August 23, 2019



									Daily News Brief
									
								
									August 23, 2019
									
								
									Top of the Agenda
									
									
									Amid Divisions, G7 Leaders to Convene for Summit
									
									
									Leaders of Group of Seven major industrialized democracies  will meet in Biarritz, France beginning Saturday for this year’s summit, which, under French direction, is officially focused on reducing inequality.

									 
									Disagreements on issues from trade to Iran’s nuclear program have already led to the cancellation of plans (FT) for a traditional joint communique. French President Emmanuel Macron has opened this year’s summit (Guardian) to leaders from several African nations, Australia, Chile, India, and Spain for sessions on climate, biodiversity, and digital technology. Macron has also called for a global response to fires in the Amazon rainforest (Guardian).
									
									
									Analysis
									
									
									“In Biarritz there will be a variety of joint statements on different issues such as inequality, the climate crisis, and the global economy on a sliding scale of formality. But such crafty choreography may well not be enough to cover all the cracks in the democratic camp,” Angelique Chrisafis and Julian Borger write in the Guardian.

									 
									“Already, Trump has shaken up the schedule, calling at the last minute for a special meeting Sunday morning to discuss the global economy. Senior administration officials said he will contrast U.S. growth with Europe’s economic doldrums and press his pro-jobs and ‘fair’ trade messages,” Karen DeYoung and Josh Dawsey write for the Washington Post.

									 
									CFR’s Stewart M. Patrick unpacks the geopolitical fault lines that will be on display at the summit.
									
									
									Pacific Rim
									
									
									South Korea to Exit Intelligence-Sharing Pact With Japan
									
									
									Seoul announced South Korea will pull out (WaPo) of an intelligence-sharing agreement with Japan that focused on threats posed by North Korea’s nuclear program.

									 
									In Foreign Affairs, Celeste L. Arrington and Andrew Yeo discuss how escalating tensions between Seoul and Tokyo affect U.S. strategy in Asia.

									 
									China: Beijing announced new tariffs (Bloomberg) on $75 billion of U.S. goods that will be implemented in two phases on September 1 and December 15. The move comes several weeks after President Donald J. Trump announced additional tariffs (Axios) on Chinese products.

									 
									CFR’s Edward Alden previews the next stage of the U.S.-China trade war.
									
									
									South and Central Asia
									
									
									Rohingya Reject Repatriation Effort
									
									
									No Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh chose to join a motorcade that would have taken them back to Myanmar (DhakaTribune). A new UN report found that Myanmar troops systematically employed sexual violence (Al Jazeera) against Rohingya individuals. 

									 
									This CFR Backgrounder looks at the Rohingya refugee crisis.

									 
									India: Former finance minister P. Chidambaram was arrested over allegations (Mint) that he accepted bribes more than a decade ago. He currently serves in parliament and is a member of the opposition Congress party.
									
									
									Middle East and North Africa
									
									
									Iran Unveils Missile Defense System
									
									
									Tehran has displayed what it described as a new long-range, surface-to-air missile defense system (Reuters). Iranian media have described it as a competitor to Russia’s S-300.

									 
									Syria: Government forces have surged into a rebel-held area (Al Jazeera) of Hama province, state media reported. The government announced earlier that it had opened a humanitarian corridor for people to flee the battered region.

									 
									CFR’s Global Conflict Tracker traces the most recent developments in Syria’s civil war.
									
									
									Sub-Saharan Africa
									
									
									Report: Rise in Conflict-Driven School Closings in West and Central Africa
									
									
									The number of schools forced to close tripled between the end of 2017 and June 2019, according to a new UNICEF report. Nearly ten thousand schools were shuttered, affecting more than 1.9 million children in the region.

									 
									DRC: Hundreds of people marched in Goma to support Ebola response teams (AP) that have experienced resistance among communities as misinformation about the disease spreads.

									 
									CFR’s David P. Fidler warns of the serious threat posed by misinformation to Ebola-fighting efforts.
									
									
									Europe
									
									
									Kosovo Dissolves Parliament
									
									
									Kosovo lawmakers have voted to dissolve parliament (Reuters) in a process that will trigger new elections within forty-five days. Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj resigned last month after facing questions about his actions against ethnic Serbs during the 1998-99 war. 
									
									
									Americas
									
									
									Trudeau and Pompeo Discuss Canadians Held in China
									
									
									Meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington would keep working to free two Canadians (Reuters) who have been detained in China since late 2018. Separately, Canada has banned (Globe and Mail) its Hong Kong consular staff from traveling to mainland China.

									 
									Haiti: President Jovenel Moise has survived an impeachment vote (VOA) on charges of executive misconduct. The proceeding has held up the confirmation process for a new prime minister after Jean Henry Ceant resigned in March.
									
									
									United States
									
									
									White House Backs Off Cuts to Foreign Aid
									
									
									The White House has abandoned a plan (Politico) to freeze more than $4 billion in foreign aid after Secretary of State Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin warned that the move would harm national security.
									
									
									Friday Editor's Pick
									
									
									National Geographic looks at the scramble among countries to establish military control and shipping routes in the Arctic as its ice melts.
									
									
									Council on Foreign Relations

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