WORLD ROUNDUPTrump Has Peaked | Iran’s Cyber Retaliation Strategy | China, Criminal Networks, and Gray Zone Competition, and more

Trump Has Peaked  (Ravi Agrawal, Foreign Policy)
The U.S. president will remain disruptive on the global stage, but he is losing his coercive powers.

Trump’s Venezuela Oil Deal Is a Farce  (Keith Johnson, Foreign Policy)
There aren’t 65 billion barrels, they won’t be lowering gas prices, and they won’t refill the SPR.

Is China Working Against US Data Centers?  (Edward Owen, National Interest)
Beijing is seeking a leg up in AI competition; the US debate over data centers offers one opportunity to slow US AI development.

Iran’s Cyber Retaliation Strategy  (Bridget Toomey and Janatan Sayeh, National Interest)
Over the last decade, Iran has developed cyber capabilities that can target US and European water and electricity systems.

China, Criminal Networks, and Gray Zone Competition  (Jose Sousa-Santos, Wall Street Journal)
Strategic competition in the Pacific has reinforced the value of state-condoned illicit disruptors such as criminal networks as strategically useful and plausibly deniable tools of the state. For criminal actors, the benefits are access and influence. China is utilizing state-condoned illicit disruptors as a form of gray zone activity in the Pacific.

Japan’s First Dedicated Missile Defense Warship Is a Monster  (Joseph Trevithick, TWZ)
Japan’s first ASEV missile defense ship just had its huge radar mast installed, providing a new sense of scale for these cruiser-sized warships.