WORLD ROUNDUP – 15-21 JUNE 2025Does Israel Have an Exit Strategy? | What Regime Change Means in Iran | Will China Force a Rethink of Biological Warfare? | How to Stop Regime Change in Europe, and more

Published 22 June 2025

MIDDLE EAST: ISRAEL-IRAN WAR

·  A Long Way Down: What It Takes to Hit Iran’s Deepest Nuclear Site

·  Does Israel Need to Strike Fordow?

·  An Explosive Moment of Truth for Iran and Israel

·  A U.S. Attack on Iran Would Show the Limits of China’s Power

·  What Regime Change Means in Iran

·  The Radiation Risks of Iran’s Nuclear Program, with or without a Strike on Fordow

·  Donald Trump and the Iran Crisis 

·  The Three Dramatic Consequences of Israel’s Attack on Iran

·  An Islamic Republic with Its Back Against the Wall

·  How Tiny Israel Brought Iran to Its Knees

·  Israel’s Long Road to Regional Dominance 

·  Intelligence Window Might Have Been a Factor in Timing of Israeli Attack on Iran

·  Inside the Spy Dossier That Led Israel to War 

·  How IDF Intelligence Outmaneuvered Iran

·  Israel’s Race to Kill Iran’s Nuclear Dream

·  Can Israel Destroy Iran’s Nuclear Program Without the U.S.?

·  How Israel Executed Its Surprise Assault on Iran

·  Does Israel Have an Exit Strategy?

·  Israel Is Going for the Death Blow on Iran

·  Israel’s Bold, Risky Attack

·  Iran Is Breaking Rules on Nuclear Activity, U.N. Watchdog Says

·  Why Israel Struck Now

·  Iran’s Options for Retaliating Against Israel Have Narrowed

·  Iran’s Shadow War: How Hamas and the Houthis Endanger Homeland Security

CHINA WATCH

·  China Unleashes Hackers Against Its Friend Russia, Seeking War Secrets

·  How China’s Navy Just Got Closer to Its 2035 Naval Plan

·  Does Xi Have Trump’s Number?

·  America’s Middle East Trap is China’s Strategic Windfall

·  Will China Force a Rethink of Biological Warfare? 

·  Can China Catch Up on AI?

·  If China Invaded Taiwan, Who Would Enter the War?

THE LONG VIEW

·  Quietly, Pakistan Wages a Deadly Drone Campaign Inside Its Own Borders

·  South Korea’s New President Wants Flexible Diplomacy

·  Why Russia Is Still a Little Skeptical About BRICS Expansion

·  How to Stop Regime Change in Europe

·  Vladimir Putin’s Sway Over the U.S. Is Even Worse Than You Think

·  Asia’s Autocrats Welcome USAID’s End

MORE PICKS

·  The Wagner Group Is Leaving Mali. But Russian Mercenaries Aren’t Going Anywhere

·  The Sarkozy-Gaddafi Trial Exposes Corruption’s Devastating Effect on Libyans

·  Is America Prepared for Korea’s New President? 

MIDDLE EAST: ISRAEL-IRAN WAR

A Long Way Down: What It Takes to Hit Iran’s Deepest Nuclear Site  (Samuel Granados, Junho Lee, Jeremy White, and Leanne Abraham, New York Times)
Iran built its most critical nuclear enrichment facility, Fordo, deep inside a mountain to shield it from attacks.
But the United States has a bomb that experts think could probably reach the subterranean site. President Trump is considering a plan to use it.
Only the U.S. military has the 30,000-pound GBU-57, or Massive Ordnance Penetrator, that may be able to destroy Fordo, and it is the only armed force with aircraft that can carry out a mission with it.

Does Israel Need to Strike Fordow?  (Blaise Misztal and Jonathan Ruhe, National Interest)
Israel’s attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities have used the program’s dispersion to its advantage.

An Explosive Moment of Truth for Iran and Israel  (Economist)
A test of Trump’s nerves, Iranian resilience and Israeli overreach.

A U.S. Attack on Iran Would Show the Limits of China’s Power  (David PiersonKeith Bradsher and Berry Wang, New York Times)
China, which depends on Iran for oil and to counter American influence, has a lot to lose from a wider war. But there’s not much it can do about it.

What Regime Change Means in Iran  (Arash Azizi, Foreign Policy)
A new Iran may emerge from the current conflict, but don’t expect a democracy.

The Radiation Risks of Iran’s Nuclear Program, with or without a Strike on Fordow  (François Diaz-Maurin, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists)
Mined uranium naturally is made of less than 1 percent fissile uranium 235, which can be used in nuclear chain reactions. Going from a concentration of less than 1 percent uranium 235 to 60 percent uranium 235 takes much longer than further purifying 60-percent uranium 235 to a 90-percent concentration, the level considered “weapons grade.” Experts estimate that it could take as little as five to six days for Iran to complete this step and enrich enough uranium for one nuclear weapon.
Iran weaponizing this material, while rightly an extremely urgent concern, is not the only potential risk related to the country’s nuclear stockpile. While much remains unknown about the whereabouts or conditions of Iran’s highly enriched uranium, the material poses a contamination or radiation exposure risk, regardless of whether the material is targeted in an attack.