Shove It All Into OCO

This week Paula Garcia Tufro joins the Radha, Loren, and Erin to discuss the brewing crisis in Venezuela. Then the ladies fashion an update on Brexit, explore uncharted waters in Iraq, and ask what is the point of a second North Korea summit when nothing has happened since the first! Radha unpacks recent trade negotiations with China before the group asks the unanswerable question: just how much money can you shove into OCO? Finally, Erin and Loren profess their undying love for Matthew Goode.

 

Links

Venezuela 

Ethan Bronner, "Venezuela's Maduro Is Doomed? They Said That About Syria's Assad," Bloomberg

Keeping up Foreign Relations

Brexit

William James, "May to Promise New BExit Debate in Push for More Negotiating Time," Reuters Jon Henley, Jennifer Rankin, and Richard Partington, "Countdown to Brexit: The Key Dates as UK's EU Exit Approaches," Guardian Peter Flanagan, "Why Ireland's Border Commands Its Own Brexit Backstop," Bloomberg

Iraq

Simona Foltyn, "Will Iraq's Old Divisions Undermine Its New Prime Minister?" Foreign Policy Jennifer Hansler, "Trump's Iraq Comment Prompts Confusion and Condemnation," CNN

North Korea

Bruce W. Jentleson, "Trump, Kim, and the Three P's of Summit Diplomacy," War on the Rocks Robert E. Kelly, "The Second Trump-Kim Summit: Getting Beyond the Photo Op," War on the Rocks Uri Friedman, "South Korea Becomes a Testing Ground for Trump's Grievances with Allies," Atlantic Russell Goldman, "A Guide to Trump and Kim Jong-un's Next Summit Meeting," New York Times

It's Aghast

China Trade      

Jeff Mason, "S.-China Trade Talks Resume Next Week, Focus on Intellectual Property," Reuters Patti Domm, "Trade War Headlines Could Get Much Worse Before They Get Betters As the US Looks to Europe," CNBC

White House Mayhem

Defense Budget

Tony Bertuca, "Pentagon Planning a Mammoth FY-20 War Budget to Avoid Spending Cap," Inside Defense

Fitzgerald

Bryan McGrath, "The Fitzgerald Collision: In Search of the Onus," War on the Rocks