Trump, in State of the Union, Vows New Moment for U.S.

Council on Foreign Relations Newsletter If you are unable to see the message below, click here to view. January 31, 2018 Daily News Brief   TOP OF THE AGENDA Trump, in State of the Union, Vows New Moment for U.S. U.S. President Donald J. Trump hailed the start of a "new American moment" in his first State of the Union address, pressing for expanding the country's military might and boosting the United States' position in the global economy. Trump touted wins against the self-proclaimed Islamic State (NYT) in Iraq and Syria and historic stock market gains during his first year in office. He called for the United States to increase its nuclear arsenal and vowed to fix what he said are "bad trade deals" (NYT) to end an era of "economic surrender." Trump also pushed his proposal to offer a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children in exchange for border wall funding (WaPo) and curbing some immigration based on family reunification. In a rebuttal, Democratic Representative Joseph P. Kennedy III accused the administration of "turning American life into a zero-sum game" (VOA). ANALYSIS "While he delivered a speech that was softer in tone and at least ambivalent toward his political opponents, his 'new American moment' remained essentially Trump: few policy olive branches for Democrats, proudly nationalist, unabashedly boastful, belligerent toward American adversaries," Toluse Olorunnipa writes for Bloomberg. "His first-year agenda has [hewed] much closer to Republican orthodoxy than anyone could have predicted, given his 2016 campaign themes of putting dynamite to the establishment," Nancy Cook writes for Politico. "America may not be great again just yet, but the president clearly believes that he has moved us from American carnage to American comeback in just one year," William A. Galston writes for the Brookings Institution. CFR Event: Canadian Foreign Minister Discusses NAFTA Chrystia Freeland discusses the ongoing trade negotiations and the future of U.S.-Canada relations. Watch today at 5:30 p.m. EST.   PACIFIC RIM U.S. General Casts Doubt on North Korean Missile Capabilities U.S. Air Force General Paul Selva, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said yesterday that North Korea has not yet demonstrated that it possesses all the elements needed for an intercontinental ballistic missile (Reuters). Selva questioned whether missiles crafted using Pyongyang's current technology could survive reentry into the atmosphere. This CFR Backgrounder looks at North Korea's military capabilities. CHINA: UK Prime Minister Theresa May visited the central Chinese city of Wuhan (DW) with a delegation of fifty British business leaders early Wednesday. She will meet with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing to discuss deepening trade ties. SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA Casualties Reported in South Asia Earthquake A child was reportedly killed and at least fifteen others were injured in Pakistan in a 6.1-magnitude earthquake that was felt across the region (Dawn) on Wednesday. The quake's epicenter was in the Hindu Kush mountains in northeast Afghanistan, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. PAKISTAN: The foreign ministry has disclosed that it extradited twenty-seven suspected militants from the Taliban and Haqqani network to Afghanistan last November in an effort to stop terrorist attacks on Pakistani soil (VOA). Shuja Nawaz writes in Foreign Affairs that Trump's Pakistan policy is unlikely to change Islamabad. MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA Separatists Capture Large Swaths of Yemen's Aden Yemeni separatists appear to have captured most of the southern city of Aden (WaPo) on Tuesday, as Prime Minister Ahmed Obaid bin Daghr and his cabinet reportedly remained trapped in the presidential palace. Yemen's internationally recognized government moved to Aden after Houthi rebels took over the capital of Sana'a in 2015 (BBC). SYRIA: Some 1,500 delegates attended Russia-sponsored Syria peace talks (NYT) in Sochi yesterday that were boycotted by major opposition groups. Participants agreed to set up a commission tasked with rewriting the constitution (Al Jazeera).  SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA Security Council Renews Arms Embargo on CAR The UN Security Council unanimously passed a France-sponsored resolution yesterday to renew an arms embargo on the Central African Republic (VOA). The resolution also lays out criteria to impose sanctions on anyone in the country using religion or ethnicity to incite violence. KENYA: Opposition leader Raila Odinga had himself sworn in as the "people's president" (Daily Nation) in a Nairobi ceremony on Tuesday in protest of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s victory in elections that Odinga said were unfair. Some private TV and radio stations were closed for at least twenty-four hours (BBC) as the government attempted to block broadcasting of the event. CFR's John Campbell writes that Odinga's "inauguration" has led to further polarization in Kenya. EUROPE VW Suspends Top Lobbyist Over Animal Testing The chief lobbyist for the automaker Volkswagen, a former aide to Chancellor Angela Merkel, was suspended by the company yesterday following outcry over Volkswagen's use of monkeys (NYT) in experiments on diesel-powered vehicles. A spokesman for Merkel condemned the experiments. AUSTRIA: Chancellor Sebastian Kurz met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Tuesday as the pair pledged to boost ties (EUobserver) between their countries. AMERICAS Pope Sends Envoy to Chile Over Sex Abuse Allegations The Vatican has sent the archbishop of Malta to Chile to hear complaints over a Chilean bishop (DW) who has been accused of covering up sexual abuse by his mentor in the Catholic Church. CUBA: Cuba has agreed to send more of its doctors to Algeria (BBC) in exchange for crude oil shipments. The island nation's supplies from Venezuela have dwindled in recent years.  UNITED STATES Top U.S., Qatari Officials Meet in Washington U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis met with their Qatari counterparts yesterday (CNN) for the inaugural high-level dialogue between the countries. Tillerson said the United States remains "concerned" about a Saudi-led diplomatic boycott of Qatar, which began last June.         Council on Foreign Relations — 58 East 68th Street — New York, NY 10065 CFR does not share email addresses with third parties. Forward This Email | Subscribe to CFR Newsletters | Unsubscribe - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  

From: dailybrief@e.cfr.org

Date: January 31, 2018 at 11:04PM