows to ‘push back’ against Iran
Reuters
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will seek to reassure Gulf Arab officials at a meeting in Qatar soon that Washington will work with them to “push back” against Iranian influence in the region, he told the pan-Arab newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat.
Kerry: Iran leader’s vow to defy US ‘very disturbing’ if it’s policy
Jesse Byrnes / The Hill
Secretary of State John Kerry said this week that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei’s vow to defy U.S. policies in the Middle East despite a deal over it’s nuclear program is “very disturbing.”
American Competitiveness
Kenya’s president says Obama talks to focus on security, trade links
Edith Honan / Reuters
President Uhuru Kenyatta said on Tuesday that improving security cooperation and trade links between Kenya and the United States will top the agenda when U.S. President Barack Obama visits the east African nation this weekend.
National Security & Strategy
As Nations Hack Each Other, Protecting Personal Information Must Become National Security Priority
Tarun Wadhwa / Forbes
The nation with the most powerful military in the world suffered a major strategic loss — and for several months not a single person even noticed. That’s because that attackers didn’t use traditional weapons or seek out conventional targets. They hacked their way in, exploiting lax security and management practices at the Office of Personnel Management.
India, Pakistan to join China, Russia in security group
Lidia Kelly, Denis Pinchuk, and Darya Korsunskaya / Reuters
India and Pakistan began accession to a regional security group led by China and Russia on Friday after two days of summits which President Vladimir Putin held up as evidence Moscow is not isolated in the world.
DHS to clear out immigrant families from detention centers
Julian Hattem / The Hill
The Obama administration is seeking to end a policy of keeping families who illegally immigrated to the U.S. in detention centers for months on end while they await word on whether they can stay.
Climate Security
At Vatican, Mayors Pledge Climate Change Fight
Gaja Pianigiani / The New York Times
About 60 mayors from around the world gathered here on Tuesday and pledged to combat global warming and help the poor deal with its effects, at a conference swiftly organized by the Vatican barely a month after Pope Francis’ sweeping encyclical on the environment.
Gov. Jerry Brown, at Vatican, tells mayors to ‘light a fire’ on climate change
Tom Kington / Los Angeles Times
Gov. Jerry Brown, speaking Tuesday at a conference hosted by Pope Francis, accused climate change skeptics of trying to “bamboozle” local leaders trying to cut emissions and said he had no faith that Congress would act on global warming.
Study attributes carbon drop to recession
Timothy Cama / The Hill
The decreases in the United States’ carbon dioxide emissions are due mainly to the economic recession, not a switch away from coal use, a new study concluded.
The study published Tuesday in Nature Communications said that although the 11 percent drop in carbon emissions from 1997 to 2013 has largely been attributed to increased use of natural gas, such a conclusion is purely speculative.
Fusion Energy
Steven Charles Cowley / The Korea Times
This December, world leaders will gather in Paris for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, where they will attempt ― yet again ― to hammer out a global agreement to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. Despite the inevitable sense of déjà vu that will arise as negotiators struggle to reach a compromise, they must not give up.
Energy Security
Eben Blake / International Business Times
French lawmakers were expected on Wednesday to approve a long-deferred energy law designed to decrease the nation’s use of nuclear reactors and fossil fuels. The law, which is based on a three-year-old campaign promise from French President Francois Hollande, had been delayed in the French Parliament due to resistance from industry leaders and an opposition-led Senate.
Nuclear Security
Russia is testing new intercontinental missiles and it could intensify the crisis with the US Sounak Mukhopadhyay / International Business Times
Russia is working on the third stage of developing and designing the Sarmat heavy intercontinental ballistic missile. An official said the tests are expected to start in 18 to 24 months.
On Our Flashpoint Blog
Spherical Fusion Reactors as an Option
William Furlow
Currently the standard tokamak design has been the default for fusion energy, but through prior research, a new prototype for fusion energy has been purposed. This prototype is known as spherical fusion reactors and are more compact, cheaper, require less magnetism, and can potentially lead the way for fusion energy.
Renewable Energy in Puerto Rico: A Way Forward
Clark Derrington
Developing a renewable energy infrastructure in Puerto Rico would be a public investment. Construction of new power plants would employ local workers, and stimulate demand for US-produced energy equipment. As the proportion of electricity generated from expensive imported petroleum and other fossil fuels declined, the cost to consumers of Puerto Rican electricity would decline as well.
The Weekly Fusion: A Look at Current Advancements in Fusion Energy
William Furlow
The future of fusion is constantly being unfolded in front of our eyes, as every week there is some breakthrough in new technologies and designs in the nuclear fusion sector of energy. Since there is such a wealth of information, I have gathered and consolidated a list of articles geared toward the advancement of making fusion energy a reality, from within the past week.
Panel Recap: Can the IAEA Effectively Verify the Iran Nuclear Agreement?
Riza Kumar
18 days and 159 pages later, a nuclear agreement has finally been reached between Iran and the P5+1.This agreement is not guaranteeing the normalization of relations between Iran and the West, but it does placate one major concern regarding international security. This deal ensures that Iran’s nuclear program will be severely limited to peaceful purposes.
U.S. Shifts Away from Coal and Toward Natural Gas
William George
Natural gas overtook coal as the top source of US electric power generation for the first time ever this spring. Natural gas accounted for 31% of electric power generation while coal accounted for 30%, according to a report released by SNL Energy. Nuclear energy came in at third with 20%. This shift is not surprising, however, as natural gas prices have continued their downward slide and new regulations that the EPA is beginning to implement make utilities question the future of coal.
ASP Recently Published
Perspective – Energy and Geopolitics in the Eastern Mediterranean
American Security Project
Since 2009, there have been a succession of substantial natural gas finds in the Levantine Basin, under the Mediterranean Sea between Israel and Cyprus. How to regulate, tax, and export the gas continues to be controversial in Israeli politics. However, the strategic benefits of using energy resources to more closely tie Israel with its long-hostile neighbors are too compelling to ignore. This report analyzes the risks and opportunities involved in such an endeavor.
Perspective: Potential Areas of Cooperation Between the U.S. and Cuba
American Security Project
Latin America and the Caribbean are critical regions for U.S. security, but the lack of open communication between the U.S. and Cuba weakens America’s ability to operate in these areas. Open dialogue with Cuba will help the U.S. maintain security, and could also bring potential economic opportunities. Understanding that the isolation of Cuba has not proven to be an effective policy, this paper examines a variety of possibilities for cooperation between the United States and Cuba.
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