Month: August 2022
Stevenson’s army, August 23
– Retiring Sen. Pat Leahy [D-VT] laments changes in politics and the Senate. A GOP friend of mine chatted with him in Nov., 2020 and reported he said, “We don’t talk to each other any more.”
-A new NBC poll has a lot of surprises; one is that “threats to democracy” is now the “most important issue facing the country,” ahead of jobs and the cost of living. [Scroll to the end]
– FP says most of Indo-Pacific sides with Beijing.
– FP says Poland and Hungary have a falling out.
– NYT says Ukraine is siphoning humanitarian aid from other countries.
– Politico has more details on classified materials at Mar-a-Lago.
– Politico also reports WH is at odds with intelligence community over reducing classifications.
– WaPo has a friendly profile of SecState Blinken.
– A California prof says VP Pence had no authority to summon troops to protect Capitol.
– Fearing attacks in civilian areas, US warns Americans to leave 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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Stevenson’s army, August 22
– NYT reports what Russian media have been saying.
– Miami Herald says Russia is holding exercises in Venezuela.
– In Foreign Affairs, John Mearsheimer warns about escalation in Ukraine.
– In Atlantic, a journalist says we know little about Chinese leaders.
-At Lawfare, a professor wonders whether Gen. Milley has endorsed a “duty to disobey”
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, August 19
This somehow went unpublished Friday (it is August after all):
– WaPo has a second major story on Ukraine war, today how Russian intelligence fell short.
– Here are links to a summary article, and a summary of the first story.
– WSJ says Wagner group plays key role in Ukraine.
– FP says Congress and administration fight over Egypt aid.
– WSJ says China & Russia plan military exercises.
– I now have a link to the House HFAC GOP staff report on Afghanistan.
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, August 18
– Lawfare has a good analysis of why presidents can’t declassify nuclear stuff.
– Axios has a new newsletter on cyber things, especially valuable today because it explains how duties are split among 3 top people in the Biden administration.
– Politico’s China newsletter summarizes the role of China in the pending US elections.
– FDD updates US actions in Somalia.
– SAIS profs Barno and Bensahel have a summer reading list.
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, August 16
– WaPo has a major story with the tick-tock of US efforts pre-invasion to convince Zelensky and others of the coming Russian invasion. It reminds me of Henry Kissinger’s complaint to the intelligence community after a surprise –“You warned me, but you didn’t convince me.”
– Cong. McCaul still hasn’t released the GOP staff report on problems during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. I’d like to see and send a copy, but it isn’t available to the public. Nevertheless, a WH rebuttal is available; here it is.
– Here’s another critique of the bungled withdrawal.
– NYT reports the French are pulling out of Mali after 9 years.
– CNN notes that over a million people have Top Secret clearances.
– At the Atlantic, Tom Nichols sees a new kind of political violence.
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, August 15
Late, but here it is:
– Are we training foreign forces in the right way? A Brandeis prof critiques.
– Is capabilities based planning for our military outdated? A retired Army colonel says it is.
– How did Ukraine attack the Crimea air base? WaPo does a deep dive and isn’t sure.
-Why did Senate Approps reject a plan for munitions replenishment? Because it’s a contingency fund and Congress doesn’t like them.
– How close are we to civil war? Cong. Kinzinger sends some scary tweets.
And yesterday’s too:
– Pew has a new survey showing how much Americans dislike the opposition party.
– NYT reports growing right-wing rhetoric urging violence.
– Administration declassified an intelligence report saying al Qaeda has not regrouped in Afghanistan.
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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