Trump’s Trade War Returns America to the 1930s | Israel’s Strategic Priorities in Post-Assad Syria | Export Controls Aren’t Enough to Beat China’s AI | The Most Successful CIA Operation You’ve Never Heard of, and more

What Will Happen to the West Bank If Palestine Becomes a State?  (Richard Spencer, The Times)
With the eyes of the world on Gaza, Israeli settler violence has increased in the West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel since 1967.

Why Trump Broke with Bibi Over the Gaza Famine  (Jonathan Lemire and Isaac Stanley-Becker, The Atlantic)
The president wants the war to end and thinks Benjamin Netanyahu is standing in his way.

Famine in Gaza Shows the Failure of Israel’s Strategy  (Economist)
It has become an international pariah without vanquishing Hamas.

The Corrupt Bargain Behind Gaza’s Catastrophe  (Yair Rosenberg, The Atlantic)
Israel’s far right wants to take over Gaza. Netanyahu wants to stay in power.

Israel’s Strategic Priorities in Post-Assad Syria  (Hirak Jyoti Das and Abhishek Yadav, IDSA)
The fall of Assad in December 2024 has created a fragile transition in Syria under Ahmed Al Sharaa, marked by sectarian tensions and weak central control. Violence against the Druze community, especially in Suwayda governorate, has triggered Israeli military intervention aimed at protecting its border and Druze allies.

The Risks of Israel’s Druze Policy  (Ahmad Sharawi, Foreign Policy)
Picking and choosing between Druze leaders will prove counterproductive.

THE LONG VIEW

Trump’s Trade War Returns America to the 1930s  (Melissa Lawford and Hans van Leeuwen, The Telegraph)
The president’s tariffs have hammered U.S. small businesses and fueled uncertainty.

America Will Be the Chief Victim of Trump’s Tariffs Rampage (Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, The Telegraph)
The U.S. economy will bear the brunt of the president’s destructive trade war.

Can Turkey Make Multicultural Authoritarianism Work?  (Sinem Adar, Foreign Policy)
Erdogan’s negotiations with the PKK seek peace and possibly pluralism without democracy. Will they succeed?

America Is Easing Chip-Export Controls at Exactly the Wrong Time (Economist)
The ban on sales to China was working, and should be kept in place.

Trump’s Missed Opportunities Are Piling Up  Stephen M. Walt, Foreign Policy)
The Trump administration had an unprecedented chance to change the United States for the better.

The Most Successful CIA Operation You’ve Never Heard of  (Johannes Lichtman, Foreign Policy)
How the agency’s program to circulate banned books helped take down the Iron Curtain.

MORE PICKS

Nayib Bukele Could Now Rule El Salvador for Life  (Economist)
His supermajority in the legislative assembly has removed the constitutional barriers to unlimited re-election.

Trump’s Long-Promised Tariffs Upend Global Trade  (Keith Johnson, Foreign Policy)
It’s a new reality for a country, and a planet, whose post-World War II prosperity was ushered in by a decades-long effort to dismantle trade barriers.

The Kremlin’s Most Devious Hacking Group Is Using Russian ISPs to Plant Spyware  (Andy Greenberg, Wired)
The FSB cyberespionage group known as Turla seems to have used its control of Russia’s network infrastructure to meddle with web traffic and trick diplomats into infecting their computers.

Thailand-Cambodia Conflict: Legacy Politics and Premeditated Escalation  (Angela Suriyasenee and Nathan Ruser, The Strategist)
The eruption of fighting between Thailand and Cambodia on 24 July may appear to have been sudden, but it was neither abrupt nor unforeseen. It was the product of a calculated build-up and was shaped as much by domestic politics and legacy ambitions as by maps and military strategy.

Mapping a Decade’s Worth of Hybrid Threats Targeting South Korea  (Fitriani, Shelly Shih and Alice Wai, The Strategist)
While Australia is coming to terms with the realities of hybrid threats, South Korea has long been on the front line. Reflecting its formal state of war with North Korea, South Korea has endured decades of grey-zone provocations, including infiltration attempts, cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns.
However, the hybrid threat landscape confronting South Korea is evolving in both intensity and complexity—just as it is for the broader Indo-Pacific. For South Korea, it now extends beyond North Korea’s traditional campaigns to encompass state actors such as China, emerging technologies such as AI, and threats including intellectual property theft.

Trump Is Pushing India to Submit to China  (By Sushant Singh, Foreign Policy)
Without clear U.S. support, the cost of resisting Beijing is too high.

‘A New Society: Behind Canadian Armed Forces Members Plot to Form a Militia and Seize Land  (Jessica Davis, GNET)
On 8 July 2025, three men in Quebec, Canada, were arrested and charged with facilitating terrorist activity, and a fourth was charged with weapons offences. According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the men plotted to “forcibly take possession of land” near Quebec City. They sought to establish a new society and build an anti-government militia. The activity is alleged to have taken place between 2021 and 2024. Media reports indicate that the plot was first uncovered by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), which informed the RCMP, a federal police force responsible for most terrorism investigations in Canada. 
The arrests followed a January 2024 raid in which a massive cache of weapons was seized outside of Quebec City. In that seizure, the RCMP took possession of 16 explosive devices, 83 firearms and accessories, 11,000 rounds of ammunition, and nearly 130 magazines. Some of the material seized was “diverted” from the Canadian military, although no details have been released.