Tag: White House

Stevenson’s army, March 30

– IGs report on Ukraine aid.

– RUSI reports on Ukraine lessons.

-WaPo reports on Bibi-Biden split; Axios has more.

– Axios reports on how Zients runs the WH. Note that SecTreas Yellen attends the staff meeting.

-USD Kahl explains why no F16s to Ukraine.

-Trump think tank prepares “battle plans” for Mexico

– Senate votes 66-30 to repeal Iraq AUMFs, but McCarthy may not take House vote.

– Feds work hard to recruit young employees.

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).

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Stevenson’s army, May 20

– The President is in South Korea. FT says Biden softened IPEF language to gain support.

– WaPo notes continuing interagency fight over China tariffs.

– WSJ says China wants elites to cut foreign investments.

– WaPo says Biden has small inner circle of officials.

– NYT reports Russians relieved of duty in Ukraine.

– NYT has good analysis of US aid to Ukraine.

– NYT says Hungary is rich on cheap Russian oil.

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).

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Stevenson’s army, July 11

I can’t figure out what’s happening in Haiti, but sure hope somebody can. WaPo says observers fear a “Somalia in the Caribbean.
NYT summarizes the power struggle. There’s a poor country with a long history of poverty, political violence, corruption. No wonder the US doesn’t want to get involved militarily. WaPo has scary first-person story.
Nobody knows who hired the Colombian mercenaries who are alleged to be the assassins
of the president. I’m waiting for one of the China hawks to blame Beijing because Haiti is one of the few countries to recognize Taiwan and there was a break in at the embassy [I don’t think this is likely, but conspiracy theories don’t require evidence.]

Catching up with other items worth reading:

– How WH reporters are coping with Trump’s absence.

– Dan Drezner explains “lab leaks” from IR scholars. He draws on FP piece by former APSA Congressional Fellow Paul Musgrave.

– FP notes Chinese interest in bases across the Indo-Pacific.

– Since President Biden made a vigorous defense of his Afghanistan policy and even answered questions, I thought you should see the full transcript.

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).

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Stevenson’s army, May 18

Sally Quinn says there’s not much left of the DC social scene.
Dan Drezner explains the lack of leaks from the Biden WH
Politico says DOD may keep Trump boost in DOD psyops.
Administration approves new arms for Israel, probably too late for Congress to block.

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).

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Stevenson’s army, May 17

– Jonathan Swan of Axios has Politishocking story of how, right after the election, President Trump used his personnel office to prepare a memo ordering US troop withdrawals from Afghanistan, Somalia, Germany, Iraq & Syria by January 20. The memo, never shown to NSA O’Brien or WH Counsel Cipollone, was sent to newly installed acting SecDef Miller. Pushback from O’Brien and CJCS Milley led to a meeting where Trump agreed to less drastic withdrawals.
-NYT reports that Biden, in private meetings, is often deliberative, temperamental, demanding of information, slow to decide.  Sounds pretty normal to me.
-Politico questions whether Biden has too many Special Envoys.

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).

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Stevenson’s army, January 2

After 8 successful vetoes, President Trump lost on his 9th as Congress overrode his veto of the NDAA, thus allowing the measure to become law for the 60th year in a  row.
The new 117th Congress begins Sunday at noon. Assuming that Nancy Pelosi gets enough votes to become Speaker again, House Democrats plan major changes in the rules.
Meanwhile, the Senate has trouble organizing until the Georgia runoff results are clear.
NYT says acting SecDef Miller surprised senior officers and rejected their advice by ordering the carrier Nimitz to return home from the Middle East.
NYT has new article posted this AM detailing impact of the Russian hack.
Tevi Troy, author of a good book on White House staff intrigue over the decades, has WSJ article giving examples from his book.


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).

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