WORLD ROUNDUPDark New Era of Hydroterrorism | Iran and the Logic of Limited Wars | After Chernobyl, Jonestown?, and more

The World Is Entering a Dark New Era of Hydroterrorism  (Abdoulie Ceesay, Foreign Policy)
International institutions need to start treating water as a national security flashpoint.

Rubio Restricts U.S. Criticism of Tainted Foreign Elections  (Michael Crowley and Julian E. Barnes, New York Times)
A State Department cable telling officials to avoid comments on the “fairness or integrity” of most elections continues a U.S. turn away from promoting democratic values abroad.

Why Is Trump So Obsessed with Critical Minerals?  (Chloe Hadavas, Foreign Policy)
Inside Washington’s bet to loosen Beijing’s chokehold on these resources.

Calls for Japan’s Leader to Resign as His Party Faces Election Defeat  (Martin FacklerHisako Ueno and Kiuko Notoya, New York Times)
Exit polls suggest a major loss for the Liberal Democratic Party in parliamentary elections, but Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is vowing to stay on

Iran and the Logic of Limited Wars  (Raphael S. Cohen, Foreign Policy)
No one wants a long war, and doing nothing was no longer an option.

Why Trump Keeps Betraying His Base  (Stephen M. Walt, Foreign Policy)
The Blob is back—and other explanations for the Trump administration’s foreign-policy flip-flops.

After Chernobyl, Jonestown? (Alexander Wooley, Foreign Policy)
Guyana taps into the dark tourism trend by opening the site where cult members purportedly drank the Kool-Aid.

What Comes Next in US-Iran Talks?  (Alexander Langlois, National Interest)
Without a deal on its nuclear program with the United States, Iran is likely to rush toward weaponization.

Rightwing Populist Sanseitō Party Shakes Japan with Election Surge  (Rin Ushiyama, The Conversation)
Japan held elections for its upper house, the House of Councillors, on July 20. The vote proved a challenge for the conservative ruling Liberal Democratic party (LDP), which has been reeling from corruption scandals, rising prices and US tariffs on Japanese exports.
The ruling coalition, composed of the LDP and its junior partner, Kōmeitō, lost its majority in the house. While the centre-left Constitutional Democratic party maintained its position as the largest opposition group, the breakout success of the election was that of Sanseitō, an ultranationalist populist party.
Sanseitō successfully framed immigration as a central issue in the election campaign, with the provocative slogan “Japanese First”. The party won 14 seats in the 248-seat chamber, a substantial jump from the single seat it won in the last election in 2022.