Key Reads
In Egypt, elections look set to cement return to the past
Lin Noueihed and Ali Abdelaty / Reuters
Holding court behind a battered desk at his campaign office in the southern town of Minya, Bahaa Fikry embodies Egypt’s past.
Afghan ISIS Branch makes Inroads in Battle against Taliban
Mujib Mashal / The New York Times
Afghanistan — At least three times a week, Malaika hikes up the mountain, past mulberry and pine trees, to a clearing where she can get cellphone reception. She calls her family to reassure them that the Islamic State fighters have not come for her yet.
Iranian Parliament passes bill approving Nuclear Deal
Saeed Kamali Dehghan / The Guardian
Iran’s conservative-dominated parliament has endorsed the landmark nuclear agreement struck earlier this year, clearing the last hurdle before both sides begin work to implement it next week.
Flight MH17 shot down over Ukraine by Russian-built Buk missile, Dutch report says
Thomas Escritt / Reuters
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine by a Russian-made Buk missile, the Dutch Safety Board concluded on Tuesday in its final report on the July 2014 crash that killed all 298 people on board.
American Competitiveness
Gloomy in Lima: The autumn meetings of the IMF and World Bank conclude with a chill
J.P and M.R / Economist
AS LIMA bid farewell to the annual jamboree of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank on October 11th the leaden sky that greeted the global economy’s great and good earlier in the week had cleared. But among the 12,000 delegates, policymakers, their retinues, academics and do-gooders departing the Peruvian capital, the mood was distinctly unsunny.
UAE’s Etihad Airway signs $700 million IT deal with IBM
Reuters
Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways has signed a 10-year $700 million deal with IBM for a range of information technology services and infrastructure, the companies said on Tuesday.
Stocks weak on China date, oil bounces after selloff
Rodrigo Campos / Reuters
A gauge of stocks in major markets fell on Tuesday for the first session in 10 after Chinese trade data reinforced views that the world’s second-largest economy continues to lose momentum, but healthcare stocks kept Wall Street afloat.
National Security Strategy
Turkey warns U.S., Russia against backing Kurdish militia in Syria
Orhan Coskun / Reuters
Turkey has warned the United States and Russia it will not tolerate Kurdish territorial gains by Kurdish militia close to its frontiers in north-western Syria, two senior officials said.
Park leaves for U.S for talks with Obama on alliance, N. Korea
Kim Kwang-Tae / Yonhap News
President Park Geun-hye left for Washington on Tuesday for talks with U.S. President Barack Obama on how to further boost their countries’ bilateral alliance and deal with North Korea’s possible provocations.
Asymmetric Operations
Al-Qaeda in Syria calls for revenge attack on Russia
Loveday Morris / The Washington Post
The head of al-Qaeda’s offshoot in Syria has called on followers to carry out attacks in Russia following Moscow’s airstrikes in the country, raising the specter of blowback on Russian soil for its military intervention to aid Syria’s embattled government.
Taliban pull back from Kunduz as fighting flares on Southern highway
Hamid Shalizi / Reuters
The Taliban said they were pulling back in the northern city of Kunduz on Tuesday in order to protect civilians but fighting continued elsewhere in the country with government troops battling to reopen the main highway south of the capital Kabul.
Europeans struggle as migrant crush shuts down their train system
Steve Hendrix / The Washington Post
In this alpine border town, the suspension of train service into neighboring Germany has been a boon to taxi drivers. Taha, who asked to use only his first name lest local tax collectors hound him about
his earnings, makes 300 euros every time he drives a stranded traveler the 143 kilometers (about 90 miles) to Munich.
Climate Security
NATO security ‘at stake’ from climate change, say lawmakers
Alex Pashley / Climate Change News
Climate change poses “significant threat multipliers that will shape the security environment in areas of concern to the Alliance,” according to a resolution set to be adopted by NATO’s parliamentary assembly on Monday.
Alaska mulls extra oil drilling to cope with climate change
Matt McGrath / BBC
The state is suffering significant climate impacts from rising seas forcing the relocation of remote villages. Governor Bill Walker says that coping with these changes is hugely expensive.
ExxonMobil boss warns against tougher climate regulations
Ed King / Climate Change News
The free market’s ability to spur innovation holds the key to tackling climate change, not tougher government policies, ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson told fellow executives in London on Wednesday.
Energy Security
James Bennet / The Atlantic
Bill Gate has committed his fortune to moving the world beyond fossil fuels and mitigating climate change. He wants human beings to invent their way out of the coming collision with planetary climate change, accelerating a transition to new forms of energy that might normally take a century or more.
Ambitious cable projects prove vital to Europe’s energy security
Jeevan Vasagar / Financial TImes
When grid operators agreed a deal to build a 500km underwater cable from Tonstad in Norway to the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, it marked the latest link in a chain of planned connections that will allow power to be exchanged across north-west Europe.
On Our Flashpoint Blog
BCAS Member General Fusion Mentioned on CNN
Ricky Gandhi
Business Council for American Security member General Fusion was highlighted last week in CNN’s look at the “promise of nuclear fusion.”
El Nino and the Case for Microgrids
American Security Project
Winter is coming to the United States’ national electric grid. El Niño – an ocean temperature event that affects global weather – is on its way and is expected to be one of the strongest events in recent history. Already, we have seen El Nino’s warmer ocean currents create severe weather conditions, causing blackouts throughout the Asian and Pacific regional energy grids.
The Emergence of the Trans-Pacific Partnership
Anil Powers
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is the largest regional trade accord in history. It finally emerged after years of negotiations between the US and eleven Pacific Rim nations. It now faces months of scrutiny in a politically divided Congress, although the threat of amendments or a filibuster will not be an issue due to the success of the fast-track trade authority.
Containing the Threat of al-Qaeda & Its Affiliates
Anil Powers
For nearly 20 years, al-Qaeda and its ideological cousins have been the most important threats to national and global security. Since its inception, al-Qaeda has used large-scale terrorist attacks and other forms of violence to kill thousands and cause mass destruction. These terrorist groups use a distorted interpretation of Islamic doctrine to justify their attacks and inspire support for their cause. Despite setbacks, al-Qaeda is still a dangerous organization because of its extreme ideology and the rise of its affiliates throughout Asia and Africa.
Investments in Clean Energy Make 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 Shweky
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.
Upcoming Events
Climate Change, Diplomacy, and National Security – A Conversation with Foreign Minister Tony de Brum, Marshall Islands
October 28 @ 12:00pm – 1:30pm
ASP will host a conference to discuss the importance of the upcoming COP in Paris and how effective climate diplomacy can still prevent the worst impacts of climate change.
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