WORLD ROUNDUPCountering Russia’s “Shadow Fleet” | Lebanon’s Success Depends on Sidelining Hezbollah | Trump Triggers a Crisis in Denmark—and Europe, and more
· Assessing a New Nuclear Theater Architecture for the Indo-Pacific
· After the War in Ukraine, European Boots on the Ground?
· Syrian Rebels’ Remarkable Call for International Help on Chemical Weapons
· What Do U.S. Allies Really Contribute to the Costs of Global Security?
· Countering Russia’s “Shadow Fleet”
· Lebanon’s Success Depends on Sidelining Hezbollah
· Trump Triggers a Crisis in Denmark—and Europe
Assessing a New Nuclear Theater Architecture for the Indo-Pacific (Josh Chang, RealClearDefense / RAND)
Two anniversaries just passed with little notice: the release (PDF) of the Biden Administration’s 2022 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) and the one-year anniversary of the congressionally mandated, bipartisan Strategic Posture Commission (SPC) report (PDF). Unlike these anniversaries, the global security environment has been noticeably noisy lately. Both the NPR and the SPC report highlight China, Russia, and North Korea’s threats to the U.S.-led international order, and the growing role of these countries’ nuclear arsenals to advance their ambitions and coerce the United States and its allies.
After the War in Ukraine, European Boots on the Ground? (Samuel Charap, Financial Times)
The incoming Trump administration has been supportive of the European initiative to deploy European forces to Ukraine after the war ends. It is consistent with the president-elect’s stated desire to disengage the United States from security matters on the continent, and instead have the European Union and the United Kingdom take the lead. But a deployment of European forces to Ukraine will inevitably entangle the Americans. European militaries depend on their U.S. allies for out-of-area operations. Inevitably, a large deployment to Ukraine will once again expose this dependency when they turn to the United States for help with critical tasks such as air lift, logistics, and intelligence that they cannot conduct alone.
Syrian Rebels’ Remarkable Call for International Help on Chemical Weapons (John V. Parachini, National Interest)
The Syrian rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) surprises the world by asking for international help in safely dismantling the regime’s clandestine chemical weapons program.
What Do U.S. Allies Really Contribute to the Costs of Global Security? (King Mallory, Financial Times)
It’s become a common refrain in the United States: our allies don’t contribute enough to the costs of global security. But that claim doesn’t stand up to scrutiny. Look closely at what each ally actually provides, and the reality is different to what many might think.
Countering Russia’s “Shadow Fleet” (Henri van Soest, National Interest)
Russian vessels used to circumvent sanctions may also be sabotaging international subsea infrastructure. Stopping them won’t be easy.
Lebanon’s Success Depends on Sidelining Hezbollah (Bilal Y. Saab, Foreign Policy)
The new government in Beirut is the country’s best chance for reform in years—but support from Washington and Riyadh will be crucial.
Trump Triggers a Crisis in Denmark—and Europe (Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic)
What a single phone call from the president-elect did to an unswerving American ally.