A Fractious G7 | Preparing for Singapore | Jordan to Get Gulf Aid

Council on Foreign Relations Newsletter If you are unable to see the message below, click here to view. June 11, 2018 Daily News Brief   TOP OF THE AGENDA G7 Summit Prompts War of Words Between U.S., Allies The future of the U.S. role in the Group of Seven (G7) forum for leading industrialized nations was thrown into doubt over the weekend as Washington and its allies continued to trade barbs after a summit concluded in Quebec. U.S. President Donald J. Trump refused to sign a joint communiqué (FT) that called on G7 countries to strive to reduce trade barriers and assailed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “very dishonest and weak” (Hill). Top White House economic and trade advisors said that Trudeau, who rebuked the U.S. move to impose tariffs on an allied nation, had stabbed the United States in the back. Germany and France vowed to still back the joint statement, with French President Emmanuel Macron saying that world leaders should be “serious and worthy of our people” (Politico). ANALYSIS “Trump seems amazed to discover that the European Union (gross domestic product: $17.1 trillion), Japan ($4.8 trillion) and Canada ($1.6 trillion)—which together produce more than the United States ($19.3 trillion)—will not be pushed around as easily as the contractors he has gotten used to stiffing,” CFR’s Max Boot writes for the Washington Post. “The isolation of the United States serves to reinforce China’s narrative that the United States is an unreliable partner, and it helps advance Beijing’s goals of weakening governance mechanisms like the G-7 that don’t include China,” Bonnie S. Glaser writes for the New York Times. “While polls show that opposition to tariffs is strong, both Trump and Bernie Sanders made waves during the 2016 primaries arguing that the United States has been badly served in its negotiations with foreign nations,” Jay Cost writes for the National Review. PACIFIC RIM Moon, Trump Speak Ahead of Singapore Summit South Korean President Moon Jae-in and his U.S. counterpart, President Donald J. Trump, held a last-minute phone call (Yonhap) on Monday, a day before a highly anticipated meeting between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Both Trump and Kim arrived in Singapore yesterday (Korea Times). In Foreign Affairs, Isaac Stone Fish and Robert E. Kelly argue that North Korea is ultimately China’s problem. VIETNAM: Demonstrators in Hanoi and several other cities on Sunday protested a government proposal to offer foreign investors ninety-nine-year leases on Vietnamese land (BBC), a move they see as a bid to offer land to China. SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA Kabul Bombing Targets Rural Development Ministry At least a dozen people were killed in a Monday suicide attack (Tolo) outside the government ministry building, which came two days after the Taliban said it will participate in a government cease-fire (NYT) during the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr. No group has claimed the attack. INDIA/PAKISTAN: Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shook hands and exchanged greetings (PTI) yesterday in the Chinese city of Qingdao, where the discordant neighbors were participating in a summit (RFE/RL) of the China- and Russia-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a regional economic and security bloc. MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA Gulf Nations Pledge Aid to Jordan Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates pledged $2.5 billion in assistance (Al Jazeera) to the country after austerity measures, including recent prices hikes and a draft income tax law, spurred mass protests that led to the resignation of the prime minister earlier this month.  IRAQ: A Baghdad depot holding paper ballots from a May 12 general election (WSJ) caught fire yesterday, days after a panel of judges was appointed to oversee a recount of all votes. Most of the ballot boxes were not burned, an Interior Ministry spokesperson said. SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA Egypt, Ethiopia Signal Progress on Nile River Dispute Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, in Cairo for talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, said Egypt’s share of Nile water will be preserved (Reuters) as his country pushes ahead with construction of the Grand Renaissance Dam, a $4 billion hydroelectric power project. SOMALIA: The Pentagon identified a U.S. soldier (VOA) killed in Somalia last week as Staff Sergeant Alexander Conrad. U.S. special forces came under attack on Friday while fighting to establish a “permanent combat outpost” as part of operations against the militant group al-Shabab. This CFR Backgrounder looks at the international peacekeeping force fighting al-Shabab in Somalia. EUROPE Ministers in Berlin to Discuss Ukraine Conflict Foreign ministers from France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine meeting today are expected to discuss deploying UN peacekeepers to eastern Ukraine (RFE/RL). More than ten thousand people have been killed in fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed separatists since mid-2014. ITALY: The new interior minister, from the right-wing Northern League, refused a German charity ship carrying more than six hundred rescued migrants permission to dock in Italy (BBC) and said that Malta should accept the ship. In Foreign Affairs, Erik Jones discusses the fall and rise of Northern League leader Matteo Salvini. AMERICAS Mexican Leftist Candidate Widens Lead, Poll Shows Presidential front-runner Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador appeared to widen his lead to nearly seventeen points (Reuters) ahead of a July 1 election. The poll, published yesterday, found 37 percent of respondents support Lopez Obrador. CUBA: Cuba sent investigators to the home of a U.S. embassy official (Guardian) who said she felt ill after hearing “undefined sounds” in her Havana residence, but investigators said they did not find any potential source of the sound and were not given access to the home. UNITED STATES Putin Welcomes Trump’s Call to Rejoin G7 Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would meet with President Trump (NYT) “as soon as the American side is ready” and that Russia would be an asset in the Group of Seven (G7), from which it was expelled in 2014 (AP) after its annexation of Crimea. Trump said on Friday that Moscow should be invited back into the forum.         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: June 11, 2018 at 10:03PM