From National Public Radio:
Opinion: Guatemala Must Not Grant Amnesty to War Criminals
Guatemala's ongoing political crisis is having a devastating impact on its people, fueling unrest in the streets and increasingly driving asylum-seekers to migrate to the U.S.-Mexico border. Now, with the country's Congress poised to pass a bill that would free war criminals, there's no clearer sign that rule of law in Guatemala is undergoing a slow, ugly collapse that could spur even more migration to the United States.
—Associate Professor Jo-Marie Burt
From the Washington Business Journal:
Viewpoint: Shutdown Hurts Ability to Lure Young Tech Talent—When Region Needs It Most
If a long-term deal is not reached to avoid a repeat shutdown, D.C.’s tech sector and IT workforce will be at risk. Existing tech workers could be packing their bags and future tech workers will have other tech towns in their sights. The stakes are high for D.C. and its tech workforce. Leaders in Congress should act swiftly and send a message that the federal government wants America’s top tech talent.
—Associate Professor Alan Shark
From New Security Beat (Wilson Center):
Anticipatory Intelligence: Climate Change in the National Intelligence Strategy
It is not entirely surprising that the current National Intelligence Strategy does not cover security concerns linked to climate change, biodiversity loss, ocean acidification, and an opening Arctic because it takes its cues from the administration’s priorities as identified through the National Security Strategy. The 2017 National Security Strategy (NSS), the first of the Trump administration, was the first NSS to omit references to climate change as a security threat since President George W. Bush first included it in 2002…
…comprehensive government response will occur only if analysts and policymakers receive cues to prioritize climate change research, mitigation, and adaptation.
— Master’s in International Security Student Marisol Maddox
From Politico:
A significant danger with these false claims about terrorists at the border is that they distract us from the real threats we face. While border security is critically important, the United States has effectively ramped up its defenses since the 9/11 attacks—including the use of a screening and watchlisting system for travelers—and has made the country a much harder target for terrorist operatives seeking to enter it. That’s why groups like ISIS have sought to inspire and recruit operatives already in the United States to carry out attacks. That’s where counterterrorism efforts in the country should be focused—at real threats, not inflated ones.
—Distinguished Visiting Professor Michael V. Hayden and Matthew G. Olsen
From the New York Daily News:
Will Maduro Fall and Democracy Prevail in Venezuela? It Depends on These Dynamics
In Venezuela, there has not yet been the key defection of a senior commander with his unit to the democratic opposition. Nor does one seem likely. On the other hand, such a defection did not seem likely in previous cases of democratic revolution until it actually occurred. Senior commanders, after all, are only appointed because their loyalty to the regime is beyond reproach. And indeed, they may well be ultra-loyalists — until something changes which causes them to switch loyalties. One way this may occur is that the regime’s leadership issues an order to fire on the opposition which a commander is unwilling to carry out or which he strongly believes the men under his command will not. And if a commander is unwilling or unable to carry out the regime’s orders, his best option is to defect to the opposition since if the regime survives, it will punish him severely.
—Professor Mark Katz
From World Politics Review:
The Army’s Iraq War Study Shows Truth-Telling Is Still Possible in Washington
Beyond the particulars of Iraq and the ongoing coming-to-terms with this costly and consequential policy failure, these public exercises in evaluation and self-criticism should provide some small comfort that truth-telling is still possible in Washington. Like the climate study that 13 federal agencies produce every four years, the threat assessment and the Iraq War study take the long view about how to support better policymaking.
—Professor Ellen Laipson
From NBC News:
Trump Is Turning 2020 Into a Referendum on AOC and Socialism. That’s Good News for Democrats.
The Cold War ended almost 30 years ago, so conservatives are aiming to replace the communist threat with the socialist threat. But it was far easier to depict communism as a menace: The Soviet Union was a nuclear power that directly threatened the United States and the rest of the free world.
—Professor Bill Schneider
From The Washington Post:
How Virginia’s Politicians Can Make a Real Difference on Issues of Race
A truth and reconciliation commission on race would be an appropriate start toward healing and, eventually, action. The state legislature has authority to create commissions and to establish their mandate as to scope of work and length of operation. I suggest that one year would be appropriate.
—Dean Mark J. Rozell
From NACLA, Report on the Americas:
El Chapo and Mexico’s Drug War Spectacle
The spectacle [of El Chapo’s conviction] obfuscates history and context, instead focusing on the charismatic figure of El Chapo rather than the power structures that perpetuate violence in Mexico or the role of the United States. Such a retelling appears more of an episodic melodrama than an honest account of the violence committed not only by El Chapo and his henchmen, but by government authorities on both sides of the border that colluded with him. It also obscures the discussion of militarized responses that have wrought suffering and death upon hundreds of thousands of Mexicans, as well as the negative effects of drug prohibition and how neoliberal economic policies have excluded many young Mexicans from formal employment.
—Associate Professor Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera and Laura Weiss