WORLD ROUNDUPThe Nuclear Club Might Soon Double | Israel Is Sowing Chaos to Secure Displacement in Gaza | Central Asia: Caught in the Crossfire, and more

Trump Embarrasses the Pentagon with a U-turn on Ukraine  (Economist)
His decision to resume arms shipments is a victory for common sense—while it lasts.
The affair is a reminder that not even Mr. Trump’s acolytes can predict his zig-zags. America First means what Mr. Trump says, not what his ideologues and devotees think.

The Nuclear Club Might Soon Double  (Ross Andersen, The Atlantic)
As American power recedes, South Korea, Japan, and a host of other countries may pursue the bomb.

Iran Can Already Build a Dirty Bomb  (Anchal Vohra, Foreign Policy)
A bomb with uranium would be easy enough for Tehran to make—but may not make sense to use.

Taiwan Is on the Cusp of an Energy Revolution  (Alexander C. Kaufman,Foreign Policy)
As the island phases out nuclear power, can it harness its vast geothermal reserves?

Israel Is Sowing Chaos to Secure Displacement in Gaza  (Rob Geist Pinfold,Foreign Policy)
By making Gaza unlivable, Netanyahu has laid the groundwork for ethnic cleansing.

Donald Trump Is No Teddy Roosevelt, and the 19th Century Is a Terrible Guide to Modern statecraft.  (Economist)
Cynicism without skill is no way to put America first. A world carved up between Presidents Trump, Xi and Putin would be unstable and unsafe.

China’s Seldom-Seen J-35A Fighter Jet Just Surfaced on Social Media  (Peter Suciu, National Interest)
The J-35 was officially unveiled last year via social media posts, including the popular Douyin (TikTok), Xiaohongshu (RED), and Weibo, before going viral on X and Instagram.

Central Asia: Caught in the Crossfire  (Alouddin Komilov and Otabek Akromov, National Interest)
The Israel-Iran conflict has shown that Central Asia’s bid for strategic autonomy is deeply fragile.

The Wagner Network Behind Arson Attack in London  (Ali Mitib and Fiona Hamilton, The Times)
We track a web of Russian operations across Europe in which spies have recruited gangsters on social media for a campaign of sabotage and assassinations