Liz Rosenberg in Foreign Policy: “Maximum Pressure on Iran Won’t Work”
“This week, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo moved to end sanctions waivers on Iranian oil—a major step to increase financial pressure on Tehran. The new policy, once it goes into force on May 2, aims to force China, India, Japan, South Korea, and Turkey to stop buying crude from …
Read MoreDanny Russel quoted in The Washington Post article, “‘Stopping the bad stuff:’ Japan’s Abe visits White House in latest bid to soothe Trump’s ego — and avoid his ire”
“‘There’s a certain amount of domestic dismay and criticism of Abe for what is perceived in many quarters in Japan as shameless pandering to Donald Trump,’ said Daniel Russel, who served as assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific in the Obama administration. ‘I’ve certainly heard that …
Read MoreNick Rasmussen quoted in The Washington Post: “The hazy link between the attacks in Sri Lanka and New Zealand”
“Determining the motivations behind extremist acts can be challenging, experts say, and extremists are generally vague about their reasoning. ‘Terrorist organizations are often opportunistic in the way that they claim justification or rationalization for their attacks,’ Nicholas Rasmussen, a former senior director for counterterrorism on the National Security Council, told …
Read MoreJulie Smith quoted in The New York Times article, “With Trump, NATO Chief Tries to Navigate Spending Minefields”
“…Friction is growing in Germany. The Social Democrats, Ms. Merkel’s center-left coalition partners who control the finance ministry and were in charge of the latest budget plan, are using the dislike of Mr. Trump in their election campaign ahead of European parliamentary elections in May. “Julianne Smith, a fellow at …
Read MoreJulie Smith in Foreign Policy: “NATO Needs Solidarity for Its 70th Birthday”
“NATO marks its 70 anniversary this week—a remarkable milestone for a military alliance made up of 29 (soon to be 30) separate member states. But the big commemoration, scheduled for April 3 and 4 in Washington, has faced trouble from the start. “Given U.S. President Donald Trump’s past behavior at …
Read MoreMike Singh in The New York Times: “How to Make Trump’s Israeli-Palestinian Peace Plan Work”
“After two years of playing coy, the Trump administration is reportedly finally ready to unveil its plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace. The plan’s details remain confidential, but if it is anything like President Trump’s moves so far on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, it will be bold. “Some of those steps have worked …
Read MoreDavid Cohen in The Washington Post: “Why Trump’s sanctions aren’t working”
“On March 22, President Trump tweeted that he ordered the ‘withdrawal’ of North Korea sanctions. It is still unclear whether he pulled back an upcoming package of North Korea sanctions or ones that had been announced just the day before. And although the president didn’t explain his reasoning, Sarah Sanders …
Read MoreMichael Camilleri testifies on democratic governance before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs
Michael Camilleri testified before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on the subject of “Understanding Odebrecht: Lessons for Combating Corruption in the Americas.” Read the full testimony here: Full Article
Read MoreMichèle Flournoy comments on likely ISIS strategy in Task and Purpose article
“‘Despite the loss of its former caliphate, ISIS has not been defeated,’ warned Michèle Flournoy, who served as under defense secretary for policy from 2009 to 2012. “‘We have seen this movie before,’ said Flournoy, who was expected to become defense secretary if Hillary Clinton won the 2016 presidential election. …
Read MoreMichèle Flournoy testifies before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on NATO
Michèle Flournoy testified alongside Douglas Lute, Derek Chollet, and Ian Brzezinski on the benefits of the NATO alliance to the United States, the importance of NATO in securing the peace in Europe throughout the Trans-Atlantic region, the insufficiency of the 2% benchmark for measuring allied and partner contributions, and alternative …
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