WORLD ROUNDUPNuclear Energy Issue “a Dead Horse” for Germany | Is Taiwan’s Defense Budget Enough to Deter China? | Turkey, Greece Seek 'New Approaches' to Resolve Decades-Old Disputes, and more
· Bracing for Trump 2.0
His possible return inspires fear in America’s allies—and hope in its rivals
· Scholz Says Nuclear Energy Issue “a Dead Horse” for Germany
Scholtz rejects calls by his coalition partner, the business-friendly Free Democrats (FDP), to consider the option of using nuclear energy again
· Trump Didn’t Invent Isolationism
History suggests the Republican Party will continue to argue over foreign policy beyond the MAGA era
· Turkey and Greece Agree to Revive Talks, Seek ‘New Approaches’ to Resolve Decades-Old Disputes
The two NATO allies have been at loggerheads over a string of decades-old disputes
· Finland Charges Three with Racist ‘Terrorist Crime’
Extremists indicted for preparing to instigate armed conflict between ethnic groups
· U.S. Deterrence Against China Is Not Working
With U.S. military superiority in Asia no longer a given, defense planners need a different strategy
· Taiwan Announced a Record Defense Budget: But Is It Enough to Deter China?
Taiwan cannot be expected to match China’s military spending dollar for dollar, it will need to both spend more and invest that money wisely to maintain deterrence
· Chinese Cars Star at Munich Auto Show, Underscoring German Economic Woes
China, an electric-vehicle juggernaut, will have at least seven brands on display, while Germany’s automakers are now a drag on their home economy
Bracing for Trump 2.0 (Daniel W. Drezner, Foreign Affairs)
For most countries, the Biden administration’s foreign policy represents a return to normality after the chaos of the Trump years. Long-standing allies and partners have seen their relationships strengthened. Autocrats no longer deal with a U.S. president who wants to emulate them. Great-power rivals face a United States that is dedicated to outcompeting them. For many observers, it is hard not to conclude that under President Joe Biden, the United States has returned to the postwar tradition of liberal internationalism. In this view, the Trump administration was an ephemeral blip rather than an inflection point. Equilibrium has been restored.
Beneath the superficial calm, however, many global actors are anxious about the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Despite four criminal indictments, Donald Trump is the runaway frontrunner to win the GOP nomination for president. Assuming he does, current polling shows a neck-and-neck race between Trump and Biden in the general election. It would be reckless for other world leaders to dismiss the possibility of a second Trump term beginning on January 20, 2025. Indeed, the person who knows this best is Biden himself. In his first joint address to Congress, Biden said that in conversations with world leaders, he has “made it known that America is back,” and their responses have tended to be a variation of “But for how long?”
Scholz Says Nuclear Energy Issue “a Dead Horse” for Germany (DW)
The German chancellor insisted that “nuclear energy is over” after the Free Democrats (FDP) called for putting a halt on dismantling decommissioned power plants. It’s the latest apparent division in the ruling coalition.
Trump Didn’t Invent Isolationism (Jordan Tama, Foreign Policy)
The first Republican debate of the 2024 U.S. presidential campaign illustrated a sharp split within the GOP over foreign policy.
While the push by MAGA Republicans to make U.S. foreign and defense policy more inward-looking reflects former President Donald Trump’s outsize influence in Republican circles, it would be wrong to see these debates solely as a result of Trump. (Cont.)
