Key Reads
Paris attacks: France mobilizes 115,000 security personnel
BBC
France has mobilized 115,000 security personnel in the wake of Friday’s Paris attacks by Islamist militants, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has said.
PM: I will make case for strikes against IS in Syria
BBC
David Cameron has promised a “comprehensive strategy” to win MPs’ backing for bombing Islamic State militants in Syria as well as Iraq.
Security fears risk overshadowing Paris climate summit
Catherine Hours and Mariëtte Le Roux / Yahoo News
Paris (AFP) – Security fears in the wake of Friday’s brutal slaying of 129 people in Paris threaten to overshadow a crunch climate summit to be launched by 120 world leaders in the French capital on November 30.
Does Climate Change provoke terrorism? An old feud rekindles
Jean Chenmick / E&E Publishing, LLC
Last week’s deadly attacks on Paris have reignited the debate over whether climate change is a distraction from legitimate security threats like terrorism, or a contributor to them.
American Competitiveness
The Economic consequences of Paris
Nicholas Wells / CNBC
We’ve already started to see what effect the tragedy in Paris will have on the markets. European stocks closed with moderate gains on Monday and those seeking security drove up defense stocks and the price of gold.
Economic contractions are becoming awfully common in Japan
Toru Fujioka / Bloomberg Business
Japan slipped into a recession last quarter without economic events overseas or a natural disaster at home as the culprit.
IMF Move to give Yuan Reserve Status likely to Boost China Assets
Ian Talley and Lingling Wei / The Wall Street Journal
The International Monetary Fund’s decision to bestow reserve-currency status on China’s Yuan marks a major economic milestone for the emerging world power that will likely accelerate global demand for Chinese assets.
National Security & Strategy
Putin vows payback after Kremlin confirms bomb downed Russian plane over Egypt
Andrew Osborn / Reuters
President Vladimir Putin vowed to hunt down those responsible for blowing up a Russian airliner over Egypt and intensify air strikes against Islamists in Syria, after the Kremlin concluded a bomb had destroyed the plane last month, killing 224 people.
Obama puts South China Sea dispute on agenda as summitry begins
Matt Spetalnick and Rosemarie Francisco / Reuters
U.S. President Barack Obama put tensions over Beijing’s claims to the South China Sea squarely on the agenda ahead of an Asia-Pacific summit on Tuesday, pointedly visiting the main warship of close ally the Philippines shortly after he landed in Manila.
U.S., Turkey working to finish shutting northern Syria border: Kerry
David Brunnstrom / Reuters
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday the United States is starting an operation with Turkey to finish securing the northern Syrian border, an area that Islamic State militants have used as a lucrative smuggling route.
Asymmetric Operations
Russia plane crash: ‘Terror act’ downed A321 over Egypt’s Sinai
BBC
Russia’s security chief says an act of terror brought down the Russian A321 airliner in Egypt last month, killing all 224 people on board.
Putin Claims ISIS Receives Financing from 40 countries at G-20 Summit Following Paris Attacks
Jackie Salo / International Business Times
Russian President Vladimir Putin made claims Monday that the Islamic State group has received financial support from more than 40 countries, including some in attendance at the G-20 summit in Turkey. Putin told reporters that he shared evidence with other G-20 member states at the meeting, Russia Today reported.
France, Russia strike Islamic State; Hollande, Putin to meet
Chine Labbe and Crispian Balmer / Reuters
France and Russia both staged air strikes on Islamic State targets in northern Syria on Tuesday as Paris formally requested European Union assistance in its fight against the group behind last Friday’s bloody attacks on the French capital.
Climate Security
Society ‘to be hit by climate change’
Roger Harrabin / BBC
Human societies will soon start to experience adverse effects from manmade climate change, a prominent economist has warned.
Energy Security
China to build two nuclear plants in Argentina in $15bn deal
Jamil Andrelini and John Paul Rathbone / Financial Times
China has agreed to finance and build two nuclear power plants in Argentina in a deal that will showcase Chinese technology and could be worth up to $15bn, according to Chinese state media and reports from Argentina.
Apple’s first Singapore store will be powered entirely by renewable energy
Aloysius Low / CNET
Apple wants to end its dependence on fossil fuel for all of its global facilities and the upcoming store in the city-state of Singapore will be one of the first in the world to be powered entirely by solar energy.
Microgrids Seen as Answer for 620 Million Africans without Power
Anna Hirtenstein / Renewable Energy World
Power grids that work at a fraction of the scale of a traditional utility – called microgrids – have gained support from banks and developers as a way to bring power to the 620 million people across Africa that lack access to electricity.
Nuclear Security
NNSA
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and United States Air Force completed the third development flight test of a non-nuclear B61-12 nuclear gravity bomb at Tonopah Test Range in Nevada on October 20, 2015.
On Our Flashpoint Blog
Developing an Effective Anti – ISIS strategy
Matthew Wallin
The recent terror attacks in Paris have created renewed demand to develop a real strategy for defeating ISIS.
The Relationship between Climate Change and Terrorism: Reigniting the Debate
Anil Powers
E&E published an article about the relationship between climate change and terrorism. In it, E&E reporter Jean Chemnick discussed the “rekindling of an old feud” regarding the dangers of climate change, renewed partisan pushback, and policy strategies.
BGen. Cheney Featured in National Defense Magazine
Ricky Gandhi
ASP CEO, BGen. Stephen A. Cheney was featured in National Defense Magazine. In it, he gave his thoughts regarding Russia’s military expansion in the Arctic, arguing that the actions serve more as defensive measures rather than offensive:
Climate Change, Paris, the rise of ISIS, and What “Causes” Terrorism
Andrew Holland
Over the past few days, there have been a number of discussion in the press around the country and around the world on the links between climate change and terrorism. Let us be clear – no act of terror is due to climate change, but climate change has helped to create the conditions from which terrorist groups can plot and plan.
ASP’s Christine Todd Whitman on Nuclear Energy
Ricky Gandhi
ASP Board Member Christine Todd Whitman wrote an op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal discussing the importance of nuclear energy and why we should not close nuclear power plants.
Want America to Remain Exceptional? Try Leading on Climate Change
Greg Wilsey
It is time to realize that even if you believe that climate change is only possible, we have a responsibility as the greatest country in the world to do something about it. Not just because we are one of the largest causes of this risk, and not just because we have the resources to do something about it, and not just because climate change could really harm the United States and our personal interests.
Upcoming Events
TPP: Implication of the Trans-Pacific Partnership for Global and regional Stability
November 19 @ 12:00pm – 2:00pm
Final negotiations on TPP concluded on October 5th, 2015 and the long-awaited trade deal now begins a 90-day waiting period before being brought for discussion and vote by the United States Congress.
ASP Recently Published
Perspective – 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. This paper lays out why climate diplomacy is important and a strategy to deploy it.
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