WORLD ROUNDUPHow Israel Executed Its Surprise Assault on Iran | When Buddhism Turns Violent | Will China Force a Rethink of Biological Warfare?, and more

How Israel Executed Its Surprise Assault on Iran  (Isaac Stanley-Becker and Shane Harris, The Atlantic)
Advanced espionage techniques made the most of Iranian vulnerabilities, but Israel’s ultimate aims may still be out of reach.

Does Israel Have an Exit Strategy?  (David E. Rosenberg, Foreign Policy)
Netanyahu might be bumbling into a war of attrition with Iran.

Terrorism Threat Grows in West Africa as U.S. Turns Away  (Elian Peltier, New York Times)
Insurgents are expanding from West Africa’s Sahel region toward Atlantic coastal nations such as Ivory Coast, creating new terrorism hot spots and displacing millions.

Vladimir Putin’s Sway Over the U.S. Is Even Worse Than You Think  (Dominic Lawson, The Times)
Members of Donald Trump’s administration such as Tulsi Gabbard are useful idiots for the Kremlin.

The Wagner Group Is Leaving Mali. But Russian Mercenaries Aren’t Going Anywhere  (Ryan Bauer, Moscow Times / RAND)
The June 6 announcement by the infamous Wagner Group private military company that it will end its three-and-a-half-year-long deployment in Mali is an important development in Russia’s evolving mercenary landscape. Even as one Russian mercenary group is leaving, the country’s presence in Africa is not going anywhere.

When Buddhism Turns Violent  (Nilay Saiya, Lawfare)
Governments that rely on Buddhist leaders for legitimacy can empower extremists that promote violence.

The Sarkozy-Gaddafi Trial Exposes Corruption’s Devastating Effect on Libyans  (Chiara-Lou Parriaud and Grace Spalding-Fecher, Just Security)
The corruption trial of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy in France is testing the country’s democratic resilience and the judiciary’s capacity to act as a counter-power to leaders bending democratic rules. Sarkozy, who led the country from 2007 to 2012, is accused of illegally funding his 2007 presidential campaign with millions of euros from one of Africa’s most notorious dictators, former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, in exchange for France strengthening its ties to Libya and reexamining its terrorism charge against Gaddafi’s brother-in-law and Libyan intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi. In March, French prosecutors demanded that if Sarkozy is found guilty, he must serve seven years of detention, pay the equivalent of $340,000 in damages, and be banned from political office. (Cont.)