WORLD ROUNDUPIran’s Proxies Are Going Their Own Way | America’s War on Drug Smugglers at Sea Is Unlawful—and It Is Failing | Washington’s Absence Is Inviting the War Europe Fears Most, and more
· The Fallout of Russia’s Failed Drone Attack on Germany
· Washington’s Absence Is Inviting the War Europe Fears Most
· Beijing and Washington Can Build AI Safety Despite Mutual Distrust
· Iran’s Proxies Are Going Their Own Way
· America’s War on Drug Smugglers at Sea Is Unlawful—and It Is Failing
· Ukraine’s Ground Robots and the Economics of Survival
The Fallout of Russia’s Failed Drone Attack on Germany (Alexandra Sharp, Foreign Policy)
European nations join Berlin in punishing Moscow for an alleged unsuccessful attack on Leipzig airport.
Washington’s Absence Is Inviting the War Europe Fears Most (David Ignatius, Foreign Policy)
Renewed U.S. leadership in the pushback against Russia is crucial to avoiding catastrophe.
Beijing and Washington Can Build AI Safety Despite Mutual Distrust (Xiao Qian, Foreign Policy)
Practical cooperation should exist alongside competition.
Iran’s Proxies Are Going Their Own Way (Economist)
After three years of war, the axis of resistance is no longer an axis.
America’s War on Drug Smugglers at Sea Is Unlawful—and It Is Failing (Stephen Chamberlin, Leanne Lusk and Brian McNamara, Just Security)
Today marks a full year that the Trump administration has used military aircraft and weapons to destroy suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, killing hundreds of alleged traffickers to date. Officials portray these strikes as a tougher approach to combating narcotics trafficking. In reality, they represent something far more troubling: an unlawful expansion of military force into what has long been—and should remain—a law enforcement mission.
This policy is legally unsound, strategically counterproductive, and morally corrosive. It weakens the international partnerships that have underpinned successful maritime drug interdiction for decades while placing American servicemembers in the impossible position of carrying out actions that may conflict with the law and their own personal and professional ethics. Drug smugglers are criminals—not enemy combatants—and treating them as military targets undermines both the rule of law and America’s credibility abroad.
Absent an armed conflict, suspected traffickers cannot lawfully be treated as combatants. Labeling them military targets stretches domestic and international law beyond recognition. Nor can the government simply rely on domestic criminal law. The Posse Comitatus Act generally prohibits the Department of Defense from conducting civilian law enforcement, which is precisely why Congress has long relied on the Coast Guard—operating under the Department of Homeland Security with statutory law enforcement authority—to conduct maritime counter-drug operations.
Ukraine’s Ground Robots and the Economics of Survival (Lesia Bidochko, War on the Rocks)
In August 2024, special forces from five Ukrainian military intelligence units crossed the Black Sea to raid Russian-held Kinburn Spit. The commandos of these units — Chimera, Aratta, Stuhna, Paragon, Terror, and the Siberian Battalion — landed, fought, destroyed equipment, and withdrew. Two years later, in July 2026, Ukraine returned, but left the soldiers behind. Instead, an uncrewed surface vessel carried a ground robot across the water and released it onto the shore. The robot, equipped with a Wolly 7.62 remotely operated combat module, featuring a machine gun and an AI-assisted targeting system, rolled onto shore and engaged targets. A robot delivers a robot — this is probably the first known combat mission of this format in the world, according to the fighters of the 123rd Brigade who carried it out.
Operations like this make headlines, but most robotic missions will never do so. In the 3rd Assault Brigade, which fields a dedicated ground-robot battalion, roughly 19 of every 20 ground-robot tasks involve logistics or evacuation; combat accounts for only 2 percent. Khartiia, which conducted Ukraine’s first fully robotized operation using ground drones in late 2024, reports the same pattern: logistics remains the platforms’ most important role.
