Key Reads

 

Tropical Cyclone Dumping Year’s Worth of Rain on War-Torn Yemen in One Day
Jethro Mullen / CNN
Ravaged by months of war, Yemen has now been battered by the first tropical storm on record to make landfall in the impoverished Arab country.

 

Turkey Detains Supporters of Erdogan Rival Gulen in Raids
BBC
Turkish police have arrested 44 people suspected of having links to an exiled Islamic cleric accused of seeking to overthrow the government.  Top bureaucrats and police officers were among those held in a crackdown on supporters of Fethullah Gulen, the state-run Anadolu agency said.

 

Slovenia PM Says Migrant Crisis Could Reignite Balkan Conflicts
Yahoo News
The migrant crisis engulfing Europe threatens to reignite conflicts between former Yugoslav republics which fought each other during the 1990s, Slovenia’s prime minister said on Tuesday.

 

 

American Competitiveness

 

Japanese Automakers Are Leading US Economy Forward
Thomas J. Prusa / The Hill
Just six years ago, our nation was in a much different place as we struggled to recover from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Between October 2008 and March 2009, an average of 700,000 American workers lost their jobs each month, and research shows that many of these Americans have faced lasting economic hardship extending beyond the time they are unemployed.

 

Goldman: Government Spending Is About to Boost the US Economy for the First Time Since 2010
Luke Kawa / Bloomberg
Economists at Goldman Sachs concur that this agreement will indeed be good for the American economy in the short-term, notwithstanding the added benefit of removing uncertainty and the potential loss of faith in the creditworthiness of the U.S.

 

 

National Security & Strategy

 

NATO Tests Its Capabilities and Wants Russia to Take Note
John Thor Dahlburg / Associated Press
NATO is putting on its most fearsome display of military might in over a decade, a choreographed large-scale movement of soldiers, ships and planes meant to hone its capabilities as well as transmit an unmistakable signal to Russia and other possible foes.

 

 

Asymmetric Operations

 

Suicide Bombing Kills at Least 4 Egyptian Police Officers in Sinai
Kareem Fahim / The New York times
At least four police officers were killed on Wednesday morning when a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-packed vehicle next to a police club in northern Sinai, according to the Egyptian state news media. The Islamic State’s local affiliate, called Sinai Province, claimed responsibility for the bombing in a statement distributed on social media accounts.

 

Pakistan Bans Media Coverage of Terror-Linked Charity
Ayaz Gul / Voice of America
Pakistan has banned media coverage of Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), an Islamist charity accused of planning the three-day terror siege of the Indian financial capital of Mumbai in 2008 and declared a terrorist organization by the United Nations.

 

Can 50 US Troops in Syria Make a Difference?
Thomas Cohen / CNN
When President Barack Obama dramatically shifted his Syria policy last week and announced he would station Special Operations forces in the war-plagued country, Republicans were quick to criticize the move.

 

 

Climate Security

 

China Burns Much More Coal Than Reported, Complicating Climate Talks
Chris Buckley / The New York Times
China, the world’s leading emitter of greenhouse gases from coal, has been burning up to 17 percent more coal a year than the government previously disclosed, according to newly released data. The finding could complicate the already difficult efforts to limit global warming.

 

Antarctic Glaciers’ Melting Said Near ‘Unstoppable’ Point, Threatening Sea Level Rise
Jim Algar / Tech Times
Researchers believe coastal glaciers in West Antarctica may have reached a tipping point of “unstoppable” retreat as warming ocean waters melt them from below, threatening possible devastating sea level rises.

 

 

Energy Security

 

Here’s How the Renewable Energy Market Is Evolving
Sarah Beth Penndorf / CleanTechnica
Corporate power purchase agreements (PPAs) are being talked about everywhere—from water coolers to boardrooms to industry conferences. Today, corporate and institutional (C&I) end users have unparalleled access to bilateral agreements directly with utility-scale renewable energy facilities—greening their energy portfolio and creating financial benefits.

 

Nuclear Is ‘Next Big Thing’ for S. Africa’s Eskom, CEO Says
Paul Vecchiatto / BloombergBusiness
Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., South Africa’s state-owned electricity utility, is preparing to take part in the country’s plan to procure as much as 9,600 megawatts of nuclear-generated power, its chief executive officer said.

 

 

Nuclear Security

 

Backlash Against US in Iran Seems to Gather Force After Nuclear Deal
Thomas Erdbrink / The New York Times
Anyone who hoped that Iran’s nuclear agreement with the United States and other powers portended a new era of openness with the West has been jolted with a series of increasingly rude awakenings over the past few weeks.

 

 

On Our Flashpoint Blog

 

GMOs Play a Key Role in Climate and National Security
Ricky Gandhi
Climate change has had notable impacts on our environment and national security, serving as a “threat multiplier,” according to the Department of Defense. The argument goes that climate change can exacerbate existing conflict by making already-scarce resources ever scarcer, such as land and water.

 

Reality, Risk and Potential: Managing Today’s Conflicts
Sam Hickey
On Monday, October 26th at the Council on Foreign Relation’s, Foreign Affairs and the International Crisis Group (ICG) in New York hosted an event on “Reality, Risk, and Potential: Managing Today’s Conflicts.” The event featured panels of experts consisting of think tank fellows, academics, journalists, and business professionals.

 

Israel’s Energy Choice
Spencer Shweky
A few weeks ago Genie Energy, an American energy company, announced that it had found significant quantities of oil and gas in Israel’s disputed Golan Heights territory. Since then, many have speculated that these new-found reserves may be large enough to eventually make Israel self-sufficient in energy.

 

Australian Defense Force Responds to Climate Change
Ngoc H. Le
On 28 October 2015, the Australian Climate Security Panel at the Australian Defense Force Academy discussed the security threats of climate change. Australian Defense Forces are increasingly working with the U.S. and U.K militaries on this issue.

 

 

Upcoming Events

 

College of Charleston Event – Climate Change: Risks for National Security
November 09 @ 4:00pm – 5:30pm
Join ASP in Charleston, NC for a discussion with senior flag officers as they discuss the steps the US military has taken and future implications for our national security.

 

TPP: Implications of the Trans-Pacific Partnership for Global and Regional Stability
November 19 @ 12:30pm – 2:00pm
This event will include a panel discussion featuring key leaders well versed in the economic and security impact of free trade from several TPP nations. The event will conclude with a keynote address from Representative Don Beyer (D, VA-8), former Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

 

 

ASP Recently Published

 

Climate Diplomacy: A Strategy for American Leadership
American Security Project
In December, 2015, the world will gather in Paris in an attempt to finally address the challenge of climate change. The stakes are high: failure would only make addressing climate change more costly and difficult and could have repercussions on broader national security goals. But “Climate Diplomacy” is not just about a single conference in Paris: it must be a bipartisan, long-standing priority for the U.S. government.

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