Assessing the "Reset" and the Next Steps for U.S. Russia Policy, Samuel Charap USAID's New Approach, Susan Thistlethwaite From Renegade to Defender and Beyond?, Nina Hachigian Navigating Tricky Timelines in Iraq, Brian Katulis New Start to Rein in Iran's Ambitions, Max Bergmann, Samuel Charap and Peter Juul A Dangerous Reliance on Defense Contractors, Sean Duggan Quiet Diplomacy Is Needed on Chinese Currency, Scott Lilly New START Brings New Stability, Max Bergmann What Do Iraq Elections Mean for U.S. Policy?, Brian Katulis Russia and the Kyrgyz Revolution, Samuel Charap Assessing the WikiLeaks Iraq Video, Brian Katulis The Adminstration's Nuclear Posture Review, Lawrence Korb Afghan Women Still Struggling, Caroline Wadhams Managing the Karzai Relationship, Brian Katulis Samuel Charap, "Assessing the 'Reset' and the Next Steps for U.S. Russia Policy," Center for American Progress, April 14, 2010 The constructive, substantive bilateral relationship that exists today represents a sea change from its state when President Obama took office. And, despite frequent assertions to the contrary in the media, this improvement did not come at the expense of any other policy goal. The administration did not engage in any “grand bargains” with Moscow as part of the reset. Click here to read the full report. Susan Thistlethwaite, "USAID's New Approach," Center for American Progress, April 13, 2010 Afeefa Syeed, senior culture and development advisor for the Asia and Middle East Bureaus of the United States Agency for International Development, spoke with Senior Fellow Susan Thistlethwaite on March 11, 2010 about how her agency is trying to change its development assistance so that it is more effective, more driven by local communities themselves, more culturally sensitive, and ultimately more sustainable. Click here to read the full interview. Nina Hachigian, "From Renegade to Defender and Beyond?," Center for American Progress, April 12, 2010 China’s overall record on nuclear proliferation has dramatically improved over the past decades, and its actions show that Beijing will increasingly play by the rules on some global issues. But this week’s nuclear security summit in Washington, D.C. offers President Barack Obama an opportunity to encourage China to move to the next level—to become a true steward of the nuclear nonproliferation system, as fits its increasing influence on the global stage. Beijing can do so by supporting a more effective nuclear nonproliferation regime and joining the international community to punish those states that break the rules. Click here to read the full article. Brian Katulis, "Navigating Tricky Timelines in Iraq," Center for American Progress, April 12, 2010 Five weeks after Iraq held national elections, the country still doesn’t have a new government. Protracted negotiations over who will lead the country are still underway, even in the face of a recent spate of violence and terrorist attacks in the streets. The continued redeployment of U.S. troops from Iraq is still moving ahead as planned, and unless a major strategic event takes place—such as the invasion by a neighboring country or an internal military coup—the Obama administration should stick to the plan for withdrawal. Click here to read the full article. Max Bergmann and Samuel Charap, "New Start to Rein in Iran's Ambitions," The Guardian, April 9, 2010 New Start, the landmark arms control treaty that US president Barack Obama and Russian president Dmitry Medvedev signed in Prague, represents the biggest payoff so far of Obama's reset of US-Russia relations. Lower limits for deployed nuclear warheads and delivery systems and especially the modernisation of the verification and monitoring regime contained in the original strategic arms reduction treaty (Start) are major achievements in their own right and a sign of the improved ties between Moscow and Washington. But the renewed commitment to arms control by the US and Russia could also bolster the international diplomacy aimed at preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Click here to read the full article. Sean Duggan, "A Dangerous Reliance on Defense Contractors," Center for American Progress, April 8, 2010 The scale of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan require the United States to employ contractors in logistical and on-base functions such as supply and equipment delivery or food preparation services. But the Obama administration must make a clean break from the Bush administration’s overreliance on private contractors to conduct security and intelligence missions in combat zones. Click here to read the full article. Scott Lilly, "Quiet Diplomacy Is Needed on Chinese Currency," Center for American Progress, April 7, 2010 Tougher action may ultimately be necessary and U.S. demands may eventually have to become public. But that is not how we should start. China has in some important respects moved in our direction in recent months and appears to be ready to make at least nominal concessions on currency—provided they are not publically pummeled before they have the opportunity. Click here to read the full article. Ask the Expert - Max Bergmann analyzes domestic objections to the New START treaty signed by President Obama last week:  "Some conservatives are frankly just opposed to the idea of cutting nuclear weapons... they still live in this Cold War world where they view Russia as an enemy, as a country that is about to attack the United States. So they want to actually build more nuclear weapons to try to outdo the Russians. I think that approach is essentially one of a bygone area." Ask the Expert - Brian Katulis discusses the impact of Iraq's parliamentary elections on U.S. regional policy: "So far the United States has remained neutral on [who emerges as the next prime minister], and I think it needs to stay mostly neutral. But depending on what type of prime minister and set of leaders emerge inside of Iraq, we will be looking at an Iraq that is either more closely aligned to the rest of the Arab Middle East or leaning a little bit more towards Iran and towards the East." Reuters - Samuel Charap says the recent upheaval in Kyrgyzstan is not directly tied to Russian interference: "Russia will always have more carrots and more sticks in Central Asia than the United States does, so if they want to kill [the Manas airbase], they could do it. But they haven't done that yet." Marc Steiner Show - Brian Katulis comments on the  implications of a Wikileaks release of footage showing the apparent killing of two Reuters journalists: "The first thing that came to mind is that these sorts of incidents are more frequent than we in America appreciate ... it speaks to a larger point of how anti-septic our conflicts seem for too many Americans." BBC Radio - Lawrence Korb discusses the new administration's nuclear posture review: "Military people in their heart of hearts really would like to give these up, most of them ... because they know that it's really hard to think of when we would actually use these things." McClatchy - Caroline Wadhams discusses the plight of women in Afghan: "For many years ... the United States and other international players have not given human rights, including the rights of women and girls, enough weight in their discussions with the Afghan government." NPR - Brian Katulis suggests memos from Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry expressing skepticism about President Hamid Karzai's value as a partner are a warning:  "We are trying to manage a relationship with a partner whose government structure is inherently unstable itself. So, whether [Karzai is] stable or not is only the tip of the iceberg." A Creative Middle Path on Iran April 15, 2010, 8:30 - 10:00 AM In February 2010, the insideIRAN.org project at the Century Foundation and the National Security Network convened the first meeting of what will be a 12- to 18-month advisory group, bringing together Iranian activists with close ties to Iran’s Green Movement with European and American current and retired officials and diplomats. The group aims to improve understanding of the political crisis inside Iran, particularly the state of the regime and the opposition, and focus attention on policy steps that will be most effective in helping Iranians reform the political system without empowering the regime against either its own people or other nations. At the group's first meeting on February 19 in Washington, D.C., Iranian members of the advisory group developed a set of recommendations specifically addressing communications technology and how the U.S. and Western governments can foster connectivity and discourage government surveillance and repression. A consensus was also reached that U.S. policy toward Iran should pursue a multitrack approach. Instead of viewing the policy options starkly as a choice between regime change or acquiescence to that repressive regime, the advisory group agreed that a more nuanced "middle way" should characterize U.S. policy. By keeping open the door to engagement, President Barack Obama keeps the onus on the Iranian regime, denying it the ability to cast the United States as an aggressive and recalcitrant actor. Combining this with clear support for human rights could also work to create greater democratic space in Iran. Featured speaker: Congressman Tom Perriello, (D-VA) Featured panelists: Geneive Abdo, Fellow and Iran analyst, The Century Foundation Heather Hurlburt, Executive Director, National Security Network Mehdi Yahyanejad, Internet entrepreneur Jared Cohen, Member of the Secretary of State's Policy Planning Staff Moderated by: Matt Duss, National Security Researcher/Blogger, Center for American Progress For more information and to RSVP, click here. Sign up: Policy e-newsletters The Progress Report To unsubscribe, click here Support the Center for American Progress Comments, questions: Email Us National Security Policy Weekly is a product of the Center for American Progress www.americanprogress.org | contact us | unsubscribe