Welcome to Foreign Policy’s Security Brief. What’s on tap today: Russian forces run U.S. troops off the road in Syria, leaving several injured, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper heads to the Pacific, and the United States appears to be iced out of Arctic power battles.
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U.S. Troops in Syria Remain in Precarious Position
The Trump administration hoped that it would make progress on ending the conflict in Syria this week. The committee drafting Syria’s new constitution is headed to the United Nations in New York, while U.S. Special Representative for Syria Engagement James Jeffrey went to Turkey to help smooth over longstanding differences over Pentagon support to Syrian Kurdish fighters.
Instead, Russian forces laid bare the precarious position of the 600 U.S. troops left in Syria in a viral incident. On Tuesday, video shared on Russian Instagram feeds showed Russian and U.S. mine-resistant vehicles colliding on a road in the middle of the Syrian countryside. The Pentagon did not immediately respond, even after Politico reported that four U.S. troops were injured.
The National Security Council responded hours later, calling the move a “breach of de-confliction protocols”—but offering little direct condemnation of Russia. Russia’s defense ministry insisted that its forces were responding to the U.S. military attempting to block a Russian patrol group. The administration has hoped for Russia to focus on supporting the U.N.-led peace talks rather than targeting U.S. service members.
But former U.S. military officials and members of Congress weren’t satisfied with the Trump administration’s lack of outright condemnation of the Kremlin. “We must not allow Russian troops to bully American soldiers carrying out lawful duties,” James Stavridis, a retired four-star Navy admiral and the former supreme allied commander of NATO, tweeted on Thursday.
“Backing down only encourages more bad behavior. We know that with China, [and we] must follow the same path with Russia,” he said.
What We’re Watching
Esper to visit Palau. Mark Esper will be the first-ever U.S. defense secretary to visit the Pacific island nation of Palau this week, underscoring increasing competition with China in the region. Palau is one of only 15 countries in the world that recognize Taiwan over China, despite Beijing’s recent campaign of checkbook diplomacy to convince small countries to switch their diplomatic allegiance to China in exchange for lucrative development and foreign investment.
Esper will also visit Hawaii and Guam during his trip to the Pacific this week as the Trump administration looks for new ways to boost the U.S. military presence in the Pacific.
Pompeo’s Mideast trip. U.S. Secretary of Mike Pompeo wrapped up a trip to the Middle East and East Africa this week that aimed to convince more countries to normalize relations with Israel after a diplomatic breakthrough between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Senior Israeli officials predicted that Bahrain and Oman could be next, but it appears that Pompeo’s trip fell short. The momentum on getting Gulf Arab countries to formalize ties with Israel has stalled.
Pompeo visited Jerusalem, where he fueled controversy by addressing the Republican National Convention while on an official State Department visit; Sudan; Bahrain; the UAE; and Oman.
Iced out. While the United States has raised alarm bells about increasing Russian and Chinese ambitions in the Arctic, its resources don’t really match its rhetoric. There is no better symbol of that problem than icebreakers: The United States has just two Cold War-era icebreakers with the ability to navigate the Arctic—the same amount as China—while Russia has 40.
Now, one U.S. icebreaker is limping home after its motors caught fire, leaving only one left in port, Breaking Defense reports. The U.S. Coast Guard said it needs three heavy icebreakers and three medium icebreakers to operate effectively, with three coming online in the next six years.
Arson, they wrote. U.S. Navy investigators suspect that arson from inside the ranks caused the Aug. 12 fire on the U.S.S. Bonhomme Richard that left the amphibious assault ship severely damaged after a multi-day blaze. Officials are questioning a sailor who was aboard the San Diego-docked ship as a potential suspect. If the Richard is scuttled, it could leave taxpayers on the hook for a $4 billion replacement vessel.
Movers and Shakers
Summers gone. Top Pentagon communications official Charlie Summers, who briefly served as the agency’s top spokesperson after former Defense Secretary James Mattis left, will exit the Defense Department next month, Politico reports.
Top White House advisor leaving. Kellyanne Conway, one of President Donald Trump’s most influential White House advisors, announced this week she was leaving the White House on Aug. 31, citing the need to focus on her family.
Straight Talk Express. More than 100 former staffers for the late Sen. John McCain, an erstwhile Republican opponent of Trump, will endorse Joe Biden for president, the New York Times reported today. McCain’s widow, Cindy McCain, spoke at the Democratic National Convention last week.
Foreign Policy Recommends
Are you a Republican or a Republican’t? As the Republican National Convention concludes with Trump speaking on the White House’s South Lawn tonight, Politico’s Tim Alberta offers a comprehensive deep-dive into the commander-in-chief’s vice grip over the party, leaving some exasperated Republicans worried that it is losing its way.
Mass incarceration. A stunning visual investigation from BuzzFeed News reveals China’s sprawling internment system that it has used to incarcerate Uighur and other Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang region. Cross-referencing areas blanked out on Baidu with satellite data, reporters discovered nearly 270 facilities built since 2017 that appear to be detention facilities.
The Week Ahead
On Monday, Aug. 31, the trial of the four men criminally charged in absentia the 2014 downing of a Malaysia Airlines flight over Ukraine resumes in the Netherlands.
The Kosovar and Serbian leaders visit the White House on Wed. Sept. 2. Previous talks scheduled in June collapsed after an international tribunal charged Kosovo’s president with war crimes.
Odds and Ends
Don’t drag Nessy. “Loch Ness monster defended after being dragged in U.S. presidential election campaign” is a real headline after Donald Trump Jr. used the figure of Scottish folklore to slam Biden for spending his career in “the swamp” at the Republican National Convention this week. Since U.S. politics isn’t weird enough these days.
That’s it for today.
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