June 8, 2020

Daily News Brief

June 8, 2020

Top of the Agenda

European Allies Alarmed by Trump Plan to Withdraw Troops From Germany

European officials decried (WSJ) U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s plan to withdraw more than a quarter of all U.S. troops from Germany, saying the move would weaken the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and embolden Russia.

Trump’s order would withdraw 9,500 of the 34,500 U.S. troops in Germany (WSJ) by September and cap the number of troops at 25,000, according to media reports. Berlin was blindsided by the proposal (NYT), which the White House has not officially confirmed. Germany’s coordinator of transatlantic cooperation called the move “completely unacceptable” (Reuters).

Analysis

“The U.S. presence in Germany is not a ‘forever war’; it is an investment in forever peace. Reducing U.S. troop levels tempts further Russian aggression & increases allied doubts [regarding] U.S. reliability. Doing so unilaterally adds insult to injury. Irresponsible,” tweets CFR President Richard N. Haass.

“[Trump] thinks he’s exerting power and leverage and the might of the United States,” Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff, vice president of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, tells the New York Times. “But should the troops really be brought home within the next three months, he would deprive the United States of 25 percent of its deterrence capability in Europe.”

United States

Minneapolis City Council Members Vow to Disband Police

Nine members of the Minneapolis City Council pledged to end the city’s police department (Star Tribune). Calls to abolish or defund police have spread across the country amid continued protests against the killing of Black people by law enforcement. Los Angeles and New York City are considering police budget cuts.

Pacific Rim

China Pauses Debt Payments for Seventy-Seven Countries

China suspended debt payments (Bloomberg) for seventy-seven low-income countries and regions as part of a Group of 20 (G20) debt-relief program. The G20 agreed in April to provide temporary debt relief to poor countries.

CFR’s Brad W. Setser explains how low-income countries can cope with coronavirus debt.

Japan: Tokyo opted out of a joint statement (Kyodo) with the United Kingdom, the United States, and other countries that condemned China for moving to impose a national security law for Hong Kong.

South and Central Asia

Chinese, Indian Military Officials Meet to Defuse Border Tensions

Senior military officers from China and India met over the weekend in an attempt to de-escalate tensions (Hindustan Times) over their shared border. Officials from both countries said talks would continue to peacefully resolve the situation.

Afghanistan: U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and U.S. General Scott Miller met with the Taliban’s deputy leader (TOLO) in Doha, Qatar. Sources close to the Taliban said any intra-Afghan peace talks would take place in Doha.

Middle East and North Africa

Libya’s Haftar Agrees to Peace Talks

Libyan rebel commander Khalifa Haftar announced that he is ready to enter peace talks (NYT) after his fourteen-month campaign to capture Tripoli failed. Libya has been engulfed in conflict for nearly a decade after Muammar al-Qaddafi’s regime was toppled in 2011.

Israel: Thousands gathered in Tel Aviv to protest the government’s plan to annex (Haaretz) parts of the West Bank. U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders addressed the rally via video conference.

Sub-Saharan Africa

France Says Military Killed Al-Qaeda’s Africa Head 

The French military announced that troops in Mali killed Abdelmalek Droukdel (NYT), a long-serving al-Qaeda commander in Africa. The United States provided intelligence and surveillance aircraft for the mission.

CFR’s John Campbell writes about surging jihadi violence and terror in West Africa.

South Africa: Students began returning to school (Reuters) as the country eased its coronavirus lockdown measures.

Europe

Protests Against Racial Injustice Continue Across Europe

European countries are grappling with racism and their colonial legacies (WaPo) as protests inspired by those in the United States continue across the continent. Thousands gathered over the weekend in many European cities.

In photos, CFR looks at how the death of George Floyd sparked global protests against racial injustice and police brutality.

Americas

Report: Claims of Fraud in Bolivia’s Election Based on Flawed Analysis

An Organization of American States’ assessment that found evidence of fraud in Bolivia’s 2019 presidential election was based on faulty statistical analysis, an independent study using data obtained by the New York Times found. The country’s president, Evo Morales, was pushed out following the disputed election.

Argentina: Hundreds of journalists, politicians, academics, and business leaders were illegally surveilled (Buenos Aires Times) by the country’s Federal Intelligence Agency during the administration of former President Mauricio Macri, court documents allege.

Global

OPEC, Russia Agree to Extend Oil Production Cuts

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and oil producers led by Russia agreed to extend a production cut (NYT) of 9.7 million barrels per day through July.

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