Trump Brings on Bolton, a Bush-Era Hard-Liner

Council on Foreign Relations Newsletter If you are unable to see the message below, click here to view. March 23, 2018 Daily News Brief   TOP OF THE AGENDA Trump Brings on Bolton, a Bush-Era Hard-Liner U.S. President Donald J. Trump announced he will replace National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster with John Bolton, an ambassador to the United Nations under George W. Bush. Bolton, who also served under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, will be Trump's third national security advisor (AP) in fourteen months. The former ambassador is set to take over next month from McMaster, who Trump said did "an outstanding job." Bolton has backed a U.S. preemptive strike against North Korea (WaPo) and has called for the United States to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, stating that the U.S. goal "should be regime change in Iran." ANALYSIS "McMaster, who replaced Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, a little over a year ago, is an intensely focused intellectual whose detailed briefings, by all accounts, drove the president crazy," Eliana Johnson writes for Politico. "John Bolton's combative unilateralism, anti-institutionalism and propensity to advocate for military intervention meshes well with America First. What it does not mesh well with is Making America Great Again. Sooner rather than later [Trump] will have to choose," says CFR President Richard N. Haass. "As U.S. ambassador to the UN, Bolton is mostly remembered for his hostility to the institution and for his coarse bluntness. Yet in that multilateral diplomatic maze, he often delivered for the administration," writes CFR's Matthew C. Waxman for Lawfare. PACIFIC RIM Vietnam Reportedly Halts Offshore Oil Project The state oil company PetroVietnam ordered Spanish firm Repsol to suspend an oil drilling project (Reuters) in the South China Sea following pressure from China, according to industry sources. PACIFIC: Researchers mapping a massive garbage patch (Ocean Cleanup) between Hawaii and California estimated it consists of 1.8 million pieces of plastic trash and weighs eighty thousand metric tons, a figure at least four times higher than earlier estimates. SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA U.S. Accuses Russia of Arming Taliban The head of U.S. forces in Afghanistan said Russia has used a narrative that "grossly exaggerates" the number of fighters (BBC) from the self-proclaimed Islamic State in Afghanistan to justify its support for the Taliban, which he said receives Russian arms from across the Tajik border. In Foreign Affairs, Vikram J. Singh writes that Washington should back peace talks in Afghanistan. UZBEKISTAN: As part of moves to improve ties with its neighbors, Uzbekistan began weekly train service (Eurasianet) from Tashkent to Kyrgyzstan's Issyk-Kul region and opened routes to the Russian cities of Saratov and Volgograd. MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA U.S. Approves $670 Million Saudi Arms Sale The State Department approved the sale of 6,700 anti-tank missiles (NYT) from weapons manufacturer Raytheon and spare parts for U.S.-made equipment already in the kingdom. U.S. lawmakers have thirty days to contest the deal. SYRIA: Failaq al-Rahman, the second-largest rebel group fighting in Eastern Ghouta, agreed late Thursday to abide by an internationally brokered cease-fire (AP) to negotiate evacuations from the besieged opposition enclave, according to the media arm of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. In Foreign Affairs, Aaron Stein lays out a U.S. containment strategy for Syria. SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA Mogadishu Car Bomb Kills Eighteen The militant group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for a car bomb (Garowe) near the Somali parliament on Thursday, the second major attack in the capital city in two months. This CFR Backgrounder looks at the Somalia-based insurgent group. EUROPE Brussels Recalls Its Ambassador in Moscow UK Prime Minister Theresa May praised a decision by the European Union to recall its ambassador to Russia and a statement by the bloc unanimously agreeing that Russia was likely responsible for a recent nerve agent attack (Guardian) on a former Russian spy and his daughter in the English city of Salisbury. CIA veteran Jack Devine discusses spy-craft norms in this CFR interview. FRANCE: Nearly a third of flights to and from Paris were canceled and high-speed train service was cut by more than a half on Thursday amid protests against labor reforms (France24) backed by President Emmanuel Macron. AMERICAS Venezuela Knocks Three Zeros off Its Currency Caracas will begin to circulate new bolivar bills (LAHT) amid a hyperinflation crisis. The largest bill will be valued at 500 bolivars as opposed to the current 500,000 bolivars, which is officially worth around $11. PERU: Vice President Martin Vizcarra returned to Peru to assume the presidency (Andina) following Pedro Pablo Kuczynski's resignation, which was announced ahead of a vote by lawmakers to impeach him. UNITED STATES Prosecutors Drop Charges Against Erdogan Guards A State Department spokesperson said the Justice Department was fully behind a decision to drop charges against eleven of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's bodyguards for assaulting protesters in Washington last year. The charges were dropped last month (VOA) a day before then Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was to meet with Erdogan. GLOBAL Carbon Emissions Grew Last Year, Says IEA The 1.4 percent increase in greenhouse gas emissions (NYT) in 2017 from the use of coal, oil, and natural gas came after three years of holding steady, according to the International Energy Agency.         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: March 23, 2018 at 10:05PM