Month: May 2022
Stevenson’s army, May 27
– NYT sees disagreements over how to end Ukraine war.
– Reuters says US has had secret talks with Ukraine over escalation dangers.
– David Ignatius says US had good secret planning to thwart Russia in Ukraine.
– Here’s an analysis of SecState Blinken’s big China speech, and the text itself.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
– NYT reports on declassified documents, starting in 1950s, on emergency authorities.
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Stevenson’s army, May 26
– SecState Blinken gives a big China speech this AM (see above).
– NYT reports Chinese efforts to reach pact with Pacific islands.
– FP says West is losing Africa to Russia.
– Reuters said Russian troops surrounding Ukraine forces.
– Finland & Sweden in talks with Turkey.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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Stevenson’s army, May 25
– Turkey’s demands regarding Swedish and Finnish NATO entry.
– Orban blocks EU consideration of Russia sanctions.
– WSJ shows limits of Biden Asia trip — Quad didn’t even mention Russia
– Kissinger says Ukraine must make concessions.
– US public support for Ukraine slips, economy more important.
– Russian naval blockade detailed in declassified report.
– RAND author sees civil war in the Marine Corps
– WSJ says Iran previously got access to secret IAEA info.
Remember to check every now and then for new CRS reports — such as this on DOD’s process, and this longer piece on executive branch process.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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Stevenson’s army, May 24
– 20 countries coordinate military aid to Ukraine.
– China and Russia run a joint military exercise.
– Peter Baker tries to explain why Biden goes “off script.”
– WaPo has its own analysis.
– Supreme Court lets stand a ruling requiring clearance of ex-officials’ books.
– Michele Flournoy suggests ways to prevent next Ukraine.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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Albania has come a long way
The President of Albania, Ilir Meta, honored me yesterday with the George Kastrioti Scanderbeg Medal. His citation reads as follows:
As a token of appreciation and gratitude for his previous contribution in promoting and aggrandizing the Albanian cause in the United States.
For serving as a powerful voice defending the human rights and freedoms, especially during the difficult years which our nation went through, and also for being a supporter of Kosova’ sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The occasion was a meeting and lively chat with Ambassador Genc Mucaj, President Meta’s senior international advisor, at Dacor-Bacon House here in DC. Also present were my wife and the Atlanic Council’s Riley Barnes, who accepted an award on behalf of former Senator Brownback, with whom he worked at the State Department. We all spoke briefly with President Meta by phone.
Albania and Scanderbeg
My first acquaintanceship with Scanderbeg was in 1977, in Rome. The tiny piazza that bears his name lies in the shadow of the Quirinale, the Italian President’s massive residence. We called in a building opposite on Italian friends of friends, who soon became ours as well. I think they tried to explain Scanderbeg to us. But we spoke little Italian then and they little English. It was only later that I learned of Scanderbeg’s role as the Albanian national hero who fought against the Ottomans and for the Pope in the 15th century.
My familiarity with Albania then was minimal. A product of the Cold War, I’d been taught that Albania was Communist China’s isolated friend, not America’s. I also knew that the two lovers in Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte disguise themselves as wild-looking Albanians to try to seduce each others’ girlfriends, on a wager.
American Embassy Tirana
It was not until 1991 or so that Albania found me as Deputy Chief of Mission at US Embassy Rome. That summer, while I was Charge’, more than ten thousand Albanian refugees fleeing the collapse of the Communist regime arrived in Italy on a single ship:
The Cold War was over. Washington instructed Embassy Rome to tell the Italians that more than 50 years of their possession of the American Embassy in Tirana would come to an end a year hence. The Americans had entrusted the building to the Italians, in return for maintaining the premises, in 1939. I was told to evict them, the sooner the better but in any event within the year.
I did my best. But the Italian Ambassador in Tirana would have none of it. A “bad character,” his colleagues at the Foreign Ministry explained to me, he behaved like a rent control tenant in a Rome apartment. He would not move. The Italians offered to buy the building, telling us it was decrepit and far too small to serve the US.
The embassy has grown
I discovered in my office a coffee-table crushing volume of photographs of Italian embassies around the world, published by the Foreign Ministry. The little building in Tirana was beautiful, I said as I flipped the pages for the Italian Political Director. But the Italians were right about its physical condition and size. The premises had to be renovated after the Italian Ambassador yanked everything he could from the building, leaving gaping holes where air conditioners and electrical conduits had been. He didn’t leave until the last day of the one-year notice.
The State Department rejected the offer to buy, declaring there would never be more than ten or so employees in Tirana. A model Small Embassy they said. There are now well over 100. The State Department had to not only renovate the original building but also build several annexes.
Albania has come a long way
Of course Albania isn’t today what was it was in the 1990s. Then the collapse of government-sponsored pyramid schemes led to a virtual state collapse. That gave me my first opportunity to visit Tirana, in 1997 to observe elections. The city was still mostly unrenovated from Mussolini’s imperial pretensions and Communist decrepitude. There was more gunfire than in Sarajevo during the 1990s war.
Those elections nevertheless marked the beginning of Albania’s recovery and its transition to more serious democracy. It joined NATO in 2009. Albania now aspires to European Union membership. It is currently stalled because of a dispute between Bulgaria and North Macedonia. Once that is resolved, Tirana still faces many hurdles. Not least is in meeting EU standards for rule of law. But qualification for EU membership within the 2020s is certainly feasible.
I won’t get into trouble by commenting on current events. Albanian politics are like rugby, frighteningly rough but not usually fatal. I’d like to keep my status as an interested spectator, not a participant.
But I am grateful and honored, Mr. President Meta and Ambassador Mucaj. And I hope to see you in Tirana in the not too distant future.
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Stevenson’s army, May 23
– Biden says US will defend Taiwan, aides say no change in policy.
– NYT explains IPEF. So does WSJ.
– US may use special forces to defend Kyiv embassy.
– Israel evicts Palestinians in advance of Biden visit.
– NYT reports on Ukraine peace ideas.
– Here’s the list of Americans sanctioned by Russia.
– WSJ reports on China’s subsidies to businesses.
– Politico has interesting report on how aides plan foreign travel by the president.
– History lessons: Politico argues the Scopes trial mirrors current fights over what can be taught in schools. And Jill Lepore has a good short history of the trial.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I republish here. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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