Stevenson’s army, July 8

– American Prospect notes how many former Biden staffers have come together in a “strategic consulting” shop, WestExec. Look at this Who’s who.
-The firm says they don’t do lobbying, which could be technically correct if they don’t personally contact officials.  You may recall that Obama barred lobbyists from his administration, with a few case-by-case exceptions. Trump allowed lobbyists and appointed a great many, but imposed post-government limits, which Politico says are widely circumvented.
-Who’s winning [losing?] in the pandemic, look at these comparisons.
–What else could possibly go wrong? Politico suggests: Trump drops out, fires Pence; Biden gets sick…
-Duterte has a new law that looks as bad as China’s.
– National Interest says Zelensky is failing
– China calls for US to cut nukes.
– NYT has book review of 1948 book — but it’s Hans Morgenthau’s classic, Politics Among Nations. You may recall I often quote his line that “the tools of a diplomat are logic, bribes, and threats.”

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).