Tag: Climate change

Stevenson’s army, September 14

Romney biographer tells how unhappy he was with the Senate

– SASC Chairman Reed reveals consequences of Tuberville hold and the time it would take to handle individual nominations.

– WSJ reveals how Exxon played down climate change

-WSJ also reveals US is shifting aid from Egypt to Taiwan

– GOP Congressman reveals willingness to soften AUMF against drug cartels

– NYT says local officials are profiting from illegal transit through Darien gap

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, with occasional videos of my choice. 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).

Tags : , , , , , ,

Stevenson’s army, July 26

This is the 70th anniversary of the armistice which suspended combat in the Korean war. I guess that’s a pretty good example of a frozen conflict.

– Biden wants Chollet for OSD Policy

-FP’s China Watcher analyzes the ouster of the Chinese FM

– Megatrends: NYT shows world demographic changes; WaPo notes study warning of Gulf Stream tipping point.

– WSJ analyzes effects of Ukraine stalled offensive.

– UVa law prof urges Hughes-Ryan approach for national security AI.

– UNC prof says Trump wasn’t a fascist, but could be.

– History lesson: when Congress “expunged” a censure of a president.

– Jonathan Chait debunks conservative claim of long march to liberal domination.

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, with occasional videos of my choice. 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).

Tags : , , , , , , , , , ,

Stevenson’s army, April 14

– Fred Kaplan agrees with my assessment of the alleged Discord leaker.

– WaPo talks to the group members.

– NYT has more background.

– Prof. Rid comments.

– Meanwhile, AFRICOM head steps in it.

– WSJ tells how domestic politics keeps the A-10 flying

– Politico says World Bank is divided over climate change.

– I like what USAFA is doing in civic education.

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, with occasional videos of my choice. 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).

Tags : , , ,

A necessary and unavoidable but constructive failure

The UN’s Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP 26) ended yesterday with a lengthy, consensus declaration. The Glasgow Climate Pact includes something for just about everyone and not enough for anyone. That’s what you expect from a consensus document purporting to represent the views of 197 countries that are collectively fouling the global commons. Nor is it surprising that the current commitments of the parties, despite significant strengthening before and during the conference, will not achieve the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees centigrade.

The implications are dire. At higher temperatures than that goal, global warming will raise sea levels enough to drown some island countries and deprive many others of their current coastlines, generate even more dramatic storms and forest fires than we are already seeing, shift agricultural patterns in ways that hinder growing enough to meet global demand, and make parts of the planet even more uninhabitable than they already are. The costs will be astronomical. The human implications tragic. There is nothing to celebrate about COP 26 if you are looking only at the physical implications of what was decided in Glasgow, even if you welcome the substantial agreements reached on methane and deforestation.

The conference was however a success in another sense: without it, things would have been worse. Glasgow upped the ante on climate change. No government on earth can now ignore it entirely. Even laggards like China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and India have been announcing new goals and counter measures. President Biden has put climate change high on his agenda, reversing President Trump’s foolish and counterproductive effort to ignore it. Island nations whose physical existence is threatened had their voices magnified. Less developed countries had their needs acknowledged, if not yet fully funded. None of this is enough, but much of it would not have happened without Glasgow.

This is typical of large international conferences. The UN is doing what it can and should. Such conferences serve to mobilize public opinion and shift attitudes, even if they fail to solve the problems they aim to solve. The key now is to maintain the momentum and raise the political pressure. The parties have agreed to meet again next year in Egypt, where no doubt the appeals for action and money will be heightened. Expanding economies in what we can hope will be the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic will likely make the prospects for meeting the goal of 1.5 degrees centigrade even dimmer than they are today. Don’t expect good news, but next year’s conference will again be a necessary, unavoidable but constructive failure.

That’s how the international system works. Get used to it. This is going to go on for decades.

Tags : ,

Stevenson’s army, November 14

-NYT deep investigation reveals DOD coverup of airstrike in Syria in 2019 with heavy civilian casualties, says strike was called by special operations unit and immediately challenged by other officers. Repeated appeals, ultimately to IG, led nowhere. SASC informed but took no known action. Sounds a lot like the Lavelle case discussed in class, but at least then SASC investigated.

– NYT also reports how Belarus enticed and equipped migrants to send to the EU border.

– WaPo says US is looking for a “third way” on Cuba policy.

– WaPo has an annotated copy of Glasgow text.

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).

Tags : , , , , ,

Stevenson’s army, October 27

– CNAS war game shows problems defending Taiwan. WaPo summarizes; here’s the CNAS report.

– NYT reports on gang rule in Haiti.

– Lawfare summarizes climate security reports.

– Gen. Milley sees “sputnik moment” in Chinese missile test.

– FP sees US ties with Greece warming because of Erdogan.

-Snapshots of America today: Texas cuts Guard benefits; Montana town split by partisan fights.

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).

Tags : , , , , ,
Tweet