The Weekly Leaf - April 11
- The Aspen Strategy Group
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
The Weekly Leaf
This week, the U.S. announced a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs with the exception of China, China responded by raising tariffs to 125% on U.S. goods, U.S. officials headed to Oman ahead of nuclear talks with Iran, and Russia freed U.S. dual national Ksenia Karelina in a prisoner swap.
Read more below.
This Week's Content Highlights
Features from Aspen Strategy Group Members
Antony Blinken interviewed by Andrew Ross Sorkin for CNBC
Dan Sullivan quoted by Alexander Bolton for The Hill: “Senate Passes Budget, Setting Up Showdown With House Over Trump Agenda”
David Ignatius for The Washington Post: “Tehran Gets a Taste of Trump the Dealmaker”
Dina Powell McCormick for U.S. News & World Report: “Being a Leader Means Giving Back. Gen Z Needs You.”
Elizabeth Economy interviewed by Amna Nawaz for PBS NewsHour: “Analyst Breaks Down China’s Response to Trump’s Trade War”
Jane Harman for TIME: “How a Homeland Attack Could Threaten Civil Liberties Under Trump”
Joseph Nye interviewed by Ralph Ranalli for the Harvard Kennedy School PolicyCast podcast: “Professor Joe Nye Coined the Term ‘Soft Power.’ He Says America’s Is in Decline Under Trump.”
Kurt M. Campbell and Rush Doshi for Foreign Affairs: “Underestimating China”
Michael Froman interviewed by Alix Steel for Bloomberg: “CFR President Froman Reacts to Trump Tariff Pause”
Susan Schwab quoted by David Shribman for The Globe and Mail: “As the World Reeled From His Tariffs, Trump Discovered the Limits of Power”
Tweet of the Week
Rising Leaders Program Highlights
Features from ASG Rising Leaders
Joseph Bledsoe III (‘25) and Nicholas Tsougas for the Journal of Character & Leadership Development: "Unifying Air-Mindedness: Every Airman a Drone Pilot”
Matthew Hauwiller (‘24) for the Center for a New American Security: “ROTC for Hackers: Developing a Pipeline of Cyber Talent for National Defense”
Things to Know
Content Relevant to Aspen Security Forum Discussions
Mark Blyth for Project Syndicate: “Trump, Tariffs, and the Fate of the Dollar”
Ismet Fatih Čančar for Foreign Affairs: “How Bosnia Could Break Europe”
The Economist: “America’s Financial System Came Close to the Brink”
France24: “Argentina Strike Halts Trains, Planes, and Ports in Protest at Milei's Austerity Measures”
Andrew Jeong, Katrina Northrop, and Victoria Bisset for The Washington Post: “China Raises Tariffs on U.S. Goods to 125 Percent as Trade War Deepens”
Stephen Kalin for The Wall Street Journal: “As Trump Squares Off With Iran, the Middle East Is on Edge”
Paul Kirby for BBC News: “Germany Is Back, Says Merz, After Sealing Government Deal”
Aliide Naylor for The Times: “Trump Envoy Steven Witkoff in Russia to Meet Putin After Prisoner Swap”
Shannon O'Neil for Bloomberg: “U.S. Exporters Won’t Thrive in a ‘Plus-One’ World”
Dan Sabbagh for The Guardian: “Two Chinese Nationals Caught Fighting for Russia in Ukraine, Zelenskyy Says”
Charlie Savage and Eric Schmitt for The New York Times: “Trump Team Divided Over Future of U.S. Counterterrorism Operations in Somalia”
Giorgos Verdi for the European Council on Foreign Relations: “Back to the Future: How the EU Can Upgrade Its AI Continent Action Plan”
Dov S. Zakheim for The Hill: “America Can’t Afford to Fall Behind China in the Race for Biotech Dominance”
Neri Zilber, Mehul Srivastava, and Ayla Jean Yackley for the Financial Times: “Israel and Turkey Begin Talks to Avoid Conflict in Syria”
From the Archives
Revisit our conversation on U.S. economic engagement with China from the
Anja Manuel, Executive Director, Aspen Strategy Group and Aspen Security Forum; Co-Founder and Principal, Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel LLC
Stephen Orlins, President, National Committee on U.S.-China Relations
Tom Pritzker, Executive Chairman, Hyatt Hotels Corporation
Moderator: Edward Luce, U.S. National Editor, Financial Times
Book of the Week
Edited By Michael Lewis
“Michael Lewis invited his favorite writers, including Casey Cep, Dave Eggers, John Lanchester, Geraldine Brooks, Sarah Vowell, and W. Kamau Bell, to join him in finding someone doing an interesting job for the government and writing about them. The stories they found are unexpected, riveting, and inspiring, including a former coal miner devoted to making mine roofs less likely to collapse, saving thousands of lives; an IRS agent straight out of a crime thriller; and the manager who made the National Cemetery Administration the best-run organization, public or private, in the entire country. Each essay shines a spotlight on the essential behind-the-scenes work of exemplary federal employees.
Whether they’re digitizing archives, chasing down cybercriminals, or discovering new planets, these public servants are committed to their work and universally reluctant to take credit. Expanding on the Washington Post series, the vivid profiles in Who Is Government? blow up the stereotype of the irrelevant bureaucrat. They show how the essential business of government makes our lives possible, and how much it matters.”
Podcast of the Week
Jason Furman, DeAnne Julius, and David Lubin join Bronwen Maddox for Chatham House's Independent Thinking podcast: “Are Donald Trump’s Tariffs the End of Globalization?”
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