November 08, 2019



									Daily News Brief
									
								
									November 08, 2019
									
								
									Editor’s note: There will be no Daily Brief on Monday, November 11, for Veteran’s Day.
									
									
									Top of the Agenda
									
									
									NATO Leaders Rebuke Macron’s Harsh Critique
									
									
									In a wide-ranging interview with the Economist, French President Emmanuel Macron described the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as brain-dead due to U.S. unreliability. The comment prompted pushback (FP) from NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

									
									In the interview, Macron said the United States is “turning its back” on European allies, and he called for Europe to “wake up” or face that it could “disappear geopolitically.” Merkel rejected (Guardian) what she called a “drastic” assessment by the French leader. Pompeo, in Germany, called NATO “one of the most critical, strategic partnerships” in history, but acknowledged (Reuters) that the defense alliance “needs to grow and change.” NATO members will meet in London (CNN) next month to mark the alliance’s seventieth anniversary.
									
									
									Analysis
									
									
									“The problem with [Macron’s] logic is that it appears to be built on a long-term view of Russia’s options and a short-term view of U.S. ones. That’s what undermines Macron’s agitation for a European defense bloc that would exist parallel to NATO,” Leonid Bershidsky writes for Bloomberg.

									 
									“Macron’s dismissal of NATO as brain dead given the absence of serious European alternative is the foreign policy equivalent of ‘repeal and replace.’ As with health care, there is no replace. Worse, Macron’s words reinforces Donald Trump’s instinct to walk away from NATO,” tweets CFR President Richard N. Haass.

									 
									CFR looks at how Europe has changed since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
									
									
									Special Series of The President’s Inbox
									
									
									In the first episode, James M. Lindsay sits down with two experts to discuss whether the United States should scale back its role in the world.
									
									
												Listen Now
											
										
									Pacific Rim
									
									
									Philippine Vice President Vows New Antidrug Strategy
									
									
									Vice President Leni Robredo, in her first meeting as co-chair of the interagency Committee on Illegal Drugs, criticized the government’s “senseless killings” in its war on drugs and called for a new approach (Rappler).

									 
									In Foreign Affairs, Sheila S. Coronel discusses how President Rodrigo Duterte honed his hard-line politics.

									 
									Japan: The government will launch an economic package (Kyodo) to last through fiscal year 2020, the first of its kind in three years. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said it aims to spur recovery after recent natural disasters and a global slowdown.
									
									
									South and Central Asia
									
									
									India Strips Writer of Special Citizenship Status
									
									
									India revoked the overseas citizenship (WaPo) of a prominent writer who has been critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The move was criticized by press-freedom advocates.

									 
									Afghanistan: Three judges and a court staffer were killed after their car was stopped at a Taliban checkpoint (Reuters) in the country’s east, regional officials said. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
									
									
									Middle East and North Africa
									
									
									U.S. Envoy Criticizes Syria Policy
									
									
									The top U.S. diplomat in northern Syria, in an internal memo, criticized a lack of U.S. effort (NYT) to prevent Turkey’s recent military offensive in the region. He said Turkey-backed forces committed war crimes and ethnic cleansing during the operation.

									 
									Iran: Iran’s Air Defense Force shot down (Al Jazeera) an unmanned drone today near the country’s southwestern coast that officials say belongs to a foreign country, state media reported.
									
									
									Sub-Saharan Africa
									
									
									South Sudanese Leaders Extend Peace Deadline
									
									
									President Salva Kiir and his main rival, rebel leader Riek Machar, agreed to extend a November 12 deadline (AFP) to form a transitional government by one hundred days. It is the second extension since a peace deal was signed in September 2018.

									 
									Mauritius: The results of yesterday’s general election (Reuters) are set to be announced later today. Parliamentary candidates from the country’s three main parties campaigned on evening wealth distribution.
									
									
									Europe
									
									
									Italian Holocaust Survivor Under Police Protection
									
									
									Liliana Segre, a survivor of the Holocaust and member of the Italian Senate, was assigned police guards (BBC) after receiving hundreds of threats and anti-Semitic messages on social media. Segre had proposed lawmakers establish a new committee to combat hate.
									
									
									Americas
									
									
									UN Vote Urges U.S. to End Cuba Embargo
									
									
									The UN General Assembly voted 187–3 (VOA) to condemn the sixty-year-old U.S. financial embargo on Cuba. Brazil and Israel voted with the United States in favor of the blockade.

									 
									This CFR Backgrounder looks at U.S.-Cuba relations.

									 
									Bolivia: Protests over the country’s October 20 election continued across the country (NYT) yesterday, during which a pro-government mayor was reportedly assaulted by demonstrators. The election victory of incumbent President Evo Morales is currently being audited by the Organization of American States.
									
									
									United States
									
									
									Trump Fined for Misuse of Charity Funds
									
									
									A New York judge ordered President Donald J. Trump to pay $2 million for using funds (WaPo) from his tax-exempt charity for his 2016 election campaign, debts from his for-profit businesses, and personal purchases.
									
									
									Friday Editor’s Pick
									
									
									In this photo essay, the New York Times Magazine looks at the mental-health crisis affecting thousands of Iraqi children after life under the Islamic State.
									
									
									Council on Foreign Relations

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