"Elizabeth Rosenberg, a sanctions expert at the Center for a New American Security, called the bill 'a very strong step,' adding, 'They're really upping their game and trying out some very powerful new economic tools...'" Read the full article here: Full Article
"With U.S.-China relations in free fall, the Trump administration’s chief arms control negotiator recently proclaimed that 'we know how to win these races and we know how to spend the adversary into oblivion.' This obvious allusion to America’s triumph in the Cold War was only the latest sign that the decades-long rivalry with the Soviet Union has recaptured the attention of Washington’s foreign policy elite. "One prominent camp of experts and former dignitaries is arguing that a new Cold War with [...]
"Former Homeland Security adviser Lisa Monaco, who served under Obama, said that the Trump administration ran the risk of secluding the office from other government agencies by placing it within the State Department rather than the NSC. "'This move now to set this unit, re-set this unit up, although in a different building, on the one hand is the recognition that you do indeed need a specific identified place to constantly be focusing on pandemic response,' Monaco told CNN..." Read the [...]
"The White House reportedly held a key meeting this week to decide on how to deal with Israeli annexation of territories allotted to it in the Trump Peace Plan. "We have been critics of the plan, believing that by calling for the absorption of all 130 settlements — including the 78 outside the blocs — it makes separation of Israelis and Palestinians and a viable two state outcome nearly impossible. The Trump administration view is different, believing a Palestinian state neither [...]
"A major problem, for now, is that Trump is a woeful standard-bearer of human rights and liberal values on the world stage, and his heavy-handed approach to Europe has impaired more substantive cooperation regarding China, said Julie Smith of the German Marshall Fund of the United States. "The Trump administration has 'spent far less time engaging European friends and partners on human rights issues, talking about things like Hong Kong, Taiwan and the situation of the Uighurs,' she said. A Democratic [...]
"Just before the novel coronavirus pandemic struck, the United States and Iran appeared to be set on a collision course. COVID-19 quickly displaced such concerns from international headlines. But as the world prepares for further outbreaks of the disease in the months ahead, it should similarly brace for tensions between the United States and Iran to flare up again. Domestic political dynamics in the two countries risk fueling a cycle of escalation. Each side is digging in and making decisions based [...]
"Michèle Flournoy joins Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Jim Townsend to discuss how a Biden administration can work with NATO to confront transnational threats. Flournoy has been a leader in defense policy under several administrations, including as Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from 2009 to 2012. She is the managing partner of WestExec Advisors and former co-founder of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS)..." Listen to the full episode here: Full Episode
"'Trump has constantly tried to use the military as a political prop,' said Michèle Flournoy, former undersecretary of defense for policy under Obama, citing, among other examples, the president’s interference in the military justice system to pardon two convicted war criminals and his decision to prevent the Navy from punishing a third — Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher. "Flournoy... is not shy about what she thinks is needed to right the ship. 'The way it can be repaired is by having a [...]
Commissioner Kamphausen, Commissioner Lewi, other distinguished members of the Commission, it is truly an honor to testify before you today on the U.S.-China strategic competition. Nature and Features of the U.S.-China Competition As you well know, the strategic competition between the United States and China is multi-faceted, with economic, technological, political, ideological, and military dimensions. Any successful approach to this competition must take account of each of these dimensions. Economic Dimensions: First and foremost, strategic competition between the U.S. and China [...]
"A former Obama administration official, Michèle Flournoy, tells the Israel Policy Forum that both the U.S. and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu need to consider the concerns from Arab partners who support Palestinian aspirations for independence. "'You know, these countries may not be full-fledged democracies or democracies at all, but they do have to care about their street. And these leaders will not have the political maneuver room to continue investing in their relationship with Israel if Netanyahu and his government [...]