International cooperation

To Avoid a Ukraine-Style Quid Pro Quo, Australia Needs to Work with the U.S. on Critical Minerals
With Donald Trump back in the White House, Washington is operating under a hard-nosed, transactional framework in which immediate returns rather than shared values measure alliances. For Australia, this signals a need to rethink its approach to the US relationship. A key step would be to work with the United States in the extraction and processing of Australian critical minerals.
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Europe Will Need Thousands More Tanks and Troops to Mount a Credible Military Defense without the U.S.
Implementing a new defense strategy will mean answering many difficult questions, including whether an EU defense force would involve all EU member states, the potential roles of antagonistic EU members like Hungary and Slovakia (both pro-Trump and pro-Russia), and those of non-EU NATO members such as the UK, Norway, or even Canada.
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French Nuclear Deterrence for Europe: How Effective Could It Be Against Russia?
Does France have the capacity to defend Europe? Would the deployment of the French nuclear umbrella in Eastern Europe make Europe strategically autonomous, giving it the means to defend itself independently?
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Undermining Post-Cold War U.S. Foreign Policy: The Trump-Vance Approach to Ukraine and Russia
The U.S. post-Cold War foreign policy has been built on principles of deterrence, alliance-building, and the defense of democratic nations against authoritarian threats. Trump and JD Vance’s approach to Ukraine and Russia represents a fundamental departure from these principles, undermining decades of bipartisan commitment to countering Russian aggression.
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How Trump’s Spat with Zelensky Threatens the Security of the World – Including the U.S.
After the catastrophic press conference on February 28 between Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and US president Donald Trump, it is clear that there has been a global realignment. What the press conference revealed was that Trump’s position is a lot closer to Russian president Vladmir Putin than long-time US ally Ukraine, and also that other US allies cannot count on Washington to promote the global world order.
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America’s Trade Wars: Past and Present
Trump’s trade dispute with China has expanded to Canada and Mexico. But this isn’t the first time the U.S. has conducted trade wars with adversaries and allies alike
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The Intellectual Origins of Trump’s Economic Policies
The Trump administration’s tariff announcements revive the age-old policy of import substitution industrialization (ISI) to protect domestic industries and stimulate growth. However, ISI could lead to significant economic disruptions for the U.S. and its trading partners.
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The United States Goes Rogue
Openly taking sides with a dictator while purveying the same dictator’s verisimilitudes and brazen distortions is a different matter.
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Time to Reassess the Costs of Euro-Atlantic Security
The undeniable truth is that security comes at a cost. If Europeans fail to invest more now to deter Russia and China, the alliance will face far greater expenses and risks. The problem is that Europeans, with few exceptions, fail to grasp the immense costs such a scenario would inflict on allied security.
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Trump’s National Security Tariffs
Without exemptions, the tariffs President Trump imposed on steel and aluminum imports are likely to negatively impact the U.S. defense sector, critical infrastructure, and U.S. allies. How these trade-offs are weighed hinges on how national security is defined.
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Calls Grow for U.S. to Counter Chinese Control, Influence in Western Ports
Experts say Washington should consider buying back some ports, offer incentives to allies to decouple from China.
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The Costs of Tariffs
The tariffs announced by President Donld Trump should come as no surprise: Trump was acting on a deeply held belief and fulfilling a key campaign promise. But what’s less clear is what Trump was hoping to get out of this tariff play. The president seems to have multiple goals in mind. Whether he will succeed depends on which he prioritizes.
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Water Is the Other U.S.-Mexico Border Crisis, and the Supply Crunch Is Getting Worse
The United States and Mexico are aware of the political and economic importance of the border region. But if water scarcity worsens, it could supplant other border priorities. The two countries should recognize that conditions are deteriorating and update the existing cross-border governance regime so that it reflects today’s new water realities.
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Ukraine Needs U.S. Weapons. Trump Wants Its Rare Earth Minerals in Return.
President Donald Trump wants to condition future U.S. aid to Ukraine on getting more access to the country’s valuable “rare earth” minerals — minerals that are in increasing demand for batteries, computers, smart phones, and electric cars, not to mention weaponry.
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Turkey: The Threat of the Neo-Ottoman Caliphate to Regional Security
Turkey is swiftly expanding its influence in a rapidly imploding Islamic world, as its ‘neo-Ottoman’ president is whipping up a new wave of Islamism across continents. The country is even intervening in South Asia now, by forging defense deals with Pakistan and Bangladesh.
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