Stevenson’s army, April 11 and 12

April 12:

– Atlantic has a long piece arguing that much of the distrust of government and each other in America is the product of social media.

– WaPo says Putin’s behavior is linked to his hubris and isolation.

– CNN reports Russia’s first default on foreign debt.

– Reuters says Taiwan has issued its first civil defense survival handbook.

– Defense News reports State push to gain more control over security assistance. It references SFRC testimony by Jessica Lewis and Mara Karlin.

– FP says Afghan resistance plans a spring offensive.

April 11 Charlie posted these long reads:

– Trump’s Russia advisers talk to NYT

– WSJ says too many US-trained troops are launching coups in Africa.

– WaPo says Chinese propaganda helps Russia.

– FT says Chinese businesses are buying strategic islands.

– Politico finds Twitter thread exposing poor pay at foreign policy think tanks.

My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I 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).