The Aspen Strategy Group
Feb 24 min
The Weekly Leaf
This week, an Iran-backed drone strike in Jordan killed three U.S. troops, the European Union passed an additional support package for Ukraine after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán lifted his veto, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg visited Washington.
Read more below.
This Week's Content Highlights
Features from Aspen Strategy Group Members
Elizabeth Economy named as a new member of the National Endowment for Democracy Board of Directors
Mark T. Esper interviewed by Kaitlan Collins for CNN: “Former Defense Secretary on How He Would Respond to U.S. Base Attack in Jordan”
Michael Froman, Jake Sullivan, and Stephen Hadley at the Council on Foreign Relations: “The Future of U.S.-China Relations”
Susan Glasser, Jane Mayer, and Evan Osnos interviewed David Remnick for the Political Scene podcast: “Biden’s Dilemma in the Israel-Hamas War”
David Ignatius for The Washington Post: “The U.S. Tacks Hard Toward a Mideast ‘Moment of Truth’”
Nicholas Kristof for The New York Times: “What Worries Me About War With China After My Visit to Taiwan”
Joseph Nye for Project Syndicate: “American Greatness and Decline”
David Petraeus interviewed by Gabe Gutierrez for NBC: “U.S. Response to Strike in Jordan Requires a ‘Very Significant Response,’ Says Former CIA Director”
Condoleezza Rice, Gina Raimondo, Fei-Fei Li, and moderator Miriam Vogel at an event for the Stanford Emerging Technology Review
Dan Sullivan and Tammy Duckworth interviewed by Bret Baier on The Bret Baier Podcast: "Common Ground: An Election In Taiwan Sends Global Political Shockwaves"
Tweet of the Week
Things to Know
Content Relevant to Aspen Security Forum Discussions
Charles Q. Brown interviewed by Martha Raddatz for ABC News: “Gen. CQ Brown, America’s Top Military Official, Talks Iran, Israel, Trump, and More”
William J. Burns for Foreign Affairs: “Spycraft and Statecraft”
Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart for The Rest Is Politics podcast: "Israel in Court, Attacks on American Soldiers, and the Problem With Polling"
The Economist: "Welcome to the New Era of Global Sea Power"
Hannah Ellis-Petersen for The Guardian: "Imran Khan, Pakistan Former PM, Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison for Corruption"
Thomas L. Friedman for The New York Times: "A Biden Doctrine for the Middle East Is Forming. And It’s Big."
Tim Golden for ProPublica: “Did Drug Traffickers Funnel Millions of Dollars to Mexican President López Obrador’s First Campaign?”
Courtney Kube and Carol E. Lee for NBC News: “Biden Administration Discussing Slowing Some Weaponry Deliveries to Israel to Pressure Netanyahu”
Alina Polyakova and James Goldgeier for Foreign Affairs: “Why NATO Needs Ukraine”
Gregorio Sorgi, Barbara Moens, and Elisa Braun for POLITICO: “EU Approves €50B Ukraine Aid as Viktor Orbán Folds”
Andrew Ross Sorkin, Ravi Mattu, Bernhard Warner, Sarah Kessler, Michael J. de la Merced, Lauren Hirsch, and Ephrat Livni for The New York Times: “What Evergrande’s Collapse Might Mean for Global Business”
Constanze Stelzenmüller interviewed by Gideon Rachman for The Rachman Review podcast: “Germans Push Back Against Extremist AfD”
Didi Tang, Eric Tucker, and Frank Bajak for the AP: “U.S. Says It Disrupted a China Cyber Threat, But Warns Hackers Could Still Wreak Havoc for Americans”
Pak Yiu for Nikkei Asia: “Hong Kong Unveils New Security Law in Further Repeal of Liberties”
Featured Event
In Conversation with Joseph S. Nye, Jr.: A Life in the American Century
Watch our conversation with ASG Co-Chair Joseph Nye on the release of his new memoir, A Life in the American Century, moderated by Ambassador Robert Zoellick.
Book of the Week
Beyond the Water's Edge: How Partisanship Corrupts U.S. Foreign Policy
By Paul R. Pillar
"Intense partisanship is a familiar part of the contemporary United States, but its consequences do not stop at the country’s borders. The damage now extends to U.S. relations with the rest of the world. Too often, political leaders place their own party’s interest in gaining and keeping power ahead of the national interest.
Paul R. Pillar examines how and why partisanship has undermined U.S. foreign policy, especially over the past three decades. Placing present-day discord in historical perspective going back to the beginning of the republic, Beyond the Water’s Edge shows that although the corrupting effects of partisan divisions are not new, past leaders were often able to overcome them. Recent social and political trends and developments including the end of the Cold War, however, have contributed to a surge of corrosive partisanship. Pillar demonstrates that its costs range from the prolongation of war and crisis to the intrusion of foreign influence and the undermining of democracy. He explores the ways other governments respond to inconsistency in U.S. foreign policy, the consequences of domestic division for U.S. global leadership, and how the corruption of American democracy also weakens democracy worldwide. Pillar considers possible remedies but draws the sobering conclusion that entrenched political sectarianism makes their adoption unlikely."
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