WORLD ROUNDUPQuestion of Succession in Al-Qaeda | Anti-war Camp Is Intellectually Bankrupt | Nord Stream Is Putin’s Warning Shot to the West, and more
·· Pentagon Plans to Set Up a New Command to Arm Ukraine, Officials Say
New command created on the fly after Russia’s invasion
·· Dealing with Putin’s Nuclear Blackmail
Putin’s nuclear blackmail must be made to fail
·· A Different Kind of Russian Threat – Seeking to Install Its Candidate atop Telecommunications Standards Body
The U.S. must ensure that the candidate more likely to enforce the right principles wins
·· The Question of Succession in Al-Qaeda
Experts continue to debate potential contenders
·· Jihadists in Mozambique Far from a Spent Force, Says New Intelligence Report
Jihadists exploit the country’s porous borders and unpoliced coastline
·· Italy’s Right Is Torn on Ukraine but United on China
Until recently, the leaders of the new government supported Russia, but are now united on China
·· How the Anti-war Camp Went Intellectually Bankrupt
Anti-imperialists on the left, isolationists on the right, and more respectable “realists” in between
·· The Nord Stream Blasts Are Putin’s Warning Shot to the West
Putin’s war on the West is fought by economic pressure, political subterfuge and dirty tricks
Pentagon Plans to Set Up a New Command to Arm Ukraine, Officials Say (Eric Schmitt, New York Times)
The mission in Germany would streamline a training and assistance system that the United States and its allies created on the fly after Russia’s invasion, officials said.
Dealing with Putin’s Nuclear Blackmail (Daniel Fried, Just Security)
The risk cannot be dismissed, but giving in to his threats in his war on Ukraine would create a precedent that he likely would use elsewhere.
A Different Kind of Russian Threat – Seeking to Install Its Candidate atop Telecommunications Standards Body (Mark Montgomery and Ivana Stradner, Just Security)
For the billions of digital devices that people the world over use each day, technical standards provide rules that ensure a device produced in one country can run software developed in a second country, on networks located in a third country.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is holding leadership elections this week at its Plenipotentiary Conference in Budapest, and as Russia floats a candidate to take over the top position from a Chinese official, the United States and its allies need to ensure that the candidate who is more likely to enforce the right principles wins.
The Question of Succession in Al-Qaeda (Sara Harmouch, War on the Rocks)
Two months after a U.S. Hellfire missile posted a “Now Hiring” sign for al-Qaeda’s CEO position, experts continue to debate potential contenders while waiting for al-Qaeda to make an announcement. Some believe that the group’s silence on its new leader signals a crisis of succession. Others believe it suggests the end of an era for al-Qaeda as a key terrorist organization. While some counter-terror experts identified Saif al Adel and Abd al Rahman al Maghrebi as potential successors to al Zawahiri, a dark horse contender with long ties to Osama bin Laden could upend these predictions and threaten to revive one of history’s most lethal terrorist groups: Amin Muhammad Ul Haq Saam Khan.
While the former two contenders represent the usual suspects in terms of bureaucratic succession for al-Qaeda’s top seat, the reality is that both men are under house arrest in Iran. Al-Qaeda, meantime, is facing a crisis: It has been losing adherents for years. Those still with the organization may feel it needs a new leader who can regain global attention, and a potential alternate successor could take al-Qaeda a step forward.
