June 5, 2025
What’s Happening in National Security, Technology, Defense & Maritime
Vol. 4, Issue 41
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AGS UPDATES
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Former AGS Senior Vice President Allison Hooker was confirmed and sworn in as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. Members of the AGS team attended her ceremonial swearing in at the State Department.
WHAT WE ARE SAYING
- AGS Chairman Ambassador Robert O’Brien joined The Story with Martha MacCallum to discuss President Trump’s Middle East Strategy
- CEO Alex Gray joined Fox News @ Night to discuss Ukraine’s surprise drone strike on Russian forces
- Non-executive Vice Chairman Scott Morrison for Wall Street Journal Opinion: Trump Can Launch the AUKUS Security Agreement to the Stars
- O’Brien for National Security Journal: Delaying The Navy’s F/A-XX Fighter Would Be A Big Mistake
- O’Brien joined the Misgav Mideast Horizons Podcast to discuss the U.S. strike on Iran and the Israeli-Iranian ceasefire
- O’Brien for The National Interest: How Donald Trump can Sideline Chinese Tech
- Gray for Washington Times: The U.S. Was Right to Strike Iran
- O’Brien joined The Larry Kudlow Show to share a behind the scenes account of what may have been taking place inside the Situation Room hours before the strike on Iran
- Gray spoke with Olivia Hickey on KOCO ABC News to discuss the ongoing conflict in Israel and Iran
- Gray joined America Reports to discuss President Donald Trump’s efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine conflict
- O’Brien joined to discuss the potential length of the conflict between Israel and Iran on ‘The Bottom Line.’
- O’Brien discusses Israel and Iran with Special Coverage
- O’Brien spoke with Deseret on President Trump’s policy towards Iran
- Gray joined Fox Friends First preview Secretary Hegseth’s upcoming Pentagon briefing, the president’s stance on Iranian relations moving forward and his effort to bolster NATO defense spending.
WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT AGS
- GovconWire: Ambassador Robert C. O’Brien joins Board of Booz Allen
- Gray joins as a Nonresident Senior Fellow at The Atlantic Council
- Morrison honored for the award of the Companion of the Order of Australia
WHAT WE ARE READING
Maritime
- Reuters: Japanese ships transiting Strait of Hormuz to minimise time in Gulf
- Reuters: Philippines, U.S., hold joint maritime drills for seventh time
- Foreign Affairs: The Case for a Pacific Defense Pact
- Cornell University: A Sea of Cyber Threats: Maritime Cybersecurity from the Perspective of Mariners
- Financial Times: EQS-News: Steyr Motors drives growth in the U.S. – signing of another framework agreement
- Business Insider: Chinese state-owned defense company explores naval cooperation with Ghana
- The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Ship Regulator Probes Spain’s Alleged Blocking of Vessels
- The Wall Street Journal: How the Houthis Rattled the U.S. Navy—and Transformed Maritime War
Defense Industrial Base
- Politico: Pentagon to review US role in AUKUS submarine pact
- Reuters: Pentagon should shave defense procurement regulation, industry group says
- First Breakfast: New Dimensions of Strategic Depth
- CSIS: 2025 GSF: The Evolution of America’s Defense Industrial Base: From Freedom’s Forge to the Last Supper to the First Breakfast
- DefenseScoop: Senate confirms Michael Duffey as Defense Acquisition Chief
- Wiley Law: Breaking Down Executive Order 14275
- Axios: Exclusive: Business groups pledge improved NATO industrial output
- The National Interest: Re-Imagining America’s Defense Industrial Base
National Security & International Affairs
- Reuters: US urges China to dissuade Iran from closing Strait of Hormuz
- The Wall Street Journal: NATO Aims to Boost Defenses Against Drones, Hacking and Sabotage
- News.com: ‘Last resort’: Scott Morrison backs US attack on Iranian nuclear sites
- Business Insider: Microsoft Is Prepping an AI Copilot for the Pentagon
- Reuters: Iran fires missiles at US base in Qatar, Trump calls for peace
- Washington Post: Why Trump didn’t have to ask Congress before striking Iran
- The Guardian: AUKUS vital to ‘deter Chinese aggression’, say US lawmakers, as Trump urged to recommit to Submarine Deal
- Financial Times: ‘Regime change’ or Peace: Trump’s Iran Policy
- Washington Post Intelligence: Disrupting Defense: How Silicon Valley plans to take over the War Business
Technology & Cyber
- The White House: Fact Sheet: President Donald J. Trump Reprioritizes Cybersecurity Efforts to Protect America
- Fox News: US warns of growing threat to Americans at home as Iran weighs retaliation
- Brookings: Project 2025: What a second Trump term could mean for media and technology policies
- Tech Policy: April 2025 US Tech Policy Roundup
- Axios: Trump‑appointed FCC chairman probes Biden cybersecurity program over China concerns
- Bureau of Industry and Security: Department of Commerce Announces Recission of Biden-Era Artificial Intelligence Diffusion Rule, Strengthens Chip-Related Export Controls
- Wall Street Journal: It’s Known as ‘The List’—and It’s a Secret File of AI Geniuses
- Financial Advisor: Google-Apple-Facebook Breach Ensnares Trove Of Financial Passwords
U.S. Politics
- The Washington Post: Celebrating our military should be a truly bipartisan cause
UPCOMING EVENTS
- July 15, 2025 – July 18, 2025: Aspen Security Forum“The Aspen Security Forum (ASF) is the premier national security and foreign policy conference in the United States. Presented by the Aspen Strategy Group, ASF has provided a nonpartisan public venue for domestic and global leaders to discuss the key national security and foreign policy issues of the day for the past 15 years.”
- September 9, 2025 – September 23, 2025: 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly“The 80th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 80) will open on Tuesday, 9 September 2025. The first day of the high-level General Debate will be Tuesday, 23 September 2025.”
- September 22nd: AGS UNGA Reception
- October 7, 2025 – October 9, 2025: SEMICON West“Phoenix is set to become a tech powerhouse in 2025 with the arrival of SEMICON West, the premier microelectronics exhibition in North America. The first show, at the Phoenix Convention Center, is October 7-9, 2025, then it returns in 2027 and 2029. SEMI’s decision to host SEMICON West in Phoenix highlights a strategic shift to further technological advancements and industry expansion.”
- December 10, 2025: AGS Holiday Party
For additional events and conferences in the national security, aerospace, maritime, international, manufacturing, technology, and energy spaces, please see the AGS 2025 events calendar below: