Tag: State Department
Stevenson’s army, September 20
-No surprises in hearings for several Biden nominees. SecState nominee Blinken deftly sidestepped controversy.
Mister Lloyd Austin promised to surround himself with civilians. But the Biden people are worried about “deep state” Trump loyalists.– Example, Michael Ellis.– Another example, administration refusal to cooperate with transition teams.
In the Senate, the leaders have agreed to the 50/50 power sharing agreement from 2001 — except Leader McConnell demands promise not to end filibuster. McConnell did, however, accuse Trump of lies about the election and provoking the riot. And the FBI says some rioters plotted violence in advance and coordinated in real-time during attacks. More from BuzzFeed.
While troop levels are down Stars and Stripes notes US still has 18,000 contractors in Afghanistan. Marc Ambinder warns of new challenges for the Secret Service.
Researchers note: at noon Wednesday, the Trump whitehouse.gov materials will move to an archived site, like the one for the Obama administration. [No Tweets, just official materials]
Navalny people release report about Putin’s Palace on the Black Sea.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to 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, December 24
The president has vetoed the NDAA [message here]; the House will try to override on Monday.
RollCall reports that the first State Dept authorization bill in two decades was dropped from inclusion in the NDAA because of WH demands from Ivanka Trump.
The omnibus appropriations and covid relief bill faces an uncertain future. If sent to WH today, Congress could avoid a pocket veto with override votes by the morning of Jan 3.Meanwhile, Speaker Pelosi promises a unanimous consent motion today to have $2000 stimulus checks, as requested by Trump. GOP leader McCarthy may offer his own UC to strip the foreign aid money from the bill.
In other news, the administration considers closing the Baghdad embassy after the recent attacks from uncertain sources.
Administration wants $500 million arms sale to Saudis.
How to respond to Russian cyber hack. Fred Kaplan has measured response.
Just Security writer calls for legal agreements drawing the line between espionage and attacks.
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Stevenson’s army, November 18
The Acting Defense Secretary announced cutbacks in US troops overseas. The press noticed that the CJCS was not present at the briefing.
Stars & Stripes says US will leave Somalia but stay in Djibouti
Micah Zenko notes that, even with the cuts in Afghanistan, there will be 22K civilian contractors..
NYT says foreign countries are signing up US lobbyists with Biden ties.
The Post’s Dave Weigel summarizes the gerrymander consequences of the elections. GOP ahead; Dems fell short.
Another think tank group releases its plan for State Dept reform.
Interesting suggestion for a special China directorate on NSC.
And strangely, the State Dept policy planning staff has released a heavily footnoted paper on the China challenge.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to 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, November 12
Jonathan Swan of Axios says the firings and shuffling in the Pentagon may be the prelude to rapid troop withdrawals before the inauguration. Politico echoes that and adds efforts to put loyalists in the intelligence community.
While the simplest explanation may be revenge by the president, the maneuvering of people who couldn’t even be confirmed by a GOP Senate suggests a master plotter — NSA O’Brien?
WaPo notes the uneasy position these moves put CJCS Milley in.
NYT doubts a master plot, but also reports a recent clash between the new acting SecDef and SecState Pompeo.
This is not a good time for the national security leadership to be in such disarray.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to 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, October 27
Vice says US troops in Africa are in danger.
Daily Beast says FBI is sitting on its white supremacy threat report.
Why is the NSA going to shipyards and explaining Navy programs?
Maybe because, Dan Drezner argues, the foreign policy leadership is totally politicized.
Biden aides, however, aren’t allowed to talk to foreigners.
Phil Zelikow has a short list of needed State Dept reforms.
Sorry, folks, NYT health writer says marijuana has heart health risks.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to 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, October 24
Academics find that tough talk on China helps in elections.
Politico notes this:
Which U.S. races feature China as a hot topic? We have the data. Wichowsky is also a principal investigator at Elecurator, a research project affiliated with the Northwestern Mutual Data Science Institute. She shared some findings with China Watcher:
— Close senate races: China figures most prominently in advertising in Montana’s Senate race, where incumbent Republican Steve Daines faces former Gov. Steve Bullock. In Arizona, incumbent Martha McSally (R-Az.) is attacking Mark Kelly on China. In Kentucky, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and challenger Amy McGrath have both mentioned China in attack ads. In total, attack ads referring to China appear in 10 Senate races, including Colorado, Michigan, Alabama, Iowa, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
— Close House races: Democratic Rep. Anthony Brindisi in New York’s 22nd congressional district has run several ads that discuss how he fought to bring jobs back from China. In Utah’s 4th, vulnerable Democratic incumbent Ben McAdams is getting hit by Republican challenger Burgess Owens for being soft on China. In Iowa’s open 2nd district race, both sides are using China in attack ads.
SCMP has analysis of new Taiwan arms.
Former ambassador and Trump official laments politicization of State Dept.
Intelligence officials say Russia poses greater election threat than Iran.
New order threatens career government employees.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I plan to 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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