WORLD ROUNDUP – 6-12 JULY 2025It’s Official: America Can’t Be Trusted | How Rare Earths Became China’s Top Trade Weapon | How Europe Got Tough on Migration | BRICS Is Sliding Towards Irrelevance, and more
CHINA WATCH
· China Surveys Seabeds Where Naval Rivals May One Day Clash
· U.S. Threats to AUKUS Pact Put United Front Against China at Risk
· How Rare Earths Became China’s Top Trade Weapon
· China’s Evolving Industrial Policy for AI
· China’s Giant New Gamble with Digital IDs
· China’s Secret Weapon Revealed: These Hidden Container Missiles Pose Immediate Threat to US National Security
MIDDLE EAST
· Trump Claimed the Houthis Were Dead. Now They Are More Powerful Than Ever
· Israel and Syria Should Prioritize Security Cooperation
· Plans to Relocate Gazans to a “Humanitarian City” Look Like a Crime Against Humanity –International Law Expert
· Israel Is Growing More Dependent on a Less Sympathetic United States
· Why Israeli Attacks Brought Fear but Not Regime Change to Iran
· After War with Israel and U.S., Iran Rests on a Knife Edge
THE LONG VIEW
· Iran Security Risk to the U.K. Now Equal to that of Russia
· It’s Official: America Can’t Be Trusted
· BRICS Is Sliding Towards Irrelevance –the Rio Summit Made That Clear
· Iran’s Collapse Could Cause a Nuclear Security Nightmare
· Ranking the Strongmen
· A Peace Agreement That Will Probably Not Bring Peace
· How Europe Got Tough on Migration
MORE PICKS
· Denmark Finalizes U.S. Defense Deal Despite Greenland Gripes
· U.K. and France Sign First Nuclear Pact to Fend Off Threat to Europe
· Coups in West Africa Have Five Things in Common: Knowing What They Are Is Key to Defending Democracy
· The Philippines May Turn Its Back on the U.S. Again
· The Real Trouble with Americas Flip-Flop on Ukrainian Weapons
· Rwanda Exercises Command and Control over M23 Rebels, Say UN Experts
· Refugees Worry: Is Nicaragua Assassinating Government Critics in Costa Rica?
· USAID Cuts May Cause 14 Million More Deaths in Next Five Years, Study Says
CHINA WATCH
China Surveys Seabeds Where Naval Rivals May One Day Clash (Chris Buckley, New York Times)
Chinese research ships are studying the seas for science and resources, but the data they gather could also be useful in a conflict with Taiwan or the United States.
U.S. Threats to AUKUS Pact Put United Front Against China at Risk (Richard Lloyd Parry,The Times)
As 19 nations, including the UK, gather in Australia for military exercises, there are worries that Washington could rip up the ‘critical’ security agreement.
How Rare Earths Became China’s Top Trade Weapon (Christina Lu, Foreign Policy)
Washington wasn’t always so vulnerable to Beijing’s chokehold.
China’s Evolving Industrial Policy for AI (Kyle Chan, Gregory Smith, Jimmy Goodrich, Gerard DiPippo, and Konstantin F. Pilz, RAND)
China wants to become the global leader in artificial intelligence (AI) by 2030. To achieve this goal, Beijing is deploying industrial policy tools across the full AI technology stack, from chips to applications. This expansion of AI industrial policy leads to two questions: What is Beijing doing to support its AI industry, and will it work?
China’s AI industrial policy will likely accelerate the country’s rapid progress in AI, particularly through support for research, talent, subsidized compute, and applications. Chinese AI models are closing the performance gap with top U.S. models, and AI adoption in China is growing quickly across sectors, from electric vehicles and robotics to health care and biotechnology. Although most of this growth is driven by innovation at China’s private tech firms, state support has helped enhance the competitiveness of China’s AI industry.
China’s Giant New Gamble with Digital IDs (Economist)
They could change its internet for good and turbocharge AI efforts.
China’s Secret Weapon Revealed: These Hidden Container Missiles Pose Immediate Threat to US National Security (Rosemary Potter, Visegrad Post)
China’s new Containerized Sea Defense Combat System, camouflaged within standard shipping containers, poses a stealthy threat capable of launching surprise missile attacks, challenging global security norms.
MIDDLE EAST
Trump Claimed the Houthis Were Dead. Now They Are More Powerful Than Ever (Ben Farmer and Akhtar Makoii, The Telegraph)
President’s confidence appears unfounded after militants sink two vessels on critical Red Sea shipping route.
Israel and Syria Should Prioritize Security Cooperation (Ahmad Sharawi, Foreign Policy)
Pushing too hard for a peace deal could come at the expense of more pragmatic action against shared threats.
