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The Weekly GAB - Friday, January 8, 2016
U.S. Global Leadership Coalition | www.usglc.org

Campaign 2016

THE DAILY BEAST
What Will America Stand for in 2016?<http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/02/what-will-america-stand-for-in-2016.html> | Garry Kasparov
This risk is even greater in foreign policy. Clinton has essentially endorsed President Obama's play-acting policy, as befits his former Secretary of State. The Obama White House sees the Islamic State as a communications problem that would go away if only the American people would agree that the White House is doing a great job-despite 75% of Americans saying the battle against terror is not going well.
THE HILL
Bush: 'Trump is an Isolationist'<http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/265148-bush-trump-is-an-isolationist> | Jesse Byrnes
The former Florida governor opened up an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt by ripping Trump's "crazy" response to North Korea's claim of testing a nuclear device earlier this week. "Donald Trump's first impulse as it relates to the issue of North Korea is to say 'that's China's problem,'" Bush said Thursday, referencing Trump's remarks the previous day.

POLITICO
Cruz and Rubio Collide Over Foreign Policy<http://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/ted-cruz-marco-rubio-foreign-policy-217335> | Shane Goldmacher
Rubio landed in Iowa hours after delivering a national security speech in New Hampshire in which he went after Cruz, though not by name, attacking "isolationist candidates" who "talk tough" yet "would strip us of the ability to keep our people safe." Rubio specifically mocked Cruz's past comments that he would make sand in the Middle East "glow in the dark" from bombings.

THE WASHINGTON POST
Ted Cruz Would Leave A Strongman Alone and Let Terrorism Fester<https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ted-cruz-would-leave-a-strongman-alone-and-let-terrorism-fester/2015/12/30/08b32aea-a5ac-11e5-ad3f-991ce3374e23_story.html> | Editorial Board
The last Republican debate crystalized a divide among the candidates on foreign policy that, at its starkest, centers on whether the United States should seek to undermine the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad... In a lengthy speech to the Heritage Foundation this month, Mr. Cruz claimed that the removal of Mr. Assad would lead to "radical jihadis controlling Syria." He also defended Egyptian strongman Abdel Fatah al-Sissi and inveighed against democracy promotion by the United States.

Who's in the News

FOREIGN POLICY
Killing the Islamic State Softly<http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/12/28/killing-the-islamic-state-softly/>
James Stavridis, Former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO
We need hard power now to strike the Islamic State; but over time we need to bring soft power into the mix. And that is the only choice for dealing with the turbulence emanating from the Arab world today...we should be thinking about a surge of at least 5,000 more humanitarian workers from places like USAID, including refugee camp organizers, humanitarian logisticians, medical personnel, and educators.

THE NEW YORK TIMES
America's Empty Embassies<http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/29/opinion/americas-empty-embassies.html?smid=fb-share&_r=2&referer>
Walter F. Mondale, Former Vice President of the United States
As the last year has demonstrated, America's struggle to defend its national interests cannot be won by military force alone. Even as the campaigns against the Islamic State and the Taliban have faltered, American diplomats have made remarkable progress across a number of fronts, from climate change to checking Iran's nuclear ambitions...And yet, thanks to Senate politics, dozens of ambassadorial nominations have been delayed unnecessarily. At one point in 2014, nearly a quarter of the world's countries lacked an American ambassador.

Development & Diplomacy

FOREIGN POLICY
An Astonishing Year for the War on Global Poverty<http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/01/08/united-nations-paris-climate-development/>
Alex Thier, Former Policy Chief at USAID
In terms of change-the-trajectory-of-history moments, 2015 was a banner year. From July to December, a period of just six months, world leaders came together to finalize three interlocking agreements, one setting the parameters on how to end extreme poverty, create gender equality, and protect the planet; another that devised a plan to slow the devastating impacts of climate change; and a third that (sort of) settled on a plan to finance all of this.

VOICE OF AMERICA
US Plan Takes Aim at Deadly Strain of Tuberculosis<http://www.voanews.com/content/united-states-plan-takes-aim-deadly-strain-tuberculosis/3114586.html>
The plan released Tuesday is the first from the White House to address the global threat of MDR-TB, the deadlier strain of tuberculosis. The National Action Plan is built on three goals: strengthening domestic capacity to combat MDR-TB; improving work with other countries to better address the disease; and accelerating basic and applied research and development.

THE NEW YORK TIMES
IMF Breakthrough Is Seen to Bolster U.S. on World Stage<http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/07/business/international/imf-breakthrough-is-seen-to-bolster-us-on-world-stage.html> | Jackie Calmes
A string of agreements between the White House and Congress, capped by last month's surprise accord that ended a five-year impasse over the IMF, has eased, though not dispelled, concern that America is retreating from global economic leadership... "The U.S. has an opportunity now to set what its strategy is internationally on the economic side, but also on the strategic side, the security side," he said, adding that Mr. Lew's decision to work with Congress on the IMF "shows a kind of principled leadership."

Politics & Foreign Policy

POLITICO MAGAZINE
Obama and the Dictators: 'We Caved'<http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/01/we-caved-obama-foreign-policy-legacy-213495> | Michael Crowley
The persistent problem of how to deal with American-allied strongmen has long tripped up a president who prefers pragmatic solutions to moral purity but has been unable to find much of either in the Middle East. While every U.S. president struggles to balance values like democracy and human rights with national security, Obama has struggled more than most because of the vast gap between his inspirational rhetoric and the compromises he has made with thuggish world leaders.

BLOOMBERG
Food Crisis Looming in Ethiopia After Worst Drought in 50 Years<http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-07/food-crisis-looming-in-ethiopia-after-worst-drought-in-50-years> | Whitney McFerron, Isis Almeida, and William Davison
The worst drought in 50 years is eroding harvests of everything from corn to sorghum across Ethiopia, compounding a food shortage for a country where 30 percent of the population subsists on less than $1.25 a day. Already sub-Saharan Africa's biggest wheat consumer, Ethiopia will need $1.1 billion to buy food for more than 18 million people this year, according to a report by the government and humanitarian partners including the United Nations... The amount of international aid dollars available this year is likely to be stretched, with many crises cropping up around the world.

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Key GOP Senator Drops Hold on Top Obama Diplomatic Nominee<http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ac593770ad944f0486a3d662501c89b2/kerry-implores-senate-confirm-key-diplomatic-nominees> | Bradley Klapper
A key Republican senator has cleared the way for one of President Barack Obama's top diplomatic nominees to be confirmed. Sen. Chuck Grassley... released his hold on Tom Shannon's nomination to the State Department's third-highest position... The revelation came after Secretary of State John Kerry implored the GOP-led Senate on Thursday to confirm Shannon and a dozen other senior nominees. Some have waited a year.

BLOOMBERG VIEW
North Korea Wrecks Obama's Nuclear Dream<http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2016-01-07/north-korea-wrecks-obama-s-nuclear-dream> | Eli Lake and Josh Rogin
Wednesday's North Korean nuclear test was a harsh reminder that President Barack Obama's drive to achieve a world without nuclear weapons is still very much a dream... The nuclear nonproliferation treaty remains in perilous shape. And North Korea is amassing a nuclear stockpile that could one day rival that of major nuclear powers.

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