By Paul McLeary, Alexander Ward, Matt Berg and Eric Bazail-Eimil

Scott Bray has carved out a long career focused almost entirely on Beijing — even spending a year in the U.S. Embassy working with the Military attache in the Chinese capital in 2007-08. | Alex Brandon/AP Photo

With help from Connor O’Brien, Lara Seligman and Nick Taylor-Vaisey

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NATO is about to get a new intelligence chief who is ready to bring decades of experience collecting data on … China.

The person tapped to lead the alliance’s intel analysis is SCOTT BRAY, currently the acting director of Naval Intelligence at the Pentagon. That’s according to a Wednesday post by the official he’ll be taking over from, and confirmed Thursday to NSD by NATO.

“Scott Bray is a highly-respected leader in the intelligence community, with a wealth of experience across major files of importance to NATO," the alliance said in an emailed statement. "We look forward to welcoming him as Assistant Secretary General for Intelligence and Security later this year.”

Bray has carved out a long career focused almost entirely on Beijing — even spending a year in the U.S. Embassy working with the military attache in the Chinese capital in 2007-08.

With a war raging in Ukraine that has occasionally seen air defense missiles and Russian drones fall into NATO territory, why pick a China and East Asia hand to run the alliance’s intel shop in Brussels?

There are a couple reasons, ranging from Washington's traditional lock on the intel job to NATO’s pre-Russian invasion push to keep a closer eye on what is happening in the Indo-Pacific and concern over China’s breakneck military modernization efforts.

Let’s get into some background first.

The intel position at NATO is generally an American job, partly because “we're the ones that have most of the intel assets,” said JIM TOWNSEND, who spent years working on NATO and European security issues at the Pentagon and NATO HQ.

“It's hard enough to get intel from the U.S., even on a good day, so if you have an American who's running that intel shop, who is from the U.S. intelligence community,” American intelligence offices “feel a little more comfortable giving information to an American at NATO,” added Townsend, who’s now an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security.

There’s also the more obvious reason that China’s influence, both military and economic, is unavoidable, whether you’re sitting in Vancouver or Vilnius.

While he’s got two decades focused intently on China, Bray has also been the deputy director of Naval Intelligence since 2000, giving him a more global focus.

That double punch might be attractive to NATO chief JENS STOLTENBERG, who has long said he wants to expand the alliance’s view beyond Europe. The desire was obvious in the China-centric reports that came out of the alliance prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. “They're trying to kind of maintain that focus which got derailed by Russia, but I still think they want to have that element” in their wider policy discussions, said BRYAN CLARK, a retired Navy officer who worked with Bray at the Pentagon.

Bray will most likely take over in November from DAVID CATTLER, a Naval Academy grad and retired Navy officer who also worked in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and at the White House’s National Security Council. While Cattler also held Indo-Pacific focused jobs before heading to Brussels, his career wasn’t as focused on the region as Bray’s.

Bray will actually be the second China hand the Biden administration has sent to Brussels.

In November 2021, Biden also sent DAVID HELVEY, a longtime DOD official who spent years working Asian security and defense issues to NATO to act as the deputy defense advisor to U.S. representative to NATO Ambassador JULIANNE SMITH.

The appointment of Bray has raised some questions over the alliance’s focus on the war in its own backyard, however.

“Everyone's acknowledged by now that NATO is not going to play a big role in a China contingency,” Townsend said. “This isn't the Biden transition where you're being clever by sending a China hand to NATO headquarters. Now we've got a big, long war going on in Europe, and we're still sending China people there?”

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BIDENOMICS GOES GLOBAL: President JOE BIDEN is headed to Asia this weekend to spend time in India for the G-20 summit and then Vietnam to improve relations between Washington and Hanoi.

As Alex and JONATHAN LEMIRE preview, “Biden’s high-stakes Asia sojourn is designed to reinforce America’s regional position and back the president’s attempt to seek a new economic world order. It also reflects an effort to take China head on in the battle for global financial influence.”

At the G-20, Biden will aim to convince developing countries that working with the U.S. and the multilateral institutions it helped create is a safer prospect than partnering with China. He’ll also hold a high-profile meeting with India’s NARENDRA MODI and possibly sit down with Saudi Arabia’s MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN.

Biden will then usher in a new era with Vietnam by officially improving the relationship with the Communist nation. The deal they’ll sign shows how the U.S. is winning over some friends in Beijing’s backyard. Read more on that in China Watcher from our own PHELIM KINE and STUART LAU.

Two side notes: Alex will be in New Delhi reporting on Biden at the G-20 –– say hello! And listen to him discuss what to expect from the president’s trip on POLITICO’s Playbook Daily Briefing.

NIGER MOVEMENT: The Pentagon is repositioning some troops within Niger and evacuating roughly 100 nonessential personnel from the country, a month after a military junta seized power in an August coup, a U.S. military official tells our own LARA SELIGMAN.

In July, the U.S. had approximately 1,200 troops in the country, which has been a crucial U.S. ally in fighting an explosion of terrorist activity in the Sahel in recent years, according to the official, who was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive operational planning. After the troops are moved, that number will fall to closer to 1,100.

“This consolidation represents prudent military planning to safeguard U.S. assets while continuing to address the threat of violent extremism in the region,” according to the official.

This is the first major movement of U.S. troops within or out of Niger since the coup. Reuters first reported the news.

‘VERY TANGIBLE PROGRESS’: Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN, who is in Ukraine, told NBC News that while the fight ahead for Kyiv will still be “tough” and “hard,” Ukraine’s forces are making “very tangible progress.” That message runs counter to recent anonymous criticisms from inside the administration that the counteroffensive is at best sputtering along.

One thing that’s proved helpful lately: cluster munitions.

“They are super efficient,” SERHIY, a Ukrainian marine who would only give his first name, told The New York Times’ LARA JAKES and ERIC SCHMITT. “When our guys see how we use them against the enemy, their spirits soar.” But as the NYT notes, “other Ukrainian soldiers are more measured, saying cluster munitions are used mostly in situations where enemy infantry are exposed, and that they are largely ineffective against the dug-in Russian positions.”

Jakes and Schmitt also detail the big-think issue hanging over the American delivery of the cluster bombs and Ukraine’s use of them: “Ukraine and the United States have opened themselves to human rights concerns about their long-term threat to civilians who inadvertently trigger unexploded bombs.”

Some lawmakers are voicing their displeasure with the use of cluster munitions. “As we continue our strong support for Ukraine, we must join our NATO allies in condemning the use of cluster bombs. These weapons kill civilians, predominantly children, long after they are deployed," Rep. DINA TITUS (D-Nev.) told NatSec Daily.

Meanwhile, drones struck the Russian military hub of Rostov-on-Dov in the country’s south. It’s unclear if Ukraine was behind the attack, but Kyiv has made no secret that it views expanding the fight into Russia as a legitimate play.

LOOK WHO’S COMING TO PARTY: China is sending a high-level delegation to celebrate the 75th anniversary of North Korea’s founding, per the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

Vice Premier LIU GUOZHONG will lead the Chinese party, but it’s unclear what specific events he and his cohort will attend, or if Liu will chat with KIM JONG UN.

What we do know is the visit comes just days before Kim’s rumored in-person meeting with Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN. Liu, in addition to feting North Korea, may offer some advice ahead of that talk. It also shows continued engagement between Beijing and Pyongyang, as Chinese officials joined Russian counterparts in North Korea for a massive military parade.

“Certainly it can serve multiple purposes. Beijing is likely quite anxious though to talk to Kim and Putin, for that matter, ahead of any potential DPRK-Russia summit — to ensure that its interests are also considered,” JENNY TOWN of the Stimson Center told NatSec Daily.

The Kim-Putin meeting is expected sometime next week, with the eastern Russian city of Vladivostok the rumored venue. But The Associated Press reports that YOO SANG-BUM, a South Korean lawmaker, said his country’s intelligence suggests Kim may travel on a “surprise” route so he can appear in a place not reported on by world media.

Enter the “room where it happens”, where global power players shape policy and politics, with Power Play. POLITICO’s brand-new podcast will host conversations with the leaders and power players shaping the biggest ideas and driving the global conversations, moderated by award-winning journalist Anne McElvoy. Sign up today to be notified of the first episodes in September – click here.

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‘POPULIST STRAIN’ BE GONE: Former Vice President MIKE PENCE criticized the foreign policy stances of DONALD TRUMP and VIVEK RAMASWAMY today, saying that their proposals for ending the Ukraine war are emblematic of “the populist strain and pulling back from American leadership on the world stage.”

“That was not how we operated in the Trump/Pence administration,” Pence said on CNN. It’s a sentiment he appears to be honing in on, casting himself as a traditional conservative while “the siren song of populism” pervades the GOP.

Pence reiterated his attack against Trump’s claim that he could end the Russia-Ukraine war in a single day, saying that the only way to do so would be to concede territory to Putin. The former VP expanded his critique to Ramaswamy’s stances on ending the war in Ukraine, limiting U.S. support for Taiwan and shifting Washington’s relationship with Israel.

“We're being told that we have to make a choice between solving problems here at home in the wake of the failed policies of the Biden administration or leading in the world,” Pence said, before noting that the U.S. could maintain leadership abroad while addressing domestic crises.

D.C. WANTS AI HELP: Rep. TED LIEU (D-Calif.) is warning that Washington will need some expert help if it wants to regulate AI technology.

Speaking to the POLITICO Tech podcast, Lieu, one of the few members of Congress with a computer science background, maintained that lawmakers did not need to be experts themselves to regulate the emerging technology. But the California Democrat noted that members of Congress will feel more emboldened to address the issues with AI if they can be brought to speed more quickly. “Congress doesn’t have the bandwidth to be able to regulate AI and every single possible application,” Lieu said. “That’s why I think we need a commission to give us some models to look at as to how we can regulate AI going into the future.”

Lieu’s comments come as a bipartisan group of lawmakers have showed interest in regulating AI. Lieu, alongside Reps. ANNA ESHOO (D-Calif.) and KEN BUCK (R-Colo.) have co-sponsored a bill to create a blue ribbon commission to study AI and advise lawmakers. Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER also plans to convene forums this fall with tech industry leaders and experts for senators to better understand the implications of AI technology on national security, privacy and intellectual property rights.

'SLOW, MODEST AND PIECEMEAL': Canada pushed out an Indo-Pacific strategy last year, and the clock is ticking on a long-planned overhaul of Canada's defense policy. The Business Council of Canada wants to add a new national security strategy to the pile, our own NICK TAYLOR-VAISEY writes in.

"For decades now, successive Canadian governments have overlooked, taken for granted, or simply ignored the principle that economic security is national security," reads a Business Council of Canada report released this morning.

That has made Canada “vulnerable,” the business lobby writes, adding that Canadian companies of all sizes are “increasingly finding themselves in the crosshairs of strategic threat actors seeking to advance their national interests in ways that can, and do, undermine Canada’s national and economic security."

THE NAVY’S ‘LITTLE CRAPPY SHIPS’: ProPublica’s JOAQUIN SAPIEN is out with a new report on how the Navy could be on the hook for more than $100 billion because of its failed investments in Littoral Combat Ships.

As Sapien writes, from the outset, the ships were beset with mechanical and structural problems. Despite repeated warnings that the project was doomed to fail, Navy officials and lawmakers continued spending more and money in pursuit of a “swiss army knife” for the U.S. fleet that could assist in drug interdiction and mine clearing efforts.

The Navy told ProPublica that the Littoral Combat Ships fleet “does not provide the lethality or survivability needed in a high-end fight” and that money would now be directed towards more effective alternatives.

NEW ABRAMS TANKS: The Army announced plans today to develop the M13 Abrams tank, which it says will leave the U.S. better prepared for modern battle conditions through 2040 and beyond. The Army will reduce manufacturing of the M1A2 Abrams until full production of the M13 begins.

The Army said in a statement that the war in Ukraine has increased the need for more modern tanks. “The Abrams tank can no longer grow its capabilities without adding weight, and we need to reduce its logistical footprint," said Maj. Gen. GLENN DEAN, the Army’s program executive officer for ground combat systems. “The war in Ukraine has highlighted a critical need for integrated protections for soldiers, built from within instead of adding on.”  

SENS CRITIQUE BIDEN LATAM POLICY: The Biden administration’s chief Latin America and Caribbean policy officials received bipartisan scrutiny on Capitol Hill today as they presented their budget request, Eric reports.

At a Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee hearing, senators took Assistant Secretary of State BRIAN NICHOLS, Assistant USAID Administrator MARCELA ESCOBARI and Assistant Secretary of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs TODD ROBINSON to task over the United States’ “missed opportunities” to expand its ties with countries in the region.

“They would like to see increased trade and they would like to see deeper relationships and felt like they had not gotten a reciprocal response from the United States,” said Sen. JEANNE SHAHEEN (D-N.H.). “It’s still not clear to me that we have a comprehensive strategy for how we’re approaching Latin America.”

Noting the ongoing political crisis in Ecuador, Sen. TIM KAINE (D-Va.), who chairs the subcommittee, said Washington's refusal to engage with a pro-U.S. government in Quito on trade issues exemplified that the U.S. neglects pro-American governments in the region.

“When you have a nation that went from pro-China to pro-America and they had one ask and we couldn’t produce, … we miss opportunities with our friends,” Kaine said.

Republicans also criticized officials for not taking a harder line on corruption in Latin America. In the most fiery moment of the hearing, Sen. TED CRUZ (R-Texas) blasted the Biden administration for refusing to sanction Argentina’s Vice President CRISTINA FERNÁNDEZ DE KIRCHNER in response to her corruption convictions and asked Nichols why the U.S. refused to sanction Brazil for allowing Iranian ships to dock in Rio de Janeiro earlier in the year.

FIRST IN NATSEC DAILY — ‘CLEAN REPEAL’: A coalition of 16 advocacy groups from across the political spectrum is urging House lawmakers to vote to repeal the 2002 Iraq War authorization when they return from recess next week.

The groups argued for a "clean repeal" in a letter, organized by Win Without War and obtained by NatSec Daily, urging lawmakers to consider a Senate-passed bill that rescinds both the 2002 Iraq and 1991 Gulf War authorizations. Finally taking the decades-old laws off the books, they contend, will give momentum to a broader rewrite of presidential war powers, including the broad 2001 AUMF.

"The Iraq War is now definitively over, and the Biden administration and senior military officials have confirmed on multiple occasions that they no longer rely on the 2002 Iraq AUMF for ongoing military operations," they wrote to Reps. KEN BUCK (R-Colo.) and DEAN PHILLIPS (D-Minn.), who have been tapped to lead war powers talks on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

JOIN US ON 9/12 FOR A TALK ON THE NEW AGE OF TRAVELING: In this new era of American travel, trending preferences like wellness tourism, alternative lodging and work-from-anywhere culture provide new but challenging opportunities for industry and policy leaders alike. Join POLITICO on Sept. 12 for an expert discussion examining how the resilience of the tourism and travel industries is driving post-pandemic recovery. REGISTER HERE.

‘TURN UP THE HEAT’: Sen. TOMMY TUBERVILLE (R-Ala.) “deserves every ugly term that gets thrown at him” for blocking hundreds of military promotions, Sen. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-Mass.) said today.

The choice words coincided with the Senate Armed Services Committee member calling on her Democratic colleagues to ramp up the pressure on Tuberville: “It’s time for us to turn up the heat on that and for all of the Democrats to be involved,” Warren said on MSNBC.

The Pentagon has been making a public push to pressure Tuberville, deploying civilian leaders of the military branches to slam the senator for the blockade, first in a Washington Post op-ed Monday and then during a CNN interview Tuesday.

“We have done some of this in smaller groups, but … we have got to stand up and continue to talk about this,” Warren said. “He is playing politics with our military and our safety in a way that we cannot, cannot, cannot reward.”

— Biden nominated Space Force Maj. Gen. DAVID MILLER for a third star and to head Space Operations Command. He is a special assistant to the vice chief of space operations.

— Leidos promoted AMY SMITH to senior vice president of government affairs from vice president of government affairs.

— AMUND VIK has joined the Eurasia Group as a senior adviser. He was Norway’s deputy energy minister from 2021 to June of this year.

— The president nominated Air Force Maj. Gen. SEAN FARRELL for a third star and to be deputy commander of Special Operations Command. He is deputy commander of Joint Special Operations Command.

— PETER GARRETSON, The Hill: How and why the Pentagon is laying the groundwork for an economy on the Moon

— ERICA LONERGAN and JACQUELYN SCHNEIDER, Foreign Affairs: America’s digital Achilles’ heel

— CRAIG SINGLETON, The New York Times: China’s military is going global

— The Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center, 8 a.m.: Accelerating U.S.-emerging market clean energy partnerships

— The Cato Institute, 10:30 am: Is global inequality growing or shrinking?

— The Wilson Center's Canada Institute and Mexico Institute, 11 a.m.: A virtual book on "The Legacy of 9/11: Views from North America"

— The Korea Society, 12 p.m.: Chinese views of North Korea's uncertain future

Thanks to our editor, Heidi Vogt, who always spies on what we’re doing.

We also thank our producer, Emily Lussier, who trusts us unconditionally.

A message from Lockheed Martin:

Our mission is to prepare you for the future by engineering advanced capabilities today.

Many of today’s military systems and platforms were designed to operate independently. Through our 21st Century Security vision, Lockheed Martin is accelerating innovation, connecting defense and digital to enhance the performance of major platforms, to equip customers to stay ahead of emerging threats. Learn more.

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