Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
Israeli strikes hit Syria's navy, military arsenals Israel’s Netanyahu testifies in his corruption trial for first time Hamas gives Egypt list of hostages terror group holds, negotiations privately progress Assad’s fall jolts Iran's increasingly vulnerable leadership U.S. transfers $20 billion loan to Ukraine backed by Russian assets James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies’ Hanna Notte: Putin just suffered a huge defeat After ousting Assad, Syrian rebels rush to impose order in Damascus NYT’s Bret Stephens: The Syria opportunity North Korea says Yoon has caused ‘pandemonium’ in South Korea Bloomberg’s Karishma Vaswani: South Korea’s president has terrible timing Macron wants new PM in 48 hours, Socialists call government talks 'inconclusive' West Point Modern War Institute's John Spencer: Stopping ‘Endless Wars’ Is Easier Said Than DoneIn The News
Israel
Israel has targeted hundreds of Syria’s naval and other military assets in the past two days as part of its campaign to destroy weapons left behind by the country’s military following the downfall of President Bashar al-Assad. – Wall Street Journal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the stand on Tuesday to testify in his long-running corruption trial even as he manages a multi-front war—underscoring the tensions around his leadership. – Wall Street Journal
U.S. President Joe Biden is dispatching more senior aides to the Middle East in the next few weeks to clinch a Gaza ceasefire deal that has eluded his administration for over a year, a senior aide said on Tuesday. – Reuters
Pope Francis will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday, the Vatican said, as the Catholic pontiff has become more vocal in his criticism of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. – Reuters
Ajour is one of dozens of Palestinians that an Israeli legal group, Hamoked, is helping in their search for family members who went missing after being separated by Israeli soldiers during raids and arrests in the Gaza Strip. – Associated Press
Neither the Red Cross nor doctors came to the aid of Noa Argamani when she had been wounded in captivity, the former hostage said at an emergency discussion regarding the hostages’ medical conditions, called by President Isaac Herzog on Tuesday for International Human Rights Day. – Jerusalem Post
Approximately a dozen ministers and MKs arrived at the Tel Aviv Regional Court on Tuesday morning in support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ahead of the beginning of his testimony in his criminal trial. – Jerusalem Post
Hamas has given Egyptian mediators a list of Israeli hostages that are currently being held in captivity by the terror group, Saudi news channel Al Arabiya reported on Tuesday. – Jerusalem Post
In a message to the new regime taking shape in Syria, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel wants to establish relations, but won’t hesitate to attack if it threatens the Jewish state. – Times of Israel
Cabinet ministers convened on Tuesday to discuss legislation that would grant authorities the power to dissolve campus organizations deemed supportive of “terrorism or armed struggle against the State of Israel.” – Haaretz
Olga Deutsch writes: The donors who fund these organizations — whether private individuals, foundations, or governments — must also ask themselves if they want to be complicit in ignoring and normalizing antisemitism. It is time for the international human rights community to stand unequivocally and unapologetically against antisemitism. If they do not, they will betray the very ideals upon which the modern universal human rights movement was founded. – New York Sun
Zina Rakhamilova writes: Israel has shattered that illusion and demonstrated that the regime cannot act with impunity, as seen with the events of October 7. Now is the time to support the people of Iran and the minorities in Syria. The global community must stand united to ensure that this reckoning becomes a turning point – one that ends the cycle of terror and paves the way for a future of security and peace. – Jerusalem Post
Iran
Iran announced Tuesday that all governmental offices, universities, and schools in the province of Tehran will be closed for two days because of poor air quality, state TV reported. – Associated Press
The tanker carrying oil from Iran had been sailing to Syria with critical supplies when it was forced into a U-turn just before entering the Suez Canal. Word of President Bashar al-Assad’s downfall had reached the vessel, with the cargo’s sender reduced from a powerful, longtime sponsor of his regime to a mere spectator of its demise. – Bloomberg
The Biden-Harris administration waived sanctions on Iran three days after the November election, providing Tehran access upward of $10 billion in once-frozen funds, according to a copy of the non-public order transmitted to Congress and reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon. – Washington Free Beacon
Eitan Charnoff writes: The collapse of the Assad regime marks a pivotal moment in the Middle East, but most of all a moment of reckoning for Iran’s defense posture. Facing the disintegration of its regional axis, Iran may be more likely to pivot toward nuclearization as its ultimate guarantor of power. For those who truly seek to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power, the window to act may be mere weeks, for once the nuclear threshold is crossed, there is no turning back. – The Hill
David Albright and Sarah Burkhard write: Of note, a significant amount of 20 percent enriched uranium was transferred to the FFEP. The IAEA states that Fordow received “six cylinders containing a total of 145 kg of UF6 enriched up to 20% from the Fuel Plate Fabrication Plant (FPFP) at Esfahan.” […] Both stocks, due to their potential contribution in a quick breakout to weapon-grade uranium, need to be monitored very closely. A new IAEA report is expected soon, according to a post on X by Laurence Norman of the Wall Street Journal, that may provide an update on additional safeguards measures taken by Iran. – Institute for Science and International Security
Russia & Ukraine
When Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed an annual big-business gathering this month, he could not help but crow about how Western sanctions against the economy had failed. – Washington Post
The Biden administration transferred $20 billion to Ukraine on Tuesday, providing an urgently needed economic lifeline in the form of a loan that will be repaid using interest earned from Russia’s frozen central bank assets. – New York Times
Russia transported Bashar al-Assad, who was ousted as Syria’s president by a lightning rebel offensive, very securely to Russia, the country’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, told NBC News in an interview aired on Tuesday. – Reuters
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged Ukraine’s allies on Tuesday to provide 10-12 more Patriot air defence systems that he said would fully protect its skies, after a Russian missile killed at least four people in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia. – Reuters
Russia moved a step closer towards recognising the Taliban government of Afghanistan on Tuesday as parliament voted in favour of a law that would make it possible to remove the Taliban from Moscow’s list of banned terrorist organisations. – Reuters
Russia would not invade NATO as it has too many complications with the fighting in Ukraine, Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze said in an interview at the Reuters NEXT conference in New York. – Reuters
The Kremlin said on Tuesday that the Ukraine war would continue until the goals set by President Vladimir Putin were achieved by military action or by negotiation. – Reuters
Poland’s prime minister said Tuesday that negotiations over Russia’s war in neighboring Ukraine could start “in the winter,” as his country prepares to take over the rotating presidency of the European Union on Jan. 1. – Associated Press
Hanna Notte writes: Mr. al-Assad’s ouster could also lead to the more tangible loss of the bases, Hmeimim and Tartus. Russia will do all it can to retain the bases, of course. The shift in its language when talking about its new Syrian interlocutors — from “terrorists” to “armed opposition” — suggests diplomatic efforts are already underway. In that, Russia may succeed. But its influence in Syria — and the regional clout that came with it — will never be quite the same. – New York Times
Hezbollah
Iran-backed Hezbollah needs to focus on domestic issues in Lebanon and not the wider region, senior Lebanese Maronite politician Gebran Bassil said on Tuesday, adding that he was against the head of the army running for the presidency. – Reuters
Loqman Radpey writes: The Middle East remains as unpredictable as ever, and the ripples caused by Israel’s actions against Hezbollah may just be the beginning of a much larger and more complex shift in the region’s power dynamics. The ripples following Biden’s brokered truce should not be celebrated as it could grow into a tidal wave. – Jerusalem Post
Hanin Ghaddar writes: In addition, Najib Mikati will need to be compelled to publicly order the LAF to fully deploy and take charge of security. Only a new political structure could take on the challenges awaiting Lebanon after the war, such as reconstruction, containing the Hezbollah 2.0, and monitoring the borders with Syria and other points of entry. Only a new sovereign government could implement the Taif Accord, UNSCR 1701, 1559, and 1680. Otherwise, the alternative is more insecurity, an empowered Hezbollah, and a situation in Syria of instability and constant wars. – Hoover
Syria
Rebel fighters and civilians strolled through the grounds of Bashar al-Assad’s presidential palace on Tuesday, stepping on shredded posters of the former dictator who had fled to Russia days earlier. – Wall Street Journal
When the regime of Bashar al-Assad collapsed over the weekend without a fight, Damascus slipped into a power vacuum that saw the pillaging of the deposed president’s ornate palace, some government buildings and the homes of high-ranking officials. – Wall Street Journal
A U.S. group is traveling to Syria this week in search of long-missing journalist Austin Tice, after the surprise ouster of President Bashar al-Assad revived hopes that he will be found alive 12 years after his abduction while documenting the country’s brutal civil war. – Washington Post
Because of Mazen al-Hamada, the world can’t say it didn’t know. The 47-year-old Syrian activist, who suffered unimaginable torture in the regime’s brutal prisons, escaped to Europe in 2014. There, he set about telling his story, reliving the horrors he had been subjected to in vivid detail to statesmen, legislatures and anyone who would listen. – Washington Post
The rebel alliance that overthrew the Assad government in Syria vowed on Tuesday to hunt down and punish senior officials of the previous regime who are implicated in torture and other abuses, but said that rank-and-file conscripted soldiers would receive amnesty. – New York Times
The Biden administration has urged the rebel group that led the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad not to assume automatic leadership of the country but instead run an inclusive process to form a transitional government, according to two U.S. officials and a congressional aide briefed on the first U.S. contacts with the group. – Reuters
The United Nations is against any violation of the territorial integrity of Syria, a spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Tuesday when asked about strikes by Israel on its neighbor. – Reuters
Lebanon must not become a safe haven for Syrian officials who are responsible for crimes, a leading Lebanese political party warned on Tuesday, citing reports that leading figures in Bashar al-Assad’s ousted regime had fled to neighbouring Lebanon. – Reuters
US President Joe Biden and his G7 partners will discuss the turmoil in Syria when they hold a scheduled virtual meeting this Friday, the White House said. – Agence France-Presse
Editorial: His new administration should also work with allies to present Iran with a stark choice: Either negotiate firm limits on its nuclear and missile programs, as well as its support for regional militias, or face a far tougher sanctions regime. For too long, Syria has been a source of instability and pain. The US should do what it can to ensure something better emerges from that trauma. – Bloomberg
David Ignatius writes: Ukraine’s aid wasn’t “the drone that broke that camel’s back,” so to speak. But it helped, in at least a small way, to bring down Russia’s most important client in the Middle East. And like Israel in its failure to anticipate Hamas’s surge across the Gaza fence on Oct. 7, 2023, Russia saw the Ukrainian-backed rebels coming, but couldn’t mobilize to stop the attack and prevent the devastating consequences. – Washington Post
Bret Stephens writes: That means, especially, maintaining our detachment of forces in eastern Syria. The Saudis will also need to demonstrate regional leadership by helping rebuild Syria and resuming negotiations for diplomatic normalization with Israel. None of this will be simple or straightforward. But the end of al-Assad’s wretched regime unlocks many doors. – New York Times
Turkey
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was heading to Ankara, Turkey, to attend the third round of talks aimed at defusing tensions with Ethiopia, the state news agency reported on Tuesday, in a row that threatens to destabilise the region. – Reuters
Turkey’s intelligence agency destroyed 12 trucks loaded with missiles and heavy weapons, two tanks and ammunition stores being transported by the Kurdish YPG militia in northeast Syria, a Turkish security source said on Tuesday. – Reuters
Turkey’s justice minister said on Tuesday the pro-Kurdish DEM Party’s application to meet jailed Kurdish militant group leader Abdullah Ocalan was under consideration, without giving details. – Reuters
Turkiye’s top diplomat Hakan Fidan said Tuesday Ankara would reopen its embassy in Damascus when conditions allow following the ouster of Syrian strongman Bashar Assad. – Agence France-Presse
Editorial: Donald Trump will be taking office in just six weeks, long before the dust in Syria settles. He should let Erdogan know — in no uncertain terms — that any further belligerence form Turkey anywhere in the Middle East, particularly if it poses risks to US forces and their allies, won’t be tolerated. The Turkish leader better watch his step or prepare to face consequences come Jan. 20 – New York Post
George Monastiriakos writes: Though only time will tell how all this develops, two things are certain. First, Russia’s decline as a great power continues unabated due to Turkey and Israel’s operations in Syria. Second, Ankara is now the most influential foreign power in Syria other than Washington. If this isn’t the best time to negotiate a just and lasting peace between the West’s Turkish and Kurdish allies, in the context of Syria’s reconstruction and the emergence of a new Middle East, then I don’t know if that day will ever come. – The Hill
Middle East & North Africa
Two U.S. Navy destroyers escorting three merchant vessels through the Gulf of Aden defeated an attack by Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, the U.S. military said on Tuesday. – Reuters
The U.S. State Department has approved the potential sale of vehicle maintenance equipment to Kuwait for an estimated $300 million, the Pentagon said in a statement on Tuesday. – Reuters
A Jordanian man has returned to his home country after spending 38 years in Syrian jails, an official said on Tuesday, after the fall of president Bashar Assad ended an agonizing wait for his family. – Agence France-Presse
Korean Peninsula
North Korea made its first public statement on Wednesday about the short-lived declaration of martial law in South Korea last week, with its state media saying that President Yoon Suk Yeol had plunged his country into “pandemonium.” – New York Times
South Korean police raided the office of President Yoon Suk Yeol, a presidential security official said on Wednesday, in a widening investigation into the embattled leader’s failed attempt to impose martial law. – Reuters
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol gave an order to “drag out” lawmakers from parliament after he declared martial law on Dec. 3, an army commander said on Tuesday amid concerns of a power vacuum with Yoon’s office saying it had “no official position” on who was running the country. – Reuters
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen spoke to South Korean Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok on Tuesday and discussed South Korea’s political turmoil following President Yoon Suk Yeol’s attempt last week to impose martial law. – Reuters
Karishma Vaswani writes: One of the key priorities will be ensuring that national security issues remain stable until difficult political impasse is resolved. Working with the new Trump administration, but also leveraging the goodwill Seoul has built with Tokyo, would be a sensible approach. Yoon’s miscalculations have put South Koreans at risk, and they face considerable political instability ahead. Their experience is a stark reminder: Democracy is always a work in progress. – Bloomberg
China
China’s naval deployments in the East China Sea and South China Sea are elevated but consistent with other large exercises in the past, a U.S. military official said on Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity. – Reuters
Senior Russian security official Dmitry Medvedev arrived in Beijing for two days of talks with Chinese leaders, Russian news agencies reported late on Tuesday. – Reuters
China has decided to impose visa restrictions on some U.S. personnel who it said have “behaved badly” on Hong Kong-related issues and “interfered” in Hong Kong affairs, its foreign ministry said on Tuesday at a news conference. – Reuters
Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday that China had full confidence in achieving this year’s economic growth target and in continuing to play the role of the world’s largest engine of economic growth. – Reuters
Matthew Brooker writes: The fallacy has been shown up most notably by Australia, which resisted the Chinese government’s attempts at economic coercion and continued to sell the nation lots of iron ore while suffering only minor ill effects. Britain is most likely to achieve the stable relationship with China that it wants if Starmer’s government is clear about where the line between principle and economic interests lies. The London mega-embassy can be a teachable moment. – Bloomberg
South Asia
Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh at the Kremlin on Tuesday, according to the Russian state-run RIA news agency, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. – Reuters
Indian opposition parties moved on Tuesday to impeach Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, a spokesman said, accusing him of being partisan in his role as chairman of parliament’s upper house, in a first such move in the country’s history. – Reuters
Pakistan’s former spy chief and ex-army general Faiz Hamid has been indicted on a series of charges, the military said on Tuesday, a rare move by the powerful army, which plays an outsized role in the country’s politics. – Reuters
Hundreds of protesters rallied near the Bangladesh diplomatic mission in the Indian capital on Tuesday, pressing for an end to reported attacks on Hindus and other minorities in Bangladesh after former premier Sheikh Hasina fled into exile in India in August. – Associated Press
Manjari Chatterjee Miller writes: For now, placing any kind of limits on cooperation with India may seem at best premature, and at worst counterproductive. But given India’s foreign policy characteristics, Washington must draw up a strategy for handling New Delhi—no matter how much it wants to obsess about Beijing. Otherwise, the United States not only risks falling behind in Asia. It risks being sidelined altogether. – Foreign Affairs
Asia
Asian economies are set to keep growing steadily this year and the next, but momentum has moderated and policy changes under the incoming Trump administration pose a major risk for the region, the Asian Development Bank said. – Wall Street Journal
On the streets of Georgia, it’s starting to look a little like the Ukraine of 10 years ago, before the war, when tensions with Russia started brewing. – New York Times
Bougainville must be able to fund at least half of its budget if the Pacific archipelago’s aspiration of political independence from Papua New Guinea is to be a success, PNG Prime Minister James Marape said on Wednesday. – Reuters
Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim refused to answer questions on Tuesday on the existence of a royal decree that would allegedly allow jailed former premier Najib Razak to serve his prison sentence at home. – Reuters
Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto called on Tuesday for more efficient government spending amid expected economic challenges caused by rising geopolitical tensions. – Reuters
Vandals torched a car and sprayed graffiti with anti-Israel slogans including an apparently misspelled “Kill Israiel” on Wednesday in a Sydney suburb that is home to Australia’s largest Jewish community. Officials condemned the attack as antisemitic. – Associated Press
Editorial: In a world growing more globalized by the day, with identities blurring, it is important to separate attacks like these from each other when they happen. They are domestic incidents first and must be tackled as such. Let’s hope the Australian government follows up on its promises and that the Australian Jewish community begins to feel the effects of personal safety again soon. – Jerusalem Post
Europe
The police in The Hague said on Tuesday that they had arrested three people in connection with an explosion at an apartment building in the Dutch city over the weekend that killed at least six people. – New York Times
The one-on-one duel that has shaped French political life for nearly a decade ratcheted up a notch last week, with the far-right leader Marine Le Pen claiming one big scalp, and giving notice of going after a bigger one, President Emmanuel Macron. – New York Times
There are legitimate concerns about the risks of sectarian violence in Syria and a resurgence of extremism in the country, the European Union’s new foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Tuesday, while pointing to positive early signals. – Reuters
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emannuel Macron are prepared to work with the Syrian rebel groups who ousted President Bashar al-Assad on certain conditions, a German government statement after a phone call between the two leaders. – Reuters
British police said six people had been charged in an investigation into suspected activity linked to the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, known as the PKK. – Reuters
The leaders of France’s Socialist Party hailed “interesting but inconclusive” talks with President Emmanuel Macron and other mainstream party chiefs on Tuesday, as the French leader set himself 48 hours to name a new prime minister. – Reuters
Britain and Cyprus pledged on Tuesday to fight illicit Russian cash flows during a visit by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, in an endorsement of the pro-west tilt the Mediterranean island has taken since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. – Reuters
Chagossians living in Britain said fresh doubts over a deal to hand sovereignty of their islands to Mauritius had given them a “last chance” to demand a rethink, and pledged to protest at the British parliament to make their voices heard. – Reuters
Bolstering Cyprus ‘ defense capacity is critical for the east Mediterranean island nation so close to the war-wrecked Middle East, the country’s defense minister said Tuesday. – Associated Press
Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko said Tuesday his country is hosting dozens of Russian nuclear weapons and will prepare facilities for the planned deployment of Moscow’s newest hypersonic ballistic missile. – Associated Press
Serbia’s president accused Tuesday foreign intelligence services of trying to unseat him in the wake of spreading protests in the Balkan state and that he wouldn’t flee the country like the ousted Syrian leader Bashar Assad. – Associated Press
Romania’s pro-European parties pledged to move quickly to form a new government to keep the far-right out of power and to call fresh presidential elections after the previous ballot was annulled by the country’s top court. – Bloomberg
Africa
Kenyan police fired teargas and arrested at least three people on Tuesday as hundreds protested against a wave of femicides, a Reuters reporter and human rights activists said. – Reuters
France has started the withdrawal of its military from Chad with the departure of two warplanes that were based in the capital N’Djamena, the French army said, two weeks after Chad said it was ending its defence cooperation pact with Paris. – Reuters
Zambia’s constitutional court ruled on Tuesday that former President Edgar Lungu was ineligible to run for another term in office after he announced his return to active politics last year. – Reuters
Sudan – for the second year in a row – topped a 2025 watchlist of global humanitarian crises released by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) aid organization on Wednesday, followed by Gaza and the West Bank, Myanmar, Syria and South Sudan. – Reuters
Amnesty International called for an investigation Wednesday into a former governor and two top army officials in Congo for “possible crimes against humanity” during a deadly crackdown on demonstrators last year protesting the U.N. peacekeeping mission in the country. – Associated Press
The swift collapse of Bashar Al-Assad’s regime in Syria threatens a key Russian airbase in the country that Moscow has depended on to project influence throughout Africa. – Bloomberg
Alexander Palmer, Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., and Jennifer Jun write: If Russian casualties continue to mount amid a worsening security situation, popular narratives about Wagner’s military prowess could erode, making Russia’s military presence in the country more tenuous. Confidence in Russian support may also decrease following the collapse of the Moscow-backed Assad government in Syria, pushing Mali’s leaders to at least consider alternative security partners. For now, though, it appears that Russia is in Bamako to stay – Center for Strategic and International Studies
The Americas
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was recovering in intensive care Tuesday after undergoing emergency brain surgery to ease bleeding after a fall he suffered at home in October. – Wall Street Journal
At least 229 people detained in Nicaragua for political reasons have suffered various forms of torture and other “crimes against humanity” at the hands of the government over the past seven years, a human rights NGO said on Tuesday. – Reuters
Venezuela’s opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez said on Tuesday he was convinced he would return from Spain to his country in time to be sworn in as president on Jan. 10. – Reuters
Brazil shaped regulations to fulfill budget commitments made to Congress, the official gazette showed on Tuesday, as the government aims to clear the way for a vote on a package of measures to curb spending. – Reuters
Ecuador’s government will stop rationing electricity services just before the holidays, President Daniel Noboa — who was heavily criticized for the cuts resulting in three months of daily interruptions — announced Tuesday. Normal service will resume on Dec. 20. – Associated Press
United States
President-elect Donald J. Trump will inherit a dangerous new Middle East crisis in Syria when he assumes office in January. But how he might approach a nation now controlled by rebels with terrorist roots is unclear, and may be decided by fierce competing arguments among advisers and foreign leaders in the months to come. – New York Times
U.S. troops will be staying in Syria after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad as part of a counter-terrorism mission focused on destroying Islamic State militants, a top White House official said on Tuesday. – Reuters
The family of a Turkish-American woman killed by Israel in the Israeli-occupied West Bank will meet U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday and call for an independent U.S.-led probe into her killing, the woman’s sister told Reuters on Tuesday. – Reuters
The United States added two Chinese companies to a trade restriction list on Tuesday for allegedly enabling human rights violations as President Joe Biden kept up the pressure on Beijing in the waning days of his administration. – Reuters
President-elect Donald Trump has picked former U.S. ambassador to El Salvador, Ronald Johnson, as the next United States ambassador to Mexico, he said on social media on Tuesday. – Reuters
The Biden administration is weighing new, harsher sanctions against Russia’s lucrative oil trade, seeking to tighten the squeeze on the Kremlin’s war machine just weeks before Donald Trump returns to the White House. – Bloomberg
John Spencer writes: Clausewitz’s reminder to recognize the type of war being waged remains vital. Wars are not contests of spreadsheets but struggles of will, shaped by leadership, morale and adaptability. To be successful, Mr. Trump must resist the allure of quick fixes and instead embrace strategies that reflect the unique nature of each conflict. – Wall Street Journal
Cybersecurity
The United States sanctioned a Chinese cybersecurity company over an ambitious cyberattack that U.S. Treasury officials say could have killed people. – Reuters
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., introduced legislation Tuesday that would require the Federal Communications Commission to regulate the cybersecurity of telecommunications companies under federal wiretapping law. – CyberScoop
Cybersecurity researchers are warning that vulnerabilities in several file transfer products are being exploited by hackers, even after a patch was released by the developer. – The Record
The Russian government has stepped up its efforts to restrict access to independent media over the past year, employing increasingly sophisticated methods and advanced technology, researchers say. – The Record
Defense
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency successfully intercepted an air-launched intermediate range ballistic missile target during a test off Guam for the first time, a significant milestone in the island’s defense capabilities, the Pentagon said on Tuesday. – Reuters
Congress is set to cut the number of Lockheed Martin-made F-35s the military wants to buy in 2025 from 68 to 58 under this year’s defense authorization bill. – Defense News
Army Secretary Christine Wormuth — in a dramatic and rare move — on Tuesday fired one of the service’s top generals following an Army inspector general investigation that concluded he improperly intervened in the process for selecting senior commanders. – Military.com