SUMMARY:On a multi-country tour of Africa this week, Secretary of StateAntony Blinken has been making the case that the U.S. can be a quote "equal partner" with African nations. In that vein, he recently announced a new partnership between the U.S. and the Democratic Republic of Congo [DRC] in an effort to protect some of that nation's natural treasures. William Brangham reports.
SUMMARY:The challenges for U.S. foreign policy at this fraught moment in history are many, from Russia's invasion of Ukraine and energy production and human rights in the Middle East to competition with China and Iran's nuclear program. All of those issues are being tackled by America's top diplomat at the State Department. Secretary of StateAntony Blinken joins Judy Woodruff to discuss in more detail.
SUMMARY:Friday at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., family, friends and colleagues of the late Secretary of State Colin Powell gathered to memorialize him. Presidents Biden, Obama and Bush, and another Secretary of StateHillary Clinton, were among the guests. His loved ones reflected on who he was as a statesman, friend and father.
WATCH LIVE: Colin Powell's funeral at the Washington National Cathedral (3:27:04)
SUMMARY:Two oil tankers near the strategically important Strait of Hormuz were damaged Thursday. After the U.S. Navy rushed to assist evacuating sailors, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo blamed Iran, calling the suspected attacks a "clear threat to international peace and security." They come amid heightened tensions with Iran and an increased U.S. military presence in the Mideast. Nick Schifrin reports.
SUMMARY: After two oil tankers near the strategically critical Strait of Hormuz were damaged Thursday, the U.S. said Iran was responsible. The UN, meanwhile, has called for an independent investigation. Judy Woodruff talks to Vali Nasr, a Middle East scholar and former State Department official, and Reuel Marc Gerecht, a former CIA operations officer in the Middle East, about this precarious situation.
SUMMARY: Saudi Arabia was in the spotlight as the Senate considered U.S. support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen and intelligence about Jamal Khashoggi's murder. While Secretary of State Mike Pompeo helped lead the briefing, CIA director Gina Haspel's absence stunned members of both parties. Amidst the drama, three senators pushed for legislation to protect the special counsel. Lisa Desjardins reports.
"Abrupt" is an understatement. Tillerson gets notification via Tweet and word of mouth AFTER being fired. Forget being respectful of the office or being courteous.
Excerpt
SUMMARY:Rex Tillerson was sacked Tuesday after 14 months of rocky relations and a long list of policy disputes with President Trump, who announced the Secretary of State's firing in a tweet. Judy Woodruff looks back at the many points of contention between Tillerson and Trump, and the circumstances potential successor Mike Pompeo would face at 'Foggy Bottom.'
Answer, YES. He's attempting to do the same in the FBI. Trump wants ONLY people who will massage his ego and kiss his 'ring.'
Excerpt
SUMMARY: What led President Trump to shake up his national security team and dismiss Secretary of State Rex Tillerson? Judy Woodruff gets insights into the firing from Robert Costa of the Washington Post and Josh Lederman of the Associated Press.
aka "Will Mike Pompeo bow down to Putin and kiss Putin's ring?"
Excerpt
SUMMARY:What was Rex Tillerson’s impact on the State Department and American diplomacy, and what will global ripple effects will his successor, current CIA Director Mike Pompeo, face? Judy Woodruff gets reaction and analysis from Nicholas Burns former U.S. Ambassador to NATO, David Ignatius from The Washington Post, and David Shedd former acting director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.
SUMMARY:Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said at the U.N. Security Council that it's time for "painful" new sanctions to make North Korea give up its nuclear and missile programs. His statement comes amid rising tension between the Trump administration and the Asian nation, and word of a ballistic missile test. Judy Woodruff talks with former State Department officials John Merrill and Balbina Hwang.
SUMMARY: In our most recent interview with a top Obama administration official, Judy Woodruff sits down with Secretary of State John Kerry as the presidential transition nears. They discuss Secretary Kerry's assessment of the U.S.-Russia relationship, now that intelligence has confirmed hacking; the administration's legacy in Syria and Israel; challenges for his successor, Rex Tillerson and more.
JUDY WOODRUFF (NewsHour): And now to my interview with Secretary of State John Kerry.
I sat down with him earlier today at the State Department, before the public release of that intelligence report on Russia.
But I began by asking, now that we have confirmation Russia interfered in the election, does that fundamentally change Washington's relationship with Moscow?
Secretary of State John Kerry, thank you very much for talking with us.
JOHN KERRY, Secretary of State: My pleasure. Thank you.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, now that it has been confirmed that the Russians interfered aggressively in the U.S. election, does this represent a fundamental change in the United States' relationship with Russia?
JOHN KERRY: Well, that remains to be determined.
It certainly represents a major challenge in that relationship. It's a hostile act. It has serious consequences, and we're going to have to work that through.
And I say we. I mean the United States, the next administration is going to have to approach Russia very clearly understanding what has happened.
JUDY WOODRUFF: Do you think more needs to be done to retaliate as of now?
JOHN KERRY: Well, I think that President Obama made it clear that we would retaliate at a time of our choosing and ways of our choosing.
And that means some of them, the public will know about, some of them, they will not know about. Obviously, with two weeks left, I think that the administration coming in is going to have to make some judgments of its own about what the next steps will be.
JUDY WOODRUFF: So, it's reported the Russians were celebrating the election of Donald Trump. Why would they be celebrating? What do you think?
JOHN KERRY: I'm not going to speculate. I really think it's too important. And I just am not going to speculate.
I think there has been a lot of news articles. You all have been covering this for some period of time. People are going to draw their own judgments, but I'm not going to add to that speculation.
JUDY WOODRUFF: What do you think Vladimir Putin wants? You have been dealing with him for a long time. What do you think he's after?
JOHN KERRY: Well, he's after a lot of things.
There are a lot of motivations. He obviously has agreed with us on some things and disagreed with us on others. And we managed to find common ground and work together effectively on the Iran nuclear agreement, where Russia assumed major responsibilities to try to get the agreement done and to make it work.
So I can give you a long list of things where Russia and President Putin have found common ground and worked with the United States. But, on Ukraine, on the implementation of the Minsk agreement, on Syria, we have obviously not been able to find the same kind of common ground, despite good efforts.
And those are problems that are going to continue into the next administration. My hope is the next administration will approach Russia strategically, with a clear purpose of trying to find more common ground, but without giving up on fundamental values and principles that are at the core of the United States' foreign policy.
I am Retired U.S. Navy (22yrs) and a Vietnam Veteran. After my Navy retirement I was in the computer related industry, now retired. In 2000 I was a registered Republican and voted for George W. Bush. Six months of having Bush in the Whitehouse forced me to re-evaluate my political stance. I had always thought of myself as a Moderate Republican, but was a Republican by "default" NOT because of close examination of the GOP. Due to what has happened in America since 2000, I now consider myself a progressive, and registered as a Non-Affiliated voter.
*Anti-First Amendment policies that attempt to turn America into a theocracy by enshrining ANY religious belief as law.
* Any attempt to suppress human or Constitutional rights.
* Any law or policy that supports discrimination based on religion, ethnicity, race/color, gender, sexual orientation, or any law that does NOT support Equal Treatment under the law.
*Any law or policy that attempts to suppress Freedom of the Press or Free Speech.
LINK DISCLAIMER:
There is no guarantee that any link provided in this blog will always work, especially for older links. The validity of any link is governed by the source-site policies. Some sites will archive articles and require subscription to access. Very small sites, such as a local town newspaper, may not archive at all.
