In The News

New York Times: US Foreign Policy Under Pompeo

David E. Sanger March 14, 2018
The rest of the world must adjust to another US secretary of state. Donald Trump fired Rex Tillerson, long at odds with the US president, and announced plans to nominate Mike Pompeo, director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Trump suggests that Pompeo’s world views are more closely aligned with his own. Writing for the New York Times, David Sanger describes Tillerson as “a restraining...

New Statesman: Putin’s New Cold War

Lawrence Freedman March 14, 2018
The Soviet-era nerve agent Novichok sickened a Russian man, his daughter and a police officer in a small British town. Prime Minister Theresa May gave Russia a deadline for an explanation, and after no serious response, she expelled 23 undeclared Russian intelligence officers. Such incidents increase Russia’s isolation and increase wariness about Vladimir Putin’s expected victory in Russia’s...

TechCrunch: Trump Blocks Broadcom Takeover of Qualcomm

Katie Roof and Ingrid Lunden March 13, 2018
Donald Trump cited security concerns for blocking Singapore-based Broadcom’s hostile buyout of US-based Qualcomm. “The combination of the two chipmakers would have potentially been the biggest tech merger of all time, and would have brought together two of the biggest companies that manufacture the processors that power phones, computers and almost the entire array of connected devices,” report...

BBC: Nerve Agent Attack in Britain

March 12, 2018
The British Foreign Office summoned Russia’s ambassador to explain the death of a former spy with the military-grade nerve agent Novichok, a chemical weapon developed by the former Soviet Union. Sergei Skripal and his daughter were found ill on a bench in the city of Salisbury, population of 45,000. A police officer also fell ill. Prime Minister Theresa May expects a credible response from Russia...

Quartz: China’s Growing Africa Footprint

Abdi Latif Dahir March 12, 2018
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson ended a five-nation diplomatic tour of Africa one day early, as African and US officials compare China’s growing trade and investment with the US security role. The US has one permanent base in Djibouti. “But last year, China opened its first overseas naval base there too, provided loans to the country, and built a railway connecting its seas to the Ethiopian...

The Week: Is Trump Walking Into Kim’s Trap?

Peter Weber March 9, 2018
Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump surprised the world by quickly agreeing to a meeting before June, this after a year of insults exchanged and missile tests by North Kora. The meeting, let alone lasting peace, may not materialize, though the willingness to talk and a quest for peace by the two leaders seems hopeful. Experienced analysts raise concerns, questioning if Kim is serious about...

Washington Post: Trump Accepts Talks With North Korea’s Kim

Anna Fifield March 8, 2018
North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong Un has invited US President Donald Trump for talks, as conveyed by a South Korea delegation that traveled to North Korea. South Korean security and intelligence officials traveled to Washington, and said Trump agreed to a meeting before summer: “an extraordinary scene – a foreign official, unaccompanied by U.S. leaders, briefing the press at the White House about...