WORLD ROUNDUPChinese Military Views of Low Earth Orbit | What Are Uyghurs Doing in Syria? | How Will Russia Reconstitute Its Military?, and more

Tariffs Can Actually Work—if Only Trump Understood How  (Michael Hirsh, Foreign Policy)
Smart trade policy could help restore jobs, but the president’s carpet-bomb approach portends disaster.

Nuclear Deterrence: Can Britain and France Take on America’s Role in Defending Europe Against Russian Aggression?(Paul van Hooft, RAND / The Conversation)
European doubts about deterrence predate the current U.S. administration. Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and its growing reliance on nuclear coercion to ward off NATO support, brought the importance of nuclear weapons to the foreground again for the first time since the Cold War.

Chinese Military Views of Low Earth Orbit  (Howard Wang, Jackson Smith, Cristina L. Garafola, RAND)
Proliferated constellations in low earth orbit (LEO) have demonstrated significant battlefield utility in the Russia-Ukraine war and are likely to continue serving as an important component of space power in wartime. How Chinese leaders view these continued developments will have important implications for managing military escalation in space.

How Will Russia Reconstitute Its Military After the Ukraine Conflict?  (Michelle Griséet al., RAND)
While the ultimate resolution of the war in Ukraine is still uncertain, the way in which the conflict ends will inform the lessons that Russia learns from the conflict and, by extension, the decisions that Russia makes about reconstituting its military.

Trump Ousts Members of National Security Council Staff  (Ellen Nakashima, John Hudson and Michael Birnbaum, Washington Post)
The shake-up followed a White House visit by Laura Loomer, a far-right activist who urged the president to purge staff with hawkish foreign policy views.
Those fired include Brian Walsh, a director for intelligence and a former staff director on the Senate Intelligence Committee; Thomas Boodry, a senior director for legislative affairs who served as Waltz’s legislative director for part of the time Waltz in the House; Maggie Dougherty, the senior director for international organizations; and David Feith, a senior director for technology and national security who had served in the State Department handling policy planning and Asia matters.
During the 30-minute meeting, the far-right activist excoriated National Security Council officials in front of the president and Michael Waltz, the national security adviser.
Michael Waltz, the national security adviser, joined later in the meeting and briefly defended some of his staff, though it was clear he had little if any power to protect their jobs.