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The World Next Week: Presidents Obama and Xi Meet at Sunnylands, Peruvian President Humala Visits the White House, and Secretary Hagel Testifies Before the House Budget Committee

<p>Barack Obama prepares to shake hands with Xi Jinping in the Oval Office (Jason Reed/Courtesy Reuters).</p>
Barack Obama prepares to shake hands with Xi Jinping in the Oval Office (Jason Reed/Courtesy Reuters).

By experts and staff

Published
  • James M. LindsayCFR Expert
    Mary and David Boies Distinguished Senior Fellow in U.S. Foreign Policy

The World Next Week podcast is up. Bob McMahon and I discussed Chinese president Xi Jinping’s meeting with President Obama in California, Peruvian president Ollanta Humala’s trip to Washington, and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s testimony before the House budget committee.

[audio: https://www.cfr.org/content/publications/media/editorial/2013/20130606_T…]

The highlights:

For more on the topics we discussed in the podcast check out:

Obama and Xi meet: Elizabeth Economy discusses how Obama and Xi can “break the summit stalemate” by focusing on the positive aspects of the relationship between their two countries. Brookings reports that the length of the meeting will allow Obama and Xi to move past prepared talking points. USA Today says cybersecurity will be a central topic of discussion. The CFR-sponsored Independent Task Force on U.S. Policy in the Digital Age warns that “escalating attacks on countries, companies, and individuals, as well as pervasive criminal activity, threaten the security and safety of the Internet.”

Peruvian president Humala visits Washington: The Peruvian Times announces President Humala’s trip to Washington. Time reports that this meeting indicates the Obama administration’s hope to forge stronger economic ties with Latin America. The Washington Post interviewed President Humala after his 2011 visit to the United States when he discussed the importance of Peru’s growing free trade agreements.

Secretary Hagel’s House budget committee testimony: The Department of Defense has a summary of its 2014 budget proposal. Time writes that the Strategic Choices and Management Review assembled by Secretary Hagel has led the Department of Defense “strategically adrift.” Bloomberg reports Secretary Hagel assured Asian allies that budget reductions would not impact U.S. commitments to the region.