“‘If confirmed to be true, the death of Droukdal removes one of the most senior and most durable leaders of AQIM, a longstanding Al Qaeda affiliate,' said Nicholas Rasmussen, the former head of the National Counterterrorism Center in Washington. 'Droukdal remained doggedly loyal to Al Qaeda’s senior leadership...'” Read the full article here: Full Article
"'What Trump will never understand is that this move won’t hurt Merkel at all,' said Julianne Smith, a former Obama administration official now with the German Marshall Fund of the United States. 'If he’s hoping to hurt her politically, this does nothing. It actually hurts us more. We are cutting off our nose to spite our face...'" Read the full article here: Full Article
"One late night, while I sat with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the middle of negotiating what would become the Hebron protocol, he told me 'I will do what Ben-Gurion did.' I knew he was a disciple of the 'revisionist' movement, bitter enemies of David Ben-Gurion, so I said 'you mean Menachem Begin.' And he shot back: 'No, not Begin, Ben-Gurion — he did the big stuff.' "As I wrestled to understand why Netanyahu seems so determined to press ahead with [...]
"President Trump continues to use inflammatory language as many Americans protest the unlawful death of George Floyd and the unjust treatment of black Americans by our justice system. As the protests have grown, so has the intensity of the president’s rhetoric. He has gone so far as to make a shocking promise: to send active-duty members of the U.S. military to 'dominate' protesters in cities throughout the country — with or without the consent of local mayors or state governors. "On [...]
"The coronavirus graphically demonstrated that even recognized risks can catch the world off guard. SARS and Ebola had alerted the world to the danger of a zoonotic virus. Just last year, governments and international agencies issued clear and repeated warnings. The U.S. government ran simulations of an outbreak code-named 'Crimson Contagion' that highlighted the threat. An international panel of experts convened by the World Health Organization warned explicitly of the pandemic threat to human life and the global economy. Yet when [...]
"Daniel Russell, a former U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, sees Xi’s fulfillment of a domestically popular mission to unify the motherland as one of several echoes of Russia’s 2014 move on Crimea. The 'muscular assertion of sovereign power at a moment of weakness at home' is another. Putin had been struggling with low approval ratings since returning to power two years before and could ill afford to appear weak, after losing a struggle to keep [...]
"Daniel Russel, a former senior Obama administration official who dealt with Asia, said that American diplomats traditionally have been able to acknowledge U.S. struggles when dealing with foreign audiences. That dash of humility, however, was coupled with a sense of U.S. credibility – that America could be relied upon to help the oppressed in other countries as they fought for democracy, human rights and other ideals... "'The willingness of people in other countries to stand with you rests in large part [...]
"'It all shows just how out of touch Trump is with allies,' said Julianne Smith, a former Obama official now with the German Marshall Fund in Washington. 'This is a man isolated at home and abroad. He is trying to find friends in other places, knowing that relations with traditional allies are bad. But there are serious strains even with the authoritarians he admires, like Xi Jinping and even Putin.' "Mr. Trump 'continues to believe allies can be abused and mistreated [...]
Michèle Flournoy explores how Covid-19 will impact national security in her keynote address to kickoff the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the Henry A. Kissinger Center for Global Affairs at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) 2020 Future Strategy Forum, an initiative to connect scholars who research national security with its leading practitioners... Watch the full keynote here: Full Keynote
"Opponents of Israel unilaterally annexing portions of the West Bank frequently couch their concerns in terms of the infringement on Palestinian rights and aspirations for statehood. Those concerns are real. Yet we would add another reason for opposition: the damage that would be done to American security interests. "Each of us has devoted a significant portion of our personal and professional lives to advocating — and acting — in support of Israel’s security. We have worked closely with Israel’s leaders and [...]