GREAT DECISIONS Fall 2019 Update Refugees and Global Migration • Rise of Populism • Nuclear Negotiations • Trade with • State of the State Department

Refugees and Global Migration n July 1, President Donald Trump signed a While Congress and the White House continue bipartisan funding bill to provide $4.6 billion to debate the solution, the issue of migration along Oto federal agencies along the U.S.-Mexico border. the border continues to worsen. Many migrants The bill was passed after U.S. Customs and Border will continue to flee impoverished and violent re- patrol claimed that they would run out of funding gions of Latin America, in search of a better life for housing many of the migrants that are detained in the U.S. along the border. The U.S. government’s inability to house and handle large groups of migrants (in- President Trump revealed his new campaign cluding women and children) has been a source slogan for 2020 as “Finish the Wall,” a take on his of controversy. The funding bill was signed after original 2016 slogan of “Build the Wall,” referring months of cantankerous debate in Congress. The to President Trump’s plan to build a secure border major source of controversy involves the housing wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. While Trump of children. While the issue of family separation has managed to secure some funding for border has captured the media, there is also an unprece- wall construction projects, he has fallen short of dented number of unaccompanied minors attempt- his promise that the wall be funded, in full, by the ing to cross the border. Mexican government. As of July 2019, 205 miles of the proposed wall have been completed. Controversy surrounds the facilities that house many of these migrants. Many are overcrowded, Recommended Readings with unsanitary conditions throughout. Children Dara Lind, “The border is in crisis. Here’s how it have been left isolated and are put through a sepa- got this bad,” Vox (Jun 5, 2019) https://www.vox. rate migration process than adults, raising questions com/2019/4/11/18290677/border-immigration- about whether these facilities have the appropri- illegal-asylum-central-america-mexico-trump ate conditions to harbor children. The emergency Christal Hayes, “Children come first: House passes funding bill followed a U.S. District Judge ruling $4.6 billion in aid for migrants at border after Pe- that the detention centers along the border do not losi caves to Republicans,” USA Today (June 27, meet the standard of the president set in the “Flores 2019) https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/poli- Settlement Agreement.” The Flores Agreement set tics/2019/06/27/house-passes-4-6-billion-aid-mi- what the responsibilities the U.S. has regarding the grants-after-pelosi-caves-republicans/1587320001/ well-being of children held in migrant detention. The agreement calls for access to showers, hot food Anna Giaritelli, “Trump has not built a single mile of and “sanitary and safe conditions,” all of which the new border fence after 30 months in office”Washing - District Court has found lacking in these facilities. ton Examiner (July 20, 2019) https://www.washing- tonexaminer.com/news/trump-has-not-built-a-single- mile-of-new-border-fence-after-30-months-in-office

Foreign Policy Association • 551 Fifth Avenue, Suite 3000 New York, NY 10176 • Phone: (212) 481-8100 • www.fpa.org The Rise of Populism in Europe referendum in Britain. Von der Leyen, Kramp-Karren- bauer and Johnson will now be responsible for setting n July 16, 2019, the European Parliament an- the course for the future of Europe. nounced that it had elected Ursula von der Leyen Oto be the next president of the European Commission. Recommended Readings Von der Leyen will take command of the executive Rick Noack, “With all eyes on Boris Johnson, Ger- branch of the European Union, becoming the first many quietly swears in a possible rival,” Washington woman to do so. Voted in by a slight majority of 383 Post (July 24, 2019). https://www.washingtonpost. votes out of 733, Von der Leyen is now tasked with com/world/2019/07/24/with-all-eyes-boris-johnson- restoring faith in the “European Project” that has been germany-quietly-swears-possible-rival/?utm_term=. beset on all sides, whether by the rise of nationalist ad0701233f06 parties in Eastern Europe, or the approaching reality Matina Stevis-Gridneff, “Ursula von der Leyen, First of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union, Woman Chosen for Top E.U. Job, Wins Confirma- dubbed Brexit. Von der Leyen is cut from a similar tion,” The New York Times (July 16, 2019). https:// cloth as German Chancellor Angela Merkel, having www.nytimes.com/2019/07/16/world/europe/ursula- been deputy minister of the German Christian Demo- von-der-leyen-eu-president.html cratic Union Party (led by Merkel for many years) and Minister of Defense since 2013. Max Colchester and Lawrence Norman, “‘I Don’t Know What He Will Do’: Europe Braces for Brexit Von der Leyen’s first matter of business is the nego- with Boris Johnson,” The Wall Street Journal (July tiations regarding the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, 22, 2019). https://www.wsj.com/articles/i-dont-know- which began after the referendum on June 23, 2016. what-he-will-do-europe-braces-for-brexit-with-boris- Theresa May stepped down as prime minister on May johnson-11563825742 24, 2019, after failing three times to reach a consensus in Parliament on her Brexit proposals. She has been Nuclear Negotiations replaced by former Mayor of London and Brexit sup- n June 30, 2019, President Trump became the first porter Boris Johnson. Johnson took office on July 24 sitting U.S. President to cross the demilitarized and has begun by claiming he will scrap May’s Brexit Ozone separating North and South . President plan and begin his own process, which includes the Trump with leader Kim Jong-un to con- possibility of a “no deal” Brexit. The latest deadline tinue their discussions regarding the North’s nuclear for a Brexit deal is October 31, 2019. Von der Leyen weapons program. This was the third meeting between has said that she would use the deal negotiated by The- the two leaders and lasted for a little under an hour. resa May as the basis for any Brexit agreement. “We While the meeting was historic due to the crossing of don’t want a hard Brexit, it’s a bad outcome for both the DMZ, no progress was made regarding any nucle- sides,” Von der Leyen said. ar agreement between the U.S. and North Korea. De- spite no deal, both Kim Jong-un and President Trump While Europe has seen rising divisions, Germany hailed the meeting as a success. “We want to bring an has managed to remain steadfast in the face of op- end to our unpleasant past and bring in a new future, position, with the center-right Christian Democratic so this is a very courageous and determined act,” Kim Union remaining in control of the Bundestag. With the said. “This handshake of peace itself serves to demon- German government preparing for the end of Angela strate that today is different from yesterday.” Merkel’s term as Chancellor, the CDU and the EU will lose a great champion for a united Europe. Merkel The first meeting between the two leaders took stepped down as CDU party chair and was replaced by place on June 12, 2018, in Singapore, and was his- Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, who also replaced Von toric mainly because it was the first meeting between der Leyen as Germany’s Defense Minister. Kramp- Karrenbauer is the favorite to replace Angela Merkel as Chancellor when she steps down in 2021 and repre- The Updates are a free supplement to sents a slight shift toward a more conservative leader. Great Decisions and are available online at Kramp-Karrenbauer has been vocal about her frustra- tions regarding Brexit and how she hopes for a second www.greatdecisions.org.

GD 2019 UPDATE/FALL 2 the leaders of the two nations. The meeting lead to an Trade with China agreement that established guidelines for the U.S. and North Korea to work toward a denuclearized Korean ollowing another round of negotiations, the United Peninsula. The second meeting was on February 2019 States and China continue to look to resolve their in Hanoi, Vietnam, where President Trump walked Fgrowing divide over tariffs and trade. The latest talks out of negotiations after the two leaders were unable took place on July 30 and featured discussion over the to reach an agreement. During this second meeting, purchase of American farm goods like soybeans. The North Korean officials made the demand that all the meeting, which took place in Shanghai, was mediated U.S. sanctions must be lifted as a condition for North by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Korea to denuclearize some of their nuclear program. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. While both sides “Basically, they wanted the sanctions lifted in their en- have shown a willingness to end the trade “war” and tirety and we couldn’t do that…[T]hey were willing come to a new agreement, they have so far been unable to denuke a large portion of the areas that we wanted, to come to a consensus that drops the current tariffs. but we couldn’t give up all of the sanctions for that,” Trump stated in a post-meeting press conference. The meeting in Shanghai was organized by Presi- dent Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping during Trump and Kim’s relationship that began with the G-20 summit in June. The G-20 summit in Osaka, squabbling and name calling when Trump first took Japan, was the first meeting the two leaders had since office has evolved. Trump went from trading barbs failed negotiations in May led to a $200 billion tar- such as “Rocket Man” about Kim and threats of “Fire iff on Chinese goods coming into the U.S. The U.S. and Fury” to flattering Kim before both the Hanoi Commerce Department also put Chinese Telecommu- summit and the latest DMZ meeting. Trump claimed nication company, Huawei, on the national security in March to have ordered the withdrawal of planned blacklist, meaning that American companies cannot additional sanctions on North Korea. President Trump do business legally with them. Since June, the U.S. also promised to end the U.S. military exercises with Commerce Department has added four more Chinese after the Singapore meeting, but they are companies, all focused in the development of comput- still scheduled to take place in August. er technology, to the blacklist.

Recommended Readings The U.S. and China’s conflict over trade has begun Eli Meixler, “President Trump and Kim Jong Un Just to spread to Canada, where the country is embroiled Agreed to Work Toward Denuclearization,” Time in a political battle over the arrest of Huawei’s chief (June 12, 2018). https://time.com/5309425/donald- financial officer, . Meng was arrested trump-kim-jong-un-summit-document-full-text/ last December in Canada, and has been held under Everett Rosenfeld, “Trump-Kim summit was cut short after house arrest at her home in Vancouver, Canada, since. North Korea demanded an end to sanctions,” CNBC (Feb- She has continued to battle extradition to the U.S. ruary 28, 2019).https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/28/white- where charges of bank and wire fraud against Meng house-trump-kim-meetings-change-of-schedule.html are pending. In response, the Chinese government an- nounced they had detained two Canadian diplomats Yonette Joseph, “4 Takeaways from the Trump-Kim Meet- for alleged spying. In total, 13 Canadian citizens have ing at the DMZ,” New York Times (June 30, 2019).https:// been detained in China for a multitude of reasons since www.nytimes.com/2019/06/30/world/asia/trump-kim- Meng’s arrest in December. Canadian government of- north-korea-meeting.html ficials have appealed for calm, saying that many of these are out on bail or serving probation. The Great Decisions briefing book is published This number has remained relatively stable. There has annually by the Foreign Policy ­Association. not been a marked increase or decrease in recent years. To order a Great Decisions briefing book or to learn more about Great Decisions programs With President Trump threatening a new round of tariffs on Chinese goods coming to the U.S., the end in your community, visit of the U.S.-China trade war still seems a long way off. www.greatdecisions.org China has retaliated with their own tariff increases or call (800) 477-5836. on mostly agricultural U.S. exports. While early July

GD 2019 UPDATE/FALL 3 showed promise with the Trump administration relax- ligence activities and transferring and installing moni- ing some of the tariffs, neither Trump or Xi appear toring devices ready to back down. Secretary Pompeo has been one of the leading voic- Recommended Readings es within the U.S. government calling for a ratchet- Dorcas Wong and Alexander Chipman Koty, “The ing up of pressure on Iran. “We’ve implemented the US-China Trade War: A Timeline,” China Brief- strongest pressure campaign in history against the Ira- ing (July 31, 2019). https://www.china-briefing. nian regime and we are not done,” Pompeo said at the com/news/the-us-china-trade-war-a-timeline/ Christians United for Israel event in Washington, DC, on July 8. Pompeo and the U.S. have gone it alone Salama and Alex Leary, “Trump Ties Trade when it comes to confronting Iran, with European al- Deal to China Action in Hong Kong, Suggests lies that had signed the JCPOA refusing to go along Meeting with Xi,” The Wall Street Journal (Au- with the sanctions. The UK is looking to assemble a gust 14, 2019). https://www.wsj.com/articles/ group of other European nations to help protect ship- washington-offers-conflicting-messages-on- ping in the Strait of Hormuz and Persian Gulf, a group hong-kong-unrest-amid-u-s-china-trade-talks- that would not work alongside President Trump’s pro- 11565802045?mod=searchresults&page=6&p posed U.S. taskforce that would patrol the region. Sec- os=18 retary Pompeo said that the UK is responsible for their own ships in the region after the capture of the British- Jun Mai, “China accuse Canadians Michael flagged Stena Impero by Iranian forces. As of this up- Kovrig and Michael Spavor of stealing state se- date, the Stena Impero is still under Iranian control. crets,” South China Morning Post (March 4, 2019). https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplo- Recommended Readings macy/article/2188582/china-accuses-canadians- Quint Forgey, “Pompeo suggests Iran may be ly- michael-kovrig-and-michael-spavor ing about arrests of CIA spies,” Politico (July 22, 2019). https://www.politico.eu/article/pompeo- State of the State Department suggests-iran-may-be-lying-about-arrests-of-cia- spies/ n June 20, 2019, a U.S. military drone was shot down over the Strait of Hormuz by Iran’s Revolu- Patrick Wintour and Julian Borger, “UK must look Otionary Guard, which claims that the drone had violat- after its own ships in the Gulf, says Pompeo,” The ed Iranian airspace. The drone attack followed weeks Guardian (July 22, 2019). https://www.theguard- of provocation from both the Iranian government and ian.com/world/2019/jul/22/uk-must-look-after- the Trump administration, which had proposed earlier its-own-ships-in-the-gulf-says-pompeo that week to add some 1,000 troops and resources to Daniel Davis, “What It’s Like to Travel the World the Middle East to counter Iran’s “hostile behavior.” With the Secretary of State,” National Interest President Trump has had a hardline stance about Iran, (August 8, 2019). https://nationalinterest.org/blog/ pulling the U.S. out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan buzz/what-it%E2%80%99s-travel-world-secre- of Action and imposing new sanctions against Iran. tary-state-72086

Iran has responded by arresting 17 Iranians that the government claims are spies working for the Central The Updates are a free supplement to Intelligence Agency. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Great Decisions and are available online at has responded to the claims of captured spies by say- www.greatdecisions.org. ing “I would take with a significant grain of salt any Iranian assertion about any actions that they’ve tak- Researched as of August 19, 2019. en.” Iranian officials claim that that none of the 17, who allegedly had “sophisticated training,” had suc- Written by Kaylynn Ramos, editorial intern at ceeded in their sabotage missions. Their spying mis- FPA. Edited by Matt Barbari, assistant editor, and sions included collecting information at the facilities where they worked, carrying out technical and intel- Karen Rohan, editor in chief, at FPA.

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