Weekly Round-Up

Quincy in the news

September 13, 2020

FEATURED

Greek and Turkish ships are playing chicken at sea. There’s already been one crash.
By Research Fellows Rachel Esplin Odell & Annelle Sheline
Washington Post, 9/12/20


Last weekend, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan demanded that Greece engage in talks over escalating tensions in the eastern Mediterranean, warning that “they’re either going to understand the language of politics and diplomacy, or in the field with painful experiences.” The Greek government, meanwhile, announced further steps this week to bolster the country’s defenses.
Patton and Westy meet in a bar: A play of many parts in one act
By Andrew Bacevich, President
TomDispatch, 9/10/20


It’s only mid-afternoon and Army Lieutenant General Victor Constant has already had a bad day. Soon after he arrived at the office at 0700, the Chief had called. “Come see me. We need to talk.”
Why Trump's secret isn't so secret and not much of a weapon
By Joe Cirincione, Distinguished Non-Resident Fellow
Responsible Statecraft, 9/10/20

 
Donald Trump’s reveal to the Washington Post’s Bob Woodward of a new, secret nuclear weapon would be a major security breach and a trigger to an accelerated nuclear arms race, if true.
Ending sanctions on Syria is meant to help the Syrian people, not Assad
By Steven Simon, Senior Research Analyst
Responsible Statecraft, 9/4/20

 
The only way to secure U.S. interests and diminish the suffering of ordinary Syrians — that is, to act both strategically and ethically — is to take our knee off the neck of the Syrian people through sanctions relief and the gradual restoration of Syrian oil revenue to the state via a phased, hardnosed arrangement with the Syrian government.
Manipulating the election manipulation story
By Paul Pillar, Non-Resident Fellow
Responsible Statecraft, 9/3/20

 
The social media industry has added more shovelfuls to the mountain of evidence that Russia interfered significantly in the 2016 U.S. election and is at it again in 2020. Facebook and Twitter announced that they are taking down fake accounts that the Kremlin-backed Internet Research Agency had been using, along with a website posing as a left-leaning news site, to make it look like American liberals were giving reasons not to support Joe Biden.
An end to 'endless wars?' Don't believe it
By Andrew Bacevich, President
Los Angeles Times, 8/31/20

 
Americans have lots on their minds these days — a deadly pandemic, a devastated economy, urban unrest, a national reckoning with racism, hurricanes and wildfires and, at the highest levels of government, epic dysfunction. Oh, yes, and a presidential election. But they would do well to pay at least a modicum of attention to the latest plot twist in what used to be called the global war on terrorism.
WEBINAR: U.S. policy on Syria: Is regime change worth state failure?
Speakers: Steven Simon, Rim Turkmani, and Michael Doran. Moderated by Joshua Landis.
Quincy Institute, 9/10/20

Most observers assess that Bashar al-Assad has won the Syrian civil war, even as outside powers still seek to expand their influence and presence on the ground. As the civil war has ebbed, half of all Syrians have been forced from their homes, their health is in grave jeopardy and poverty is rife. U.S. policy is to use sanctions on Syria and on foreign aid organizations to unseat Assad, while creating a quagmire for Russia. The consequences of this policy have worsened the situation of ordinary Syrians without having forced Assad out or thwarting Russia’s interest in Syria. Should the U.S. stay the course in the hope of ejecting Assad and frustrating Moscow, or should it relent and permit reconstruction in Syria to proceed?

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