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Assad's fall in Syria creates both opportunities & risks, says US national security advisor Jake Sullivan
When Assad fled Syria, shocking the world, President-Elect Trump made his thoughts clear on the region. In short, he said "stay out, America." But can the world's most powerful nation afford to ignore Syria's uncertain future? This is a good news story, says US national security advisor Jake Sullivan, that could turn bad very quickly.
"The minute Damascus fell, ISIS began to look for any opportunity it could take to reconstitute, grow, spread, and ultimately recreate a platform from which to threaten the United States and Americans around the world."
Speaking on stage with Ian Bremmer at a live 92nd Street Y taping of GZERO World in New York City, Sullivan discussed what comes next for the war-ravaged nation. "Assad was a butcher, a brutally murderous dictator of his own people. Him being gone is not a bad thing—it presents an opportunity for the Syrian people to actually build a better and more inclusive future." And while that's a reason for hope, the dangers are real that bad actors could rush to fill the vacuum.
"Syria has a real and extent risk of becoming a primary hotbed of radical Islamic terrorism, but it also has a chance for stability. We must push toward opportunity while minimizing the risks."
Watch the full interview with Jake Sullivan on GZERO World with Ian Bremmer on US public television beginning Friday, December 20. Check local listings.
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).
New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube. Don't miss an episode: subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔).
A smooth Biden-Trump transition is vital to protect US interests, says Jake Sullivan
At a live event hosted by the 92nd Street Y in New York City, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan sat down with Ian Bremmer for GZERO World, Bremmer’s PBS global affairs TV series. Reflecting on the challenges of transitioning between administrations, Sullivan provided a rare behind-the-scenes look at how the outgoing Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration are working together to safeguard US interests during this critical period.
Sullivan highlighted the importance of a seamless handoff to prevent adversaries from exploiting the transition: “Other actors, particularly our enemies, look at transitions as moments of opportunity… the imperative on us is to lash up more tightly than is typical and send a common, clear message to both friends and adversaries.” This bipartisan collaboration includes close coordination with his successor, Mike Waltz, ensuring continuity in U.S. foreign policy even amid profound ideological differences.
Acknowledging the challenges of transitions, Sullivan praised the cooperative spirit between the two administrations, even after years of mutual criticism. “For this moment, what we are trying to do on behalf of the national interest of the United States is extremely important despite the deep differences that do exist between the outgoing and incoming administrations,” he said. This rare alignment, Sullivan noted, is essential to addressing pressing global risks and maintaining America’s leadership abroad.
Watch the full interview with Jake Sullivan on GZERO World with Ian Bremmer on US public television beginning Friday, December 20. Check local listings.
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).
New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube. Don't miss an episode: subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔).
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Jake Sullivan on the biggest threats to US national security in 2025
From Russia to China to the Middle East, what are the biggest threats facing the US? On GZERO World, outgoing National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan joins Ian Bremmer in front of a live audience at the 92nd Street Y in New York City for a wide-ranging conversation on America’s view of the world, President Joe Biden’s foreign policy legacy, and how much will (or won’t) change when the Trump administration takes office in 2025. Despite major differences between the two administrations, Sullivan says he’s seen “more alignment” with his successor Mike Waltz than he expected and that they agree on “big ticket items” like making sure US adversaries don’t take advantage of the US during the presidential transition. Reflecting on his time and office and how the global threat environment has changed, Sullivan digs into risks and opportunities in Syria, the US-Israel relationship, China’s global ambitions, and Putin’s miscalculations in Ukraine.
“The Cold War era is over. There's a competition underway for what comes next. It is challenging. It is at times turbulent,” Sullivan warns, “What the United States has to do is try to strengthen its fundamental hands so it can deal with whatever comes next and there will be surprises.
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).
New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube. Don't miss an episode: subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔).
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New York City mayor charged with corruption
The indictment follows a three-year investigation of Adams and top officials that focused in particular on whether he had accepted money and gifts from Turkey in exchange for furthering Ankara’s interests in New York.
Adams, a Democrat and former police officer elected on a law-and-order platform in 2021, says the charges are “false” and that he won’t step down, despite rising calls to do so — in particular from local Democrats eyeing next year’s mayoral election. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is empowered to remove him, says she is weighing a decision.
Scandal-plagued and unable to master twin crises of public disorder and a rapidly growing migrant population, Adams is deeply unpopular at home. He has also clashed with the Biden administration over immigration, criticizing the White House for not doing more to secure the border and help cities manage the influx.
If he’s ousted: Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, a progressive Democrat who has sharply criticized Adams, would take over, with 90 days to call a special election.Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris shakes hands with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, as they meet in the Vice President's Ceremonial Office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus in Washington, on Sept. 26, 2024.
Hard Numbers: US sends billions to Ukraine, Poland’s PM takes aim at beavers, NYC adopts new tool to battle rats, Japan finds longtime death row inmate innocent
120,000: You’ve heard of the war on drugs, the war on poverty, the war on terror. But what about the war on beavers? Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk is publicly blaming the country’s 120,000 beavers for exacerbating the deadly floods that battered central Europe and killed at least 16. Tusk called on Poles to “do whatever” to protect dikes, after saying beaver dams can damage riverbanks and weaken levees. “Beaver experts” (yes, they’re a thing) say that only a small percentage are problematic and that their dams can actually help slow river flows.
12: Speaking of a war on rodents, New York City is getting a new tool for its war on rats (a war it’s always losing). The city council passed a bill introducing rat contraceptives in a 12-month pilot problem. The bill’s sponsor, Council Member Shaun Abreu, says, “We can’t poison our way out of the rat problem, but we can certainly do a lot of damage trying.”
46: The world’s longest-serving death row inmate — Japan’s Iwao Hakamada — was acquitted after decades in solitary confinement for the alleged murders of his boss, the man’s wife, and their children. After 46 years of living on death row, he was freed in 2014 and granted a retrial. That trial has now proven that investigators fabricated the original evidence used against him. Japan and the United States are the only members of the G7 who still use the death penalty.New York Governor Kathy Hochul speaks to press after an incident at the Rainbow Bridge U.S. border crossing with Canada, in Niagara Falls, New York, U.S. November 22, 2023.
Hard Numbers: NYC congestion charge delayed, RSF’s deadly attack in Sudan, One heck of a Brazilian cow, South China Sea exercises, SpaceX rocket makes giant leap
15: Grab your keys, New Yorkers. Gov. Kathy Hochul has indefinitely postponed the $15-a-day congestion pricing plan that was set to begin June 30 for drivers entering Manhattan south of 60th Street. Hochul expressed concern that the plan, the first of its kind in the country, could affect the Big Apple’s post-pandemic economic recovery — echoing worries shared with her by very vocal business leaders, commuters, and … voters.
150: Over 150 people were killed after the Rapid Support Forces, a Sudanese paramilitary group, invaded a village in central Sudan this week. Fighting broke out last April between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF, whose generals once worked together to overtake Khartoum. The war in Sudan is one of the worst modern humanitarian crises, with a death toll reportedly topping 150,000 and over 9 million people displaced.
4.2 million: Viatina-19 FIV Mara Movéis claimed the title of most expensive cow, fetching $4.2 million at an auction in Brazil (and access to her egg cells selling for another $250,000). The 2,400-pound cow doesn’t owe her size to genetics or greener pastures but to a years-long initiative in Brazil to breed meatier cows to combat rising greenhouse gas emissions and deforestation.
3: The US, South Korea, and Japanese coast guards entered choppy waters on Thursday to kick off their first three-way drill in response to escalating Chinese aggression in the South China Sea. China claims sovereignty over a majority of the sea, resulting in territorial disputes between China and the Philippines, Taiwan, and other close US allies. Regular standoffs have stoked fears these tensions may boil over into an armed conflict between the US and China.
4: 4, 3, 2, 1, blastoff! On its fourth flight test, SpaceX on Thursday launched Starship, the world’s most powerful rocket, in Boca Chica, Texas. The megarocket completed its mission, successfully traveling to the outer world and returning to Earth, where it made a soft landing in the Indian Ocean. This marks a giant leap for mankind as Starship’s fully reusable design brings us closer to settlements on Mars and the moon.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) speaking at a press conference at City Hall in New York City.
NYC Mayor takes on Texas migrant buses
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, the one-man unwelcome wagon, has issued an executive order requiring bus companies carrying migrants to provide the city with 32 hours of notice before arriving, which is now only permitted at limited times. Adams aims to instill order on the migrant crisis that is overwhelming city services, with more than 150,000 migrants arriving over the last year and a half.
The executive order is aimed squarely at Texas governor Greg Abbott, who has sent 70,000 migrants to Democrat-run cities since this summer. Backed by the threat of jail time and hefty fines, the order is an attempt to get bus operators to stop participating in Governor Abbott’s actions.
New York has spent $12 billion taking care of migrants, particularly due to the right to shelter law requiring the city to provide temporary shelter to anyone who needs it. Mayor Adams – who has slashed city services to make up for the deficit – went to court to suspend the law, and has said that whether migrants will be sleeping on the streets is not a question of if, but when. Opponents accuse the mayor of scapegoating migrants in order to enforce draconian budget cuts that he hoped to pass anyway.
The executive order comes on the heels of Texas passing the nation’s strictest border control bill. These city and state level actions are juxtaposed against President Joe Biden’s inability to pass a bill to increase spending for border patrol, amplifying accusations from both sides of the aisle that he is not doing enough to control the flow of migrants to the country.
Follow GZERO Media for exclusive, on-the-ground reporting at the 78th Annual UN General Assembly
Keep a close eye on GZERO Media all week for on-the-ground coverage inside the 78th Annual UN General Assembly in New York City.
Watch Ian Bremmer's interview with the UN’s top diplomat, Secretary-General António Guterres, an exclusive and in-depth conversation on Ukraine, AI, climate change, and much more. You can watch that interview on our public television show, GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, airing on US public television starting Friday, September 15, and also available or our YouTube channel and at gzeromedia.com/gzeroworld.
We'll be live from the UN on Wednesday and Thursday, with two livestreams coming to you during high-level week as part of GZERO's Global Stage series. Find out more and check out our interviews with newsmakers throughout the week at gzeromedia.com/globalstage.
Sign up for our free newsletter on global politics, GZERO Daily, and follow GZERO on social media for updates throughout the week.
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