Stevenson’s army, May 27

– Several sources confirm NYT story that, to meet Trump’s demand to withdraw US forces from Afghanistan before the US elections, Pentagon planners will present options including that one,but recommending delay until at least May 2021.
– Africom head accuses Russia of sending camouflaged planes to fight in Libya.
-FT has more on the growing rift between China and Australia.

-Lawfare lists the US factions in the China debate

-Politico says Pompeo courted civic leaders while at CIA, too.
Recommendation for military officers: I just finished former CJCS General Martin Dempsey’s memoir.  It’s mainly a collection of stories of Army life, both at West Point and in recent years, with common sense lessons offered. I was especially interested in how he depicts civil-military relations under OBama.

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).