WORLD ROUNDUPTrump Has No Idea How to Do Diplomacy | Is Ukraine the Future of Asia? | The Looming Military Threat in the Arctic, and more

Trump Has No Idea How to Do Diplomacy  (Stephen M. Walt, Foreign Policy)
Even when he’s partly right, he’s wrong.
The combination of that weird summit in Alaska with Vladimir Putin and the only slightly less bizarre gathering of NATO leaders in Washington, was the latest reminder that U.S. President Donald Trump is a terrible negotiator, a true master of the “art of the giveaway.” He doesn’t prepare, doesn’t have subordinates lay the groundwork beforehand, and arrives at each meeting not knowing what he wants or where his red lines are. He has no strategy and isn’t interested in the details, so he just wings it.
As we learned during his first term, when he wasted time on those irrelevant reality-show meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, all Trump really craves is attention, coupled with dramatic visuals that suggest he is in charge. The substance of any deal he might make is secondary if not irrelevant, which is why some of the trade agreements he’s recently announced are less favorable for the United States than he claims.
The only reason that anyone pays any attention to Trump’s erratic diplomatic blundering is that he happens to be the president of the world’s most powerful country, and cowardly members of Congress from the cult-like Republican Party continue to indulge his every whim. But when lightweights like Trump, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and amateur diplomat Steve Witkoff go up against the likes of Russian President Vladimir Putin or Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, you should expect the latter side to pick U.S. pockets cleanly. Just ask yourself: Is there anything Trump got for the United States, its allies, or Ukraine when he met with Putin in Alaska? Did Putin give anything up? For that matter, what concessions did Trump get from those European leaders who showed up to persuade him not to abandon Ukraine?
Conducting a successful negotiation with a serious adversary requires a cold-blooded and ruthlessly realistic assessment of each side’s interests, power, and resolve. You aren’t going to charm a leader like Putin into making concessions just because he likes you or because you’ve rolled out a red carpet on the tarmac, and you aren’t going to get anywhere by indulging in wishful thinking or making threats or promises that nobody takes seriously.

Is Ukraine the Future of Asia?  (C. Raja Mohan, Foreign Policy)
Washington’s switch to accommodating Moscow’s geopolitical goals sends an ominous signal.

Will Trump’s India Tariffs Affect a Critical U.S. Partnership?  (Kenneth I. Juster, CFR)
The Trump administration’s proposed high tariffs on Indian imports raise concerns about the U.S.-India partnership. But the rates seem to be part of a negotiating tactic aimed at concluding a trade deal and possibly even a peace agreement.

Trump Keeps Defending Russia  (Tom Nichols, The Atlantic)
The president sees the Ukraine war through Kremlin-tinted glasses.

The Looming Military Threat in the Arctic  (Economist)
Great-power competition in the far north puts renewed attention on Svalbard.