Good afternoon and welcome to issue five of "The Rundown.

" Greetings from Washington DC, where the food truck lines keep getting longer, the days are now getting shorter, and some poor IR grad student is doubtless toiling away on a whimsical blog post about how Krypton explains our foreign policy. Please pass along if you see it. Best wishes, Danielle Pletka Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, Vice President dpletka@aei.org Alexandra Della Rocchetta Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, Program Manager adr@aei.org Stephan Burklin Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, Communications Assistant stephan.burklin@aei.org

Tweet of the Week

Sadanand Dhume @dhume01 @dhume01: In #India, the necktie is a "flag of incomprehension that billows in the stiff breeze of Someone Else's Rules." http://ow.ly/mxBI8

In the News
Defense
Former undersecretary of defense Michle Flournoy last week said that the US military is at risk of becoming a hollow force because automatic spending cuts could impair its combat readiness. In his latest AEIdeas blog, Thomas Donnelly writes that upcoming Army brigade cuts may be only the tip of the iceberg. Army Chief of Staff General Ray Odierno announced plans to cut active-duty service troops from 570,000 to 490,000 last week, but Donnelly argues that the result of actions already taken ensure that active Army end strength will more realistically go down to about 400,000. On Tuesday, Mackenzie Eaglen will be participating in a Brookings Institution event, The American economic recovery and the defense industry. Eaglen will be featured on a panel with Richard Bush from Brookings, Jay DeFrank from United Technologies Corporation, Nelson Ford from the Logistics

Management Institute. Michael OHanlon and Bruce Katz of Brookings will moderate and keynote, respectively. RSVP here. Keep an eye on AEI.org for an article by Mackenzie Eaglen and Charles Morrison about how the current coverage of sequestration has ignored a large pot of cuts that occurred in the FY 2013 appropriations bill and how Washington is missing the big picture.

National Security
Russian President Vladimir Putin has distanced himself from the Edward Snowden case, insisting that the former NSA contractor remains outside of the Kremlins control as long as he stays in the transit z one of Moscows Sheremetyevo Airport. In Leon Aron's latest blog post, When it comes to Snowden, Washington genuflects before the Kremlin . . . again, he argues, Anyone expecting Moscow to suffer repercussions for its actions is likely to be disappointed. Far fatter thumbs have been merrily stuck by Russia into Americas eyes lately from supporting the murderous Syrian regime to vicious anti-American propaganda in the official Russian media to the harassment of the US Ambassador Michael McFaul with no visible impact on the soft and pliant tones emanating from Washington.

Guantanamo Bay
A military investigation found that a Yemeni detainee at Guantanamo Bay had been hoarding antipsychotic drugs and other narcotics before he died of an overdose last September. President Obama's recent speech at the National Defense University marked his most comprehensive public remarks about Guantanamo Bay (Gitmo) since an ongoing hunger strike refocused attention on the prison. Some human rights groups have applauded his decision to lift a ban on transferring cleared detainees to Yemen, while others argue the administration lacks an effective plan to manage relocated prisoners. Congressman Mike Pompeo (R-KS), who has just returned from visiting Gitmo, will sit down with AEI's Marc Thiessen on July 9 for a conversation on the facility and the implications its closure could have for America's security. RSVP here.

Asia
Manufacturing growth flagged across much of Asia in June, reflecting weak demand in Europe and in North America as consumers and governments continue to tighten their belts. ICYMI: In Special Forces can rescue the US pivot, Michael Auslin writes: Many of the security challenges that Asian nations face are uniquely suited for greater special operations solutions . . . A global special forces network will not by itself solve the world's security problems, of course. But Adm. McRaven and his strategists believe, with reason, that such a network can materially improve the quality of allied special operations forces around the globe. That, in turn, will serve to protect the U.S. homeland threatened by interlinked, international webs of terrorist financing and drug running. Keep checking back to AEI.org for Michael Auslin's biweekly Wall Street Journal column, covering the latest in Asia politics, security, and more.

Afghanistan

Infighting among the Karzai family in Afghanistan has spilled into the public and could imperil the countrys transition of power next year, energize the Taliban, and jeopardize international aid. Must-read: Ahmad Majidyar responds to the Taliban opening an office in Qatar for CNN's Global Public Square blog. He writes, "A political solution to end the Afghan war is desirable, but a short-sighted deal with the insurgents could undo the hard-won gains of the past decade and serve as a recipe for another civil war in the country. Unless the Taliban halts violence and enters into a meaningful negotiation with the Afghan government, Washington should ask the Qatari government to close its office immediately and expel its members." For the latest news and analysis on peace negotiations with the Taliban, check out the AEIdeas blog.

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