WORLD ROUNDUPNATO Leaders Need to Trump-proof Their Policies Now | Trucks, Piers, and Parachutes Will Not Solve Gaza's Crisis | The ‘No-Fail’ Mission to Protect the Red Sea Isn’t Working, and more
· Waiting for Trump to Be Re-elected Is Wrong – NATO Leaders Need to Trump-proof Their Policies Now
Not acting is a dangerous policy, though. It limits countries’ power and plays into Trump’s strategy.
· Trucks, Piers, and Parachutes Will Not Solve Gaza’s Crisis
While there are few straightforward problems in the Middle East, there are even fewer straightforward solutions.
· Mullah Akhundzada’s Misogynistic Threat: A Reflection of the Deeper Crisis
The recently released audio message by the emir of the Afghan Taliban movement, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, has sent waves of worry across the international community.
· An Airstrip Is Being Built on a Yemeni Island Near the Red Sea with ‘I LOVE UAE’ Next to It
Both the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, to which it leads, have become battlegrounds between the Houthis and U.S.-led forces in the region.
· How China Ended Up Financing the Houthis’ Red Sea Attacks
The Houthis “are attacking international routes, and the first country hurt by it is China itself,” says an expert. “I’m not sure they’re aware they’re cutting off the branch their sitting on”
· Doctors Visiting a Gaza Hospital Are Stunned by the War’s Toll on Palestinian Children
An international team of doctors visiting a hospital in central Gaza was prepared for the worst. But the gruesome impact Israel’s war against Hamas is having on Palestinian children still left them stunned
· The ‘No-Fail’ Mission to Protect the Red Sea Isn’t Working
For all the costly hardware the US and its allies have thrown at the Islamist group from northwest Yemen, they haven’t been able to stop the attacks on civilian freighters and warships
Waiting for Trump to Be Re-elected Is Wrong – NATO Leaders Need to Trump-proof Their Policies Now (Michelle Bentley, The Conversation)
The re-election of Donald Trump as US president would cause another enormous shock to international politics. The world is full of crises, such as Ukraine and Gaza. But Trump casts a destabilizing shadow over all these issues.
How do you cope with a crisis when you have no idea what a future US president will do about it – including potentially creating a further crisis? Many international leaders have largely shut down to wait and see what happens after the US presidential election on November 5. But sitting tight is the wrong way to deal with Trump. Leaders need to be proactive and move now to Trump-proof their foreign policies as well as international organizations such as NATO.
Trump is unpredictable, and thinks that’s exactly what you should be as president. He is not simply chaotic but believes that an unpredictable foreign policy gives you the advantage.
Trump is also inexperienced about international affairs and transactional – only trying to find the benefit to himself, regardless of the political implications. He thinks that all of this makes you a strong player.
But unpredictability is bad for an international system in which other states rely on knowing what will happen to formulate their own foreign policies. It’s hardly surprising then that foreign leaders feel frozen – unable to act without knowing what the situation may be.
Not acting is a dangerous policy, though. It limits countries’ power and plays into Trump’s strategy. Letting him run the show strengthens his position at a cost to everyone else, by making others work to his agenda. Instead, leaders should step up now to protect their foreign policies. They need to fully articulate what they want – and work to get it (or as much of it as they can) irrespective of Trump.
