The Weekly Leaf
This week, President of Russia Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jung-un signed a security pact during Putin's visit to Pyongyang, the Chinese Coast Guard boarded Philippine navy vessels, and extreme temperatures killed hundreds during this year's Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
Read more below.
2024 Aspen Security Forum
We are excited to announce the first round of speakers that will be joining us from Tuesday, July 16 to Friday, July 19 in Aspen, CO for the 2024 Aspen Security Forum!
Passes are limited and selling quickly. Learn more about how to register for the livestream or request to attend in person here. Stay tuned for more speaker announcements in the coming weeks!
This Week's Content Highlights
Features from Aspen Strategy Group Members
Condoleezza Rice for The Free Press: “Juneteenth Is Our Second Independence Day”
Robert D. Blackwill for The National Interest: “World Order Is in a Downward Spiral”
Mark T. Esper interviewed by Brianna Keilar for CNN: “Ex-U.S. Defense Secretary on Why There Should Be ‘Concern’ Over Hezbollah and Israel Trading Threats”
David Ignatius for The Washington Post: “Russia Is Punching Back at NATO in the Shadows”
Meghan L. O’Sullivan and Jason Bordoff for Foreign Affairs: “Green Peace”
David Petraeus, Meghan L. O’Sullivan, and Richard Fontaine for Foreign Affairs: “Israel’s War of Regime Change Is Repeating America’s Mistakes”
David E. Sanger for The New York Times: “Putin Once Tried to Curb North Korea’s Nuclear Program. That’s Now Over.”
Robert Zoellick for the Financial Times: “Markets Ignore the Internal Politics of Central Banks at Their Peril”
Tweet of the Week
Rising Leaders Program Highlights
Features from ASG Rising Leaders
"The Saudis, like others in the Gulf, have hedged their relationships with a range of countries over the past decade as the U.S. was perceived to be disengaging from the region. But there is a recognition that neither China nor Russia could replicate the U.S.’s security or diplomatic role in the region."
Felicia Schwartz ('24) for the Financial Times: "How Saudi Arabia Won Back Biden"
Things to Know
Content Relevant to Aspen Security Forum Discussions
Maya Averbuch and Michael O’Boyle for Bloomberg: “Sheinbaum Picks Ebrard as Economy Chief, Sparking Peso Rally”
Stephen Kalin, Summer Said, Saleh al-Batati, and Menna Farouk for The Wall Street Journal: “Scorching Heat Ravages Hajj as More Than 1,170 Pilgrims Die”
Stuart Lau for POLITICO: “5 Challenges for NATO’s Next Chief Mark Rutte”
James MacKenzie for Reuters: “Netanyahu Disbands War Cabinet as Pressure Grows on Israel’s Northern Border”
The New York Times: "Why Darfur Again Faces the Risk of Ethnic Slaughter"
Robert C. O’Brien for Foreign Affairs: “The Return of Peace Through Strength”
Keith B. Richburg for The Washington Post: “South Africa’s New Government Is Making Heads Explode”
Choe Sang-Hun and Paul Sonne for The New York Times: “Putin and Kim Sign Pact Pledging Mutual Support Against ‘Aggression’”
Demetri Sevastopulo for the Financial Times: "Philippines Secretly Reinforces Ship at Centre of South China Sea Dispute"
Ashley J. Tellis; Tong Zhao for Foreign Affairs: “What Are China’s Nuclear Weapons For?”
Joby Warrick for The Washington Post: “Iran Signals a Major Boost in Nuclear Program at Key Site”
Will Weissert for AP News: “U.S. Will Redirect Air Defense Interceptor Missiles to Ukraine That Other Allies Had on Order”
From the Archives
Revisit our conversation about cyber threats, the role of industry in cyber defense, and AI-enabled threat detection and deterrence from the 2023 Aspen Security Forum.
Rob Joyce, Director of Cybersecurity, National Security Agency
Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President, Microsoft
Moderator: Susan Glasser, Staff Writer, The New Yorker
Book of the Week
by Madhumita Murgia
"...Code Dependent explores the impact of a set of powerful, flawed, and often-exploitative technologies on individuals, communities, and our wider society. Murgia exposes how AI can strip away our collective and individual sense of agency, and shatter our illusion of free will. The ways in which algorithms and their effects are governed over the coming years will profoundly impact us all. Yet we can’t agree on a common path forward. We cannot decide what preferences and morals we want to encode in these entities―or what controls we may want to impose on them. And thus, we are collectively relinquishing our moral authority to machines.
In Code Dependent, Murgia not only sheds light on this chilling phenomenon, but also charts a path of resistance. AI is already changing what it means to be human, in ways large and small, and Murgia reveals what could happen if we fail to reclaim our humanity."
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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.