| | | | |  | | By Eric Bazail-Eimil, Nahal Toosi and Robbie Gramer | |  The Atlantic Council will give Giorgia Meloni its Global Citizen Award on Sept. 22 at a gala on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. | Pool photo by Phil Noble | With help from Phelim Kine, Joe Gould, Joseph Gedeon and Daniel Lippman Subscribe here | Email Robbie | Email Eric Internal discontent is brewing at the Atlantic Council over the Washington think tank’s decision to honor Italian Prime Minister GIORGIA MELONI at an upcoming gala in New York and invite controversial tech mogul ELON MUSK to introduce her. The Atlantic Council will give Meloni its Global Citizen Award on Sept. 22 at a gala on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in recognition of “her groundbreaking role as Italy’s first female prime minister, her strong support of the European Union and the transatlantic alliance, and her 2024 chairmanship of the Group of Seven.” Meloni’s inclusion was grounds alone for some staffers at the prominent Washington policy shop to grouse, owing to her past coziness with Russia and her political party’s anti-immigrant and anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric. But former and current Atlantic Council staffers, granted anonymity to speak freely, told NatSec Daily that anger reached a boiling point when the think tank announced that at Meloni’s request, she would be introduced by Musk. Many council experts and staff support Ukraine, and Musk has often seemed to take steps or issue statements that have undermined Kyiv in its battle with Russia. Musk’s promotion of disinformation also concerned some council staffers, as Musk’s decision to release the “Twitter Files” in 2022 prompted a wave of harassment against the think tank’s disinformation and misinformation-focused staffers. Many of the think tank’s staffers expressed their unhappiness on a Sept. 3 call with Atlantic Council CEO FREDERICK KEMPE. One council staff member told NatSec Daily that the general gist was “we don’t like this. We don’t think this is in any way a fit for what the council tries to project.” The struggles of the Atlantic Council, which has achieved a prominent perch in Washington through its efforts to facilitate conversations between leaders and officials on both sides of the Atlantic, come as foreign policy and national security movers and shakers in the nation’s capital wrestle with how best to engage with right-wing politicians and heterodox business leaders. This quandary is likely to grow if former President DONALD TRUMP wins in November and once again shakes up the national security apparatus by appointing allies who will be less inclined to defer to hostile “elites” in Washington. The Italian embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for Tesla, Musk’s company, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Kempe argued during the Sept. 3 call that the council was nonpartisan and that it could not deny Meloni’s request based solely on Musk’s views, per the current staffer. And for his part, Kempe isn’t worried the tensions will mar the Atlantic Council’s work going forward. “Our staff includes individuals with a range of viewpoints, and it’s not unusual for lively discussions and disagreements on various aspects of how we approach international affairs. This diversity of thought strengthens our work,” Kempe said in a statement to NatSec Daily.
| | A message from Lockheed Martin: Capabilities from Every Angle. Deterrence at Every Turn.
Block 4 modernization is the most significant evolution of F-35 capabilities to date, including increased missile capacity, advanced electronic warfare capabilities and improved target recognition. Learn more. | | | | | ZELENSKYY’S U.S. VISIT: Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY plans to visit both New York and Washington next week for high-level meetings in his push to shore up Western support for his country’s war efforts against Russia. Zelenskyy will meet separately with both President JOE BIDEN and Vice President KAMALA HARRIS during his visit to Washington, the White House said. The move is likely to burnish Harris’ credentials on Ukraine, and NatSec Daily readers will recall how Harris and her surrogates are working to turn her pro-Ukraine stance into a winning election strategy in battleground states like Pennsylvania and Michigan, where hundreds of thousands of Eastern European-Americans live. EXPLODING PAGERS QUESTIONS: Several days after a barrage of exploding pagers and walkie-talkies ravaged Lebanon, there are still a lot of unanswered questions about how Israel could have engineered such an attack and what the impacts of such an attack will be on the security landscape in the Middle East. As our own JOSEPH GEDEON and LARA PRILUCK report, it is still unclear how the affected devices got to Syria and Lebanon, if the U.S. had a role in the incidents and what it means for Hezbollah’s reach. And as the Wall Street Journal’s MICHAEL GORDON and SHAYNDI RAICE report, policymakers in the U.S. are unsure if the attack will help Israel achieve its aims on its northern front.
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| One thing we know for sure: update your packing lists if you’re traveling to Lebanon soon. Qatar Airlines announced that for outbound flights from Beirut, passengers will no longer be allowed to bring pagers or walkie talkies, following orders from the Lebanese government. BATTLING BEIJING WITH FOOD AID: The U.S. Agency for International Development announced an $80 million pledge to boost food security in Africa — and officials say those efforts are aimed at parrying China’s growing influence on the continent. “Food security is national security,” USAID administrator SAMANTHA POWER said at an event unveiling the funding plan. The subtext for that engagement is administration concern that the U.S. could lose sway to China in the region. USAID deputy administrator ISOBEL COLEMAN told our own PHELIM KINE that USAID initiatives in Africa are an alternative to Beijing’s by “offering not debt, but grant funding, and bringing in technology, bringing in private sector.” That model is an attractive one for African countries “staggering under PRC debt with very little to show for it in terms of jobs and sustainable economic growth,” she said. SPOTLIGHTING THE BALKANS BLINDSPOT: A bipartisan group on Capitol Hill is making the case that the U.S. should deepen its security and diplomatic ties with Serbia as both Russia and China vie for more influence in the Balkans region on the E.U. and NATO’s doorstep. At the first Pupin Initiative forum in Washington on Wednesday afternoon, Rep. ERIC SWALWELL (D-Calif.) argued that Serbia’s support for Kyiv amid Russia’s invasion proves it is a desirable partner for Washington in the region. “When it comes to Ukraine,” he said, “Serbia has been with the United States on every vote at the United Nations.” Swalwell added that “having stability in the region and having a great partner in the region is so important for us as we look at threats worldwide.” The push to embrace Serbia comes despite worries in some corners of democratic backsliding in the Balkan country under populist President ALEKSANDAR VUČIĆ. It also comes as European allies, Russia and China have all sought to court the burgeoning tech hub in southern Europe and shore up ties with the region’s largest economy. Read: War of words between Serbia and Kosovo intensifies as EU talks stall by our own MATTHEW KARNITSCHNIG and UNA HAJDARI IT’S THURSDAY. Thanks for tuning in to NatSec Daily! This space is reserved for the top U.S. and foreign officials, the lawmakers, the lobbyists, the experts and the people like you who care about how the natsec sausage gets made. Aim your tips and comments at rgramer@politico.com and ebazail@politico.com, and follow Robbie and Eric on X @RobbieGramer and @ebazaileimil. While you’re at it, follow the rest of POLITICO’s national security team: @nahaltoosi, @PhelimKine, @connorobrienNH, @paulmcleary, @magmill95, @johnnysaks130, @ErinBanco, @reporterjoe, and @JGedeon1
| | | |   | | | | | UNCOMMITTED SNUBS HARRIS: The Uncommitted Campaign announced today it will not endorse Vice President KAMALA HARRIS in this year’s election — but don’t take that as a sign they want Trump in the White House. As our own MYAH WARD reports, the critics of the Biden administration’s handling of the war in the Gaza Strip acknowledged that Trump would “accelerate the killing in Gaza while intensifying the suppression of anti-war organizing.” And the movement urged against votes for any third-party candidates in November, which leaders say would help a Trump victory in key swing states.” But it stopped short of affirmatively endorsing the vice president, saying instead that it wants its supporters to “register anti-Trump votes and vote up and down the ballot.” It added: “our focus remains on building a broad anti-war coalition both inside and outside the Democratic Party.” The announcement, on the eve of a Harris campaign swing through Michigan, comes as U.S. support for Israel remains a political albatross for Democrats ahead of a close presidential election.
| | IRAN’S ELECTION INTERFERENCE: Lawmakers are warning that the new revelations of Iranian hackers targeting the Trump campaign could just be an opening salvo in a new wave of pre-election meddling efforts by America’s foreign rivals. “We’re just in for it in the next two months in terms of what is going to be coming,” Sen. ANGUS KING (I-Maine) told our own MAGGIE MILLER. “This is geopolitical judo, where our opponents are using our strength against us,” said King, who serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee. “Our strength is open and regular elections and freedom of expression, the government doesn’t control the media. So they’re using those two strengths to undermine our entire system.”
| | | BERNIE’S ARM SALES BLITZ: Sen. BERNIE SANDERS (I-Vt.) is looking to flex some procedural muscles and block arms deals with Israel. As our friends at Morning Defense report (for Pros!), the Vermont progressive announced he’ll file resolutions to halt sales of offensive weapons to Israel as civilian casualties in Gaza continue to rise. Sanders and other Israel critics say such moves are necessary to prevent giving Israeli Prime Minister BENJAMIN NETANYAHU a blank check to wage indiscriminate war in the territory. "Providing more offensive weapons to continue this disastrous war would violate U.S. and international law," Sanders said in a statement. While the resolutions are likely to fail if they receive a vote, they may pose a headache for Senate Democrats ahead of the election, as the party has sought to avoid angering their already divided base over the issue.
| | | FALLOUT FROM WALKIE-TALKIE EXPLOSIONS: Rep. JIM HIMES (D-Conn.) warned that the apparent Israeli intelligence operation targeting Hezbollah that blew up communications devices across Lebanon could worsen the crisis in the Middle East. “I'm not saying it was categorically a stupid thing to do. I'm saying that it was certainly not helpful towards avoiding war with Hezbollah or getting a hostage deal done,” Himes told our own JOSEPH GEDEON. Himes is the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. “Whether you're talking about the strike on the Hamas leader inside Iran, or this operation, none of these things help us in trying to get to a hostage-for-cease-fire deal,” he added. SHAHEEN’S SUDAN PUSH: Sens. JEANNE SHAHEEN (D-N.H.) and CORY BOOKER (D-N.J.) are pushing the Biden administration to give Sudanese women a seat at the table in any peace talks to end the country’s devastating civil war ahead of high-level talks at UNGA next week. “We know that when women have a seat at the table, peace agreements are more likely to last,” Shaheen, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told NatSec Daily.
| | | GOING AFTER CHINA’S OIL PURCHASES: A bipartisan group of House members is calling on the Biden administration to clamp down on Iran’s energy exports to China and better enforce U.S. sanctions against Chinese banks allowing Tehran to sell oil to Beijing. In a letter to Biden shared first with our friends at Morning Energy (for Pros!), the lawmakers, led by Rep. ADAM SCHIFF (D-Calif.), warn that China is becoming an increasingly large purchaser of Iranian oil and that the deepening ties between Beijing and Tehran are helping China diversify its energy sources and drive its economic growth. They add that sanctions passed into law as part of the April national security supplemental bill are not being fully implemented, granting Iran continued access to financial resources it can funnel to proxies like the Yemen-based Houthis and militant groups like Hamas and Hezbollah. In a statement, Beijing’s embassy in Washington said that “China has always been firmly opposed to illegal and unjustifiable unilateral sanctions and so-called long-arm jurisdiction by the U.S.” It added that Beijing “has conducted normal cooperation with Iran within the framework of international law.”
| | | | — Former Defense Secretary MARK ESPER has joined Squire Patton Boggs as a senior adviser, the firm announced today. The former Pentagon chief and secretary of the Army will join the firm’s national security practice. — Former Army Secretary RYAN McCARTHY has joined private equity firm AE Industrial Partners, LP as an operating partner.
| | — DANIEL DePETRIS, MSNBC: How exploding pagers in Lebanon boost the risk of Israel fighting two full wars — Gen. KENNETH McKENZIE, Jr., Jewish Institute for National Security of America: U.S bases in the Middle East: Overcoming the tyranny of geography — SAM BARON, The Diplomat: What could a Harris administration mean for southeast Asia?
| | — Center for a New American Security, 8:30 a.m.: Confronting the “Axis of Upheaval” — Center for Strategic and International Studies, 9 a.m.: Winning the cyber war — Hudson Institute, 9:30 a.m.: The future of U.S. and allied hypersonic missile programs — House Foreign Affairs Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, 11 a.m.: Maduro stole the elections again: The response to fraud in Venezuela — Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 11:30 a.m.: Pivotal states: No choice but crisis? The next president's options for North Korea Thanks to our editor, Heidi Vogt, who should never introduce anyone at an awards show. Thanks to our producer, Gregory Svirnovskiy, who we nominate as the next host of the Oscars.
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