Center for Strategic Communication

Key Reads

Medical Charity MSF Demands Independent Probe into Strike on Afghan Hospital
Mirwais Harooni, Andrew Macaskill / Reuters
Medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) on Sunday demanded an independent international inquiry into a suspected U.S. air strike that killed 22 people in an Afghan hospital it runs, branding the attack a “war crime.”

Turkey Vows to Protect Borders After Russian Jet Incursion
Suzan Fraser / The Associated Press
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu vowed Monday to take all necessary measures to protect Turkey’s borders from violation after a Russian fighter jet entered its airspace over the weekend, prompting Turkey to scramble jets and summon the Russian ambassador in protest.

American Competitiveness

Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Deal is Reached
Jackie Calmes / The New York Times
The United States and 11 other Pacific Rim nations on Monday agreed to the largest regional trade accord in history, a potentially precedent-setting model for global commerce and worker standards that would tie together 40 percent of the world’s economy, from Canada and Chile to Japan and Australia.

American Apparel Files for Bankruptcy
Hiroko Tabuchi / The New York Times
American Apparel, the one-time arbiter of edgy made-in-America cool, filed for bankruptcy protection early Monday, its business crippled by huge debts, a precipitous fall in sales, employee strife and a drawn out legal battle with the retailer’s ousted founder, Dov Charney.

National Security & Strategy

Syria Conflict: Turkish Jets Intercept Russian Plane

BBC
Turkish F-16 fighter jets were scrambled after a Russian warplane violated Turkey’s air space on Saturday, the foreign ministry said.

Ukraine Insists Russia Must Cede Border by End of Year
Dmitry Zaks / AFP
President Petro Poroshenko has stressed that Ukraine must regain control of its eastern border by the end of December even if a full implementation of a February peace deal with Russia is delayed until 2016.

Asymmetric Operations

Afghan Forces in Kunduz, Raising Flag, Appear to Gain Against Taliban
Alissa J. Rubin / The New York Times
Afghan security forces on Monday raised the nation’s black, red and green flag over the governor’s house in the northern city of Kunduz for the first time in a week and appeared to have succeeded in clearing the Taliban from some neighborhoods, according to Afghan security officials and residents.

ISIS Blows Up Arch of Triumph in 2,000-Year-Old City of Palmyra
Kareem Shaheen / The Guardian
Islamic State militants have destroyed the Arch of Triumph in the ancient city of Palmyra, a monument that dates back to the Roman empire, Syria’s chief of antiquities told the Guardian.

Conflicting Agendas, Caution Beset Pentagon’s Plans in Syria
Adam Entous, Dana Ballout, Mohammed Nour Al-Akraa / The Wall Street Journal
To build a rebel army, the Pentagon asked Syrian commanders last winter to nominate their best fighters. U.S. military officers spent more than a month checking each one for criminal or terrorist connections.

Climate Security

UN Releases a Draft for Potential Agreement on Climate
The Associated Press
The U.N. has released a first draft of the negotiating text for the major conference on climate taking place in Paris in December.

Energy Security

Germany Offers India $2.25 billion for Solar, Clean Energy
Reuters
Germany will provide India more than 2 billion euros ($2.25 billion) for developing a clean energy corridor and solar projects, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday after talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Russia Ready to Meet OPEC to Talk Oil Prices
Holly Ellyat / CNBC
Russia is ready to meet with members of the Organization of Petroleum – Exporting Countries (OPEC) – as well as non-member oil producers – to discuss the situation facing global oil markets, according to the country’s oil minister.

Nuclear Security

Global Nuclear Facilities ‘At Risk’ of Cyber Attack
BBC
The risk of a “serious cyber attack” on nuclear power plants around the world is growing, warns a report. The civil nuclear infrastructure in most nations is not well prepared to defend against such attacks, it added.

On Our Flashpoint Blog

Investments in Clean Energy Makes Us Safer
Ricky Gandhi
This December, countries from around the world will meet in Paris to develop an international climate agreement that will attempt to cap warming at 2˚C – the threshold scientists have warned us not to cross. The United States should lead the way in climate research, technology, and adaptation. However, the nation has acted slowly relative to others, which prolongs environmental degradation and threatens our security.

Reducing Our Dependence on Fossil Fuels is a National Security Imperative
Spencer Schweky
In 2013, the EIA projected that world energy consumption would grow by 56% between 2010 and 2040, with fossil fuels continuing to supply almost 80% of the 2040 total. This trajectory threatens not only to alter the nature of the earth’s climate, but to fundamentally destabilize the global security environment. To recognize this, we need only take a closer look at the nature of the fuels themselves.

Wilson Center Global Energy Forum Overview
Ricky Gandhi
The Wilson Center Global Energy Forum provided updated analyses regarding geopolitical situations and their effects on energy production. The keynote speaker, Adam Sieminski of the U.S. EIA, discussed the short-term implication in the growth of demand: a rebalancing between demand and the excess supply caused by OPEC.

Holland in Latin America Energy Advisor: Trinidad’s Energy Vulnerability
Andrew Holland
I was featured in the Inter-American Dialogue’s Latin American Energy Advisor. In answer to a question about whether Trinidad’s new government can expect changes, I wrote:

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