Tag: Congress
Stevenson’s army, March 27
– Biden’s gaffe in Warsaw dominates news coverage.
– WH tries to get media to focus on budget, to be released Monday.
– Sen. Rand Paul [R-KY] blocks passage of Russian trade penalty bill.
– WSJ says Ukraine is exploiting Russian announced change in strategy.
– WaPo explains deaths of several Russian generals.
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, March 16
– Pew shows US support for Ukraine.
– NYT reports burst of centrism in Congress.
– Biden signs bill with more aid.
– WSJ reports more aid planned.
– NYT says US military wants more operations in Kenya.
Just in time for our intelligence topic in class, an old but still relevant report on how Congress handles classified information.
Yesterday Charlie also distributed this:
Prof. Cohen has a new piece in Atlantic that criticizes US policy and comments on Ukraine.The most important paragraphs are these:
The American fear of escalation has been a repeated note throughout this conflict. But to the extent American leaders express that sentiment, or spread such notions to receptive reporters, they make matters worse, giving the Russians a psychological edge. The Russians can (and do) threaten to ratchet things up, knowing that the West will respond with increased anxiety rather than reciprocal menace. We have yet to see, for example, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin telling the world what a wretched hand the Russians are playing militarily, and how superior ours is—a message he is particularly fit to deliver.
As for the nuclear question: We should not signal to the Russians that they have a trump card they can always play to stop us from doing pretty much anything. Nuclear weapons are why the United States should refrain from attacking Russia directly, not why it should fear fighting Russians in a country they invaded. Only a few years ago, the United States Air Force killed Russian Wagner mercenaries by the hundreds in Syria; American and Russian pilots tangled in the skies over Korea and possibly Vietnam. Nuclear deterrence cuts both ways, and the Russian leadership knows it. Vladimir Putin and those around him are ill-informed but not mad, and the use of nuclear weapons would threaten their very survival.
I disagree. Maybe we make the Russians feel better if we say we won’t fight a nuclear war with them, but we shouldn’t ever fight such a war. The entire world will be a more dangerous place if anyone ever uses another nuclear weapon in anger. So we should say it because it’s true and it’s right. And while our policy is sympathetic but not locked in to no first use, Russian policy is openly “escalate to deescalate.”
Eliot Cohen thinks the Russians won’t mind if we kill their people outside Russia’s borders. We would and we do. But we have tolerated sanctuaries, as painful and frustrating as they are, for geostrategic reasons. We didn’t want Russians or Chinese to fight us in Vietnam, or a nuclear-armed Pakistan to retaliate against attacks on the Taliban and its allies there.
Does this mean that we are telling the Russians that they have a trump card they can always play to stop us from doing pretty much anything? Not at all. We are telling them that we will NOT do pretty much anything to prevent their conquest of Ukraine. We will do many things, including providing weapons that Ukrainians will deploy in their own country to fight the Russians. But we will consciously limit our direct involvement because that is in our interests.
Nuclear weapons force all combatants to be especially careful. We should not be killing Russians anywhere in a deliberate and sustained policy. We have important security and humanitarian interests in Ukraine, but no vital national interest.Yes, Nuclear deterrence cuts both ways. It should deter both of us from climbing the escalation ladder for less than existential reasons.
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, March 14
– Talks and fighting over Ukraine.
– WSJ says US won’t exempt Russia from sanctions to save Iran deal.
– Various sources say Russia has asked China for military aid.
– NYT assesses how the war might end.
– WaPO reports return of earmarks.
– SAIS & WIlson Center have upcoming event on Ukraine & the Balkans.
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, March 12
Moment of reflection: Two years ago today, SAIS shut down and I had to teach my first Zoom class.
-FT has good article on Putin’s inner circle.
-NYT debunks Russian claim of US bioweapons lab
– Fred Kaplan reviews Prof Sarotte’s book about NATO.
-AP notes how Congress has pushed Biden on Ukraine.
– WSJ notes China gave nuclear security guarantees to Ukraine in 2013.
And the start of Daylight Savings Time tonight reminds me of the time Congress was considering some change in the law and an Iowa lady wrote to her Senator: “I don’t like Daylight Savings at all. The extra hour of sunlight turns my grass brown.”
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, March 11
– Politico has the most complete report on the Polish MiG story. But read the transcript of DOD’s Kirby.
– Bipartisan blowback in the Senate.
-78 mostly academic figures send their own letter opposing a no fly zone.
– NYT says Biden will suspend Russia’s PNTR [aka MFN]
-Former CIA official Paul PIllar has excellent piece on what a Ukraine ceasefire has to look like. Be sure to click on link to article by Prof. Zartman.
– NYT reports what Russians hear about the war and what China is reporting.
In other news, Africom wants US troops in Somalia.
–South Korean winner promises defense boost.
-NYT assesses redistricting as even for parties.
Congress added to defense spending. And look what it did for the legislative branch:
Jet setting— Report language directs more robust cyber training for lawmakers and staff traveling abroad, including security for their personal devices.
Intern cash — On average, each Senate office will be allocated around $70,000 for intern compensation.
House compensation study — House Chief Administrative Office is directed to explore ways to increase survey participation and options to mandate participation in the compensation study.
Senate Daycare — The Senate “encourages all stakeholders to continue working towards selecting a preferred site option for site expansion”… keep an eye on the most cutthroat waitlist in town.
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, March 9
I like a good kielbasa, but look at this:
– VP Harris goes to Poland today, just as the snafu over fighters to Ukraine emerges.
– USG was surprised and unhappy over Poland’s announcement.
– Poland now agrees this has to be a unanimous NATO decision.
– Russian propaganda at home assessed by NYT and by FP.
– Heads of IC give open testimony to House Intelligence Committee. And here’s the DNI’s unclassified annual report.
– Meanwhile, deal reached on spending bills–$1.5 trillion, including $13.6 billion for Ukraine. But also includes short term CR until next Tuesday to allow time for Senate action.
– Interesting analyses: Why Russia is bad at urban warfare, lessons from USMC.
– What Taiwan should learn from 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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