Tag: sanctions

Stevenson’s army, February 24

Russia planned its war. US & NATO planned sanctions. Now we see how good the plans were. I am concerned about how well our banking and commercial systems can implement the tough sanctions — the EU list announced yesterday was over 600 pages long. And even removing Russia from SWIFT only forces them to use faxes. I also worry about accidents and miscalculations.

Here’s Putin’s delusional, mendacious war speech.

– David Sanger notes he even claimed Ukraine was seeking nuclear weapons.

– Al jazeera has a good timeline.

– Steve Walt worries about the imbalance of interests and capabilities.

Where is China? FP’s China Watch has a summary. And WaPo has news this morning.

Meanwhile, here’s a piece about  a longtime CIA official, a  friend of mine. And a New Yorker piece about the Taliban today.

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, February 18

– Reuters has details on emerging Iran nuclear deal.

-WaPo has background on French withdrawals from Africa.

– GAO assesses DOD competition with China.

– Politico says Congress deferred to Biden on sanctions.

– CISA reports Russian hacking of defense contractors.

– UVA study finds more proof of Big Sort — people forming like-minded political communities.

– NYT reports pressure in Senate to shorten roll calls.

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, February 16

– USTR report says China has failed to live up to trade commitments.

– FP lists new US economic restrictions on China.

– Lawfare analyzes DOD report on China’s Military Power.

– NYT says US intel on Russia has improved, especially regarding military. But CFR sees dilemmas in what to reveal.

– NYT says Russia is courting Latin America

-WaPo says Russian hackers have penetrated deeply in Ukraine.

Senators can’t agree on Russia sanctions, divided over NordStream2

– GAO notes high level of congressional report requirements on DOD – 1,429 in 2020.

In class I mentioned how presidents can increase their legal authorities by signing statements refusing to enforce laws passed by Congress. Biden did that in approving NDAA.

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, February 9

– WSJ touts US information warfare over Ukraine.

– Politico reports some intelligence officials think too much is being released.

– Russians deny promises to Macron.

– At FP, writer sees Xi-Putin statement as no big deal.

– Maybe hypersonic weapons can easily be defeated, but that technology is on the critical list.

– The FY23 budget was due yesterday, but the 2022 budget hasn’t been passed. Expect lengthy delays.

Sanctions against Honduran president revealed.

Updated version of WaPo report on Afghan evacuation gives more evidence supporting my view that a key factor was the organizational culture clash between a State Dept that always resists closing an embassy and was sympathetic to the destabilizing effects on the host nation government and a military that makes detailed, rigid plans without regard to diplomatic and psychological consequences — coupled with a White House that prefers hedging to binary choices.

CORRECTION: The stopgap spending bill runs to March 11, not April as I wrongly said yesterday.

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, February 4

– WaPo has the best tick-tock on the raid that killed the ISIS leader.

– Fed Kaplan assesses how the war on terror is going.

– NYT reveals how Putin has sanctions-proofed Russia.

– US reveals more Russian planning for pretexts for Ukraine war.

-WSJ says even renewed Iran nuclear deal will leave it within 12 months of a bomb.

-State Dept approves new Mideast arms sales.

-Documents show Trump WH considered using NSA to gather election info.

– Wired says an independent US hacker took down North Korea’s internet.

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, January 29

-Biden says he’ll send some US troops to eastern Europe in “near term.”

-Senators work on   sanctions bill on Russia.

-FT says China stands with Russia.

– WSJ describes planned far-reaching US sanctions.

– Politico says US has had diplomatic blitz.
US cuts aid to Egypt.

– CNAS releases study of semiconductor vulnerabilities.

– Hill article calls for Indo_Pacific economic strategy.

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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