WORLD ROUNDUPThey’re Cheering for Trump in Moscow—Again | How Germany Needs to Step Up Preparedness | The Global Populist Right Has a MAGA Problem, and more

They’re Cheering for Trump in Moscow—Again  (Tom Nichols, The Atlanrtic)
Russia, among other autocratic states, is surely thrilled by the president’s decision to close Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Marti, and Radio Free Asia.

The Global Populist Right Has a MAGA Problem  (Helen Lewis, The Atlantic)
In Europe, Trump looks too extreme even for many right-wing insurgents.

How the Far-Right AfD Creates Divisions in German Society  (Hans Pfeifer, DW)
The election successes of far-right parties in Germany and elsewhere is making it harder to solve social problems. Experts warn that this trend carries high costs, and not just for the economy.

Fear of War: How Germany Needs to Step Up Preparedness  (Helen Whittlem DW)
Germany is planning to pump billions into defense spending, but the need to better prepare goes well beyond the Bundeswehr. The likely chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday promised more funding also for civil defense.

Russia Is Only Winning Inside Trump’s Head  (Alexey Kovalev,Foreign Policy)
As Russians will tell you, the reality on the ground looks very, very different.

Is Trump Breaking NATO as Poland Seeks Nuclear Weapons?  (Ajey Lele, The Wire)
Poland understands that while Trump may claim anything about his relations with the Russian president, taming Putin is just not possible.

Unity Is the Answer to Europe’s Defense Woes  (Bartosz Weglarczyk, The Strategist)
As President Donald Trump’s hostile regime has finally forced Europe to wake up. With US officials calling into question the transatlantic alliance, Germany’s incoming chancellor, Friedrich Merz, recently persuaded lawmakers to revise the country’s debt brake so that defense spending can be boosted. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called for an €800 billion fund to strengthen the EU’s hard power. And British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged to increase defense spending to 2.5 percent of GDP by 2027, hoping to hit 3 percent by 2030.
All of this is long overdue. As Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk put it in early March, it is absurd that ‘500 million Europeans are asking 300 million Americans to defend them against 140 million Russians’. Tusk meant that Europe has enormous defense potential, much greater than Russia and even greater than the United States, which has been guaranteeing Europe’s security since the end of World War II.