The Weekly Leaf
This week, President Trump proposed a possible U.S. takeover of Gaza following his meeting with Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu, the USAID workforce was severely cut as the majority of workers were terminated or put on administrative leave, the White House suspended its planned tariffs on Canada and Mexico for 30 days pending negotiations, and 3,000 people were killed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo after M23 rebels seized Goma.
Read more below.
Aspen Strategy Group Announcement
After 40 years of incredible leadership as co-founder, director, and then co-chair, Joseph Nye is stepping down as co-chair of the Aspen Strategy Group. His vision and service have left an indelible mark on our work, and we are grateful that he will remain an active member. In honor of his enduring contributions, our Brent Scowcroft Award Fellowship has been renamed the Scowcroft-Nye Fellowship—a tribute made possible by the generous support of Dan and Susan Poneman. In light of this transition, we are delighted to welcome Nicholas Burns as our new co-chair alongside Condoleezza Rice. Ambassador Burns brings a wealth of experience from his tenure as ASG’s executive director (2009–2021) and his recent service as U.S. Ambassador to China.
This Week's Content Highlights
Features from Aspen Strategy Group Members
Joseph S. Nye, Jr. for Project Syndicate: “Does Globalization Have a Future?”
Anja Manuel interviewed by Sanjay Puri for The RegulatingAI Podcast: “The Future of AI & Global Power: Anja Manuel on Deep Seek R1 & U.S.-China Relations”
Chris Coons for The Washington Post: “Trump’s Attack on USAID Is an Assault on Americans’ Safety”
Peter D. Feaver contributed to Newsweek: “‘I’d Be Stunned’: Will Pete Hegseth Survive Trump's Whole Term?”
Susan B. Glasser joined the Lowy Institute Board
Michael J. Green interviewed Michèle Flournoy for the Asia Chessboard podcast: “How Long Will Deterrence Hold?”
David Ignatius for The Washington Post: “Why Britain’s Departing Ambassador Is Still Betting On America”
Nicholas Kristof for The New York Times: “The World’s Richest Men Take On the World’s Poorest Children”
Meghan O’Sullivan, Graham Allison, Jason Furman, Dan Balz, Cornell William Brooks, and moderator Brittany Shepherd for the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics: “Trump’s Return to the White House”
David E. Sanger for The New York Times: “‘Riviera’ in Gaza and Aid Agency Assault Capture Trump’s Vision of U.S. Power”
Dan Sullivan delivered a keynote speech at the Center for Strategic & International Studies
Lawrence H. Summers joined Anne McElvoy for Politico's Power Play: “Larry Summers: How to Deal With Trump’s Tariff Threat”
Tweet of the Week
Things to Know
Content Relevant to Aspen Security Forum Discussions
Vera Bergengruen for The Wall Street Journal: “Rubio Calls ‘Status Quo’ at Panama Canal Unacceptable, as Trump Renews Vow to Seize It”
Zack Cooper for The Dispatch: “Trump’s Predictable Unpredictability on Taiwan”
The Economist: “How Mexico and Canada Handled Trump’s Tariff Threat”
Camille Elemia and Sui-Lee Wee for The New York Times: “Philippines’ Vice President Is Impeached, Deepening Political Turmoil”
Dexter Filkins for The New Yorker: “The U.S. Military’s Recruiting Crisis”
Stephen Gibbs for The Times: “El Salvador Signs Deal to House Deported U.S. Prisoners in Mega-Jail”
Katrin Kuntz for Der Spiegel: “Trump's Interest in Greenland Fuels Urge for Independence”
Paul Millar for France24: “Could Trump Force Jordan and Egypt to Take Palestinians Deported from Gaza?”
Joe Miller for the Financial Times: “Elon Musk Barred From Accessing U.S. Treasury Payments Data”
Paul Njie and Basillioh Rukanga for BBC News: “Malawi President Orders Troops to Withdraw From DR Congo”
Ken Opalo for An Africanist Perspective: “On American Aid Cuts/Disruptions”
Samantha Power for The New York Times: “I Ran U.S.A.I.D. Killing It Is a Win for Autocrats Everywhere.”
Jessica Chen Weiss interviewed by Josephine Ma for the South China Morning Post: “The U.S.-China Rivalry Doesn’t Have to Be a Zero-Sum Game”
Nancy A. Youssef, Tarini Parti, and and Jess Bravin for The Wall Street Journal: “Trump’s Use of Guantanamo Bay Signals Hard Line Against Migrants”
From the Archives
Revisit our conversations with leaders from the Middle East from the 2024 Aspen Security Forum.
Salam Fayyad, Visiting Senior Scholar and Daniella Lipper Coules '95 Distinguished Visitor in Foreign Affairs, Princeton School of Public and International Affairs; Former Prime Minister, Palestinian Authority
Amos Yadlin, President and Founder, MIND Israel; Former Head of Military Intelligence of Israel
Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, National Security Advisor, Kingdom of Bahrain
Moderator: David Ignatius, Columnist, The Washington Post
Book of the Week
By Eva Dou
“On the coast of southern China, an eccentric entrepreneur spent three decades steadily building an obscure telecom company into one of the world’s most powerful technological empires with hardly anyone noticing. This all changed in December 2018, when the detention of Meng Wanzhou, Huawei Technologies’ female scion, sparked an international hostage standoff, poured fuel on the U.S.-China trade war, and suddenly thrust the mysterious company into the global spotlight.
In House of Huawei, Washington Post technology reporter Eva Dou pieces together a remarkable portrait of Huawei’s reclusive founder, Ren Zhengfei, and how he built a sprawling corporate empire—one whose rise Western policymakers have become increasingly obsessed with halting. Based on wide-ranging interviews and painstaking archival research, House of Huawei dissects the global web of power, money, influence, surveillance, bloodshed, and national glory that Huawei helped to build—and that has also ensnared it.”
Podcast of the Week
Dario Amodei joins Jordan Schneider for ChinaTalk:
“Anthropic’s Dario Amodei on AI Competition”
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As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the Aspen Institute is nonpartisan and does not endorse, support, or oppose political candidates or parties. Further, the views and opinions of our guests and speakers do not necessarily reflect those of the Aspen Institute.
