Today In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
The Must-Reads
Israel conducts airstrike on edge of Syrian capital, three reported hurt Israel transfers thousands of humanitarian aid packages to Syrian Druze Syrians Want to Go Home, but Many No Longer Have One to Return To US imposes sanctions on Iranian oil minister, shadow fleet China, Russia back Iran as Trump presses Tehran for nuclear talks Trump’s Ukraine peace strategy put to test after Putin balks at cease-fire WSJ Editorial: Russia says nyet to Trump’s Ukraine cease-fire Russia lambasts Syria's new leaders in closed UN meeting Ukraine's Zelenskiy says Turkey is a partner in security guarantees Taiwan cracks down on Chinese ‘gray zone’ espionage Armenia and Azerbaijan agree treaty terms to end almost 40 years of conflict WSJ’s Joseph C. Sternberg: Putin and Trump may rescue Europe’s economyIn The News
Israel
The Israel-Hamas negotiations to extend the cease-fire in Gaza were in limbo on Thursday as the Trump administration turned its attention to talks with Russian officials in Moscow over the Ukraine war. – New York Times
A United Nations commission on Thursday accused Israel of targeting hospitals and other health facilities in Gaza that provide reproductive services, including an I.V.F. clinic where thousands of embryos were destroyed, in what it called an effort to prevent Palestinian births. – New York Times
Israel carried out an airstrike on the Syrian capital Damascus on Thursday, targeting what the military said was a command centre belonging to Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad. – Reuters
The U.S. and Israel have reached out to officials of three East African governments to discuss using their territories as potential destinations for resettling Palestinians uprooted from the Gaza Strip under President Donald Trump’s proposed postwar plan, American and Israeli officials say. – Associated Press
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Hungary in the coming weeks, a Hungarian minister said Thursday, despite an international arrest warrant for the Israeli leader over the war in the Gaza Strip. – Associated Press
Israel has transferred some 10,000 packages of humanitarian aid to Syrian Druze in recent weeks, the Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday. – Jerusalem Post
Following US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff’s visit to Qatar, a new outline for an updated hostage-ceasefire proposal is on the table, a source familiar with the details told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday. – Jerusalem Post
Mahmoud Abbas may be the last Palestinian leader who believes in a two-state solution and opposes violence as a means for bringing it about, a potential successor to the PA president told The Times of Israel in a recent interview. – Times of Israel
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has agreed to dissolve his right-wing New Hope faction into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud, the two parties announced Thursday, five years after Sa’ar bolted the ruling faction following a failed leadership primary bid against the premier. – Times of Israel
Editorial: But this is a perilous moment for Gaza. A six-week ceasefire has ended, and Israel and Hamas remain locked in a stalemate over whether and how to extend it. Netanyahu seems ready to resume the war, and Israel has cut off all humanitarian assistance and electricity to Gaza — adding further hardship to the suffering population. An immediate extension of the ceasefire is needed, followed by tough negotiations over Gaza’s postwar future. The Arab plan offers a starting point. And, at the moment, it’s the only rational option on the table. – Washington Post
Megan K. Stack writes: I can’t shake the disconcerting sense that Gaza is already disappearing. The buildings were knocked down, the dead scattered in the wreckage, and every time another Gaza journalist is killed, it closes another eye that we used to look through. And suddenly here comes Mr. Trump with his plan to “own” Gaza, with beach resorts built on boneyards, ethnically cleansing his way to a paradise — for whom? “The people of the world,” Mr. Trump said. But not, it seems, for the people of Gaza. – New York Times
A-Ping (Abby) Lee writes: While we reflect on Dr. Sun Yat-san’s revolutionary spirit and his historical bond with revered Zionism pioneers, we are pleased to see the enduring friendship between our two peace-loving peoples put down roots and nourished in Taiwan. Taiwan remains a safe haven for Jews around the world and a reliable partner in these trying times. As we look forward to our future, we must realize that cooperation and partnership are the keys to meeting numerous challenges posed by authoritarian regimes. We should work together, and we will thrive together, and we are stronger together. – Jerusalem Post
Nadav Tamir writes: Whoever adheres to the Zionist vision must fight to ensure that Israel remains both Jewish and democratic. This means continuing to push for a political solution, even in the face of brutal terrorism, even when it seems the public is shifting to the Right. […] I disagree with the notion that we should give up. If we give up, Hamas wins. If we persist, one day, we can reach a political horizon that will guarantee our future as a secure Jewish and democratic state alongside a Palestinian one. – Jerusalem Post
Lisa Anderson writes: As Sisi repeatedly observed after the plan was unveiled, “The Egypt that pioneered peace in our region some 50 years ago … only knows the kind of peace that’s based on right and justice and safeguards the land and sovereignty.” The next move is Israel’s. Gaza can be more than a ruined territory, home to a dispossessed people ruled by Israel in perpetuity. Egypt is poised to devote its substantial convening power, expertise, and skill to realizing a just and sustainable future for the territory, its people, and the broader region. – Foreign Affairs
Iran
Iran’s foreign ministry on Thursday summoned the envoys of Britain, France and Germany over what it called a “misuse of the U.N. Security Council to hold a closed-door meeting” over Tehran’s nuclear programme, Iranian state media reported. – Reuters
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araqchi has not ruled out talks with Washington, but says they can only take place if both countries are on “equal terms,” an Iranian state-run newspaper reported on Thursday. – Reuters
The United States imposed sanctions on Thursday on Iran’s Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad and some Hong Kong-flagged vessels that are part of a shadow fleet that helps disguise Iranian oil shipments, the Treasury Department said. – Reuters
Senior diplomats from Iran, Russia and China gathered in Beijing on Friday for talks on Tehran’s nuclear issues, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported, days after Tehran rejected U.S. “orders” to resume dialogue over the Iranian nuclear programme. – Reuters
An Iranian sports climber, widely praised in 2022 for competing without a hijab at the height of nationwide protests, has left the country, her brother and an Iranian official said. – Agence France-Presse
Russia & Ukraine
President Trump finds himself a “yes” away from brokering a cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine. But it is Russian President Vladimir Putin who has to say it, and he is leaning in the other direction. – Wall Street Journal
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday he didn’t support an immediate cease-fire in Ukraine, calling for more discussion on a permanent end to the war as Moscow’s army made rapid gains toward expelling Kyiv’s forces from its Kursk region. – Wall Street Journal
The destruction of Ukraine’s Kakhovka dam in June 2023 exposed lake bed sediment containing more than 90,000 tons of dangerous heavy metals, setting off what researchers say is a toxic “time bomb.” – Washington Post
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Thursday that the military had regained full control of the town of Sudzha, the main population center in the part of the Kursk region of Russia that Ukrainian troops had captured last summer. – New York Times
Russian officials have communicated to their counterparts in the United States that they do not want Russia-Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg involved in top-level discussions aimed at ending the Ukraine war, according to a U.S. official and another source with knowledge of the matter. – Reuters
Ukraine will not agree to a frozen conflict with Russia, the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, said on Thursday after Kyiv and Washington jointly proposed a 30-day ceasefire in the war. – Reuters
Editorial: With his bludgeoning of Ukraine to make a deal without promises of U.S. aid or security, Mr. Trump has given Mr. Putin every incentive to keep the war going to put himself in the strongest possible position if there ever are serious peace talks. Does Mr. Trump have a Plan B beyond beating up Ukraine to make more unilateral concessions? Mr. Trump suggested last week that Mr. Putin “wants to get it ended,” referring to the war, and that “in terms of getting a final settlement, it may be easier dealing with Russia.” – Wall Street Journal
Editorial: President Donald Trump‘s strategy for resolving the war in Ukraine has so far centered on heavy U.S. pressure applied to Ukraine and sympathetic rhetoric toward Russia. It is important that this change now, and with his recent decision to cut off all Russian oil sales to Europe, there are positive signs that the president understands this. Trump has repeatedly suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin “holds all the cards” in Ukraine. This is not true. Although Russia holds the battlefield advantage in troops and equipment, its military has shown a consistent inability to conduct big-scale operations involving a wide array of different ground and air units. – Washington Examiner
Michael Bociurkiw writes: Even as military aid and intelligence sharing are reinstated, Ukraine has to assume that U.S. support is withering. At the same time, European leaders have said they want to draft a plan to turn Ukraine into “a steel porcupine” — impossible for invaders to absorb. The support from Europe may not have the openly transactional terms that Mr. Trump seeks, but it will come with conditions: E.U. member states will demand assurances that their money won’t be wasted and that Ukraine can survive as a stable democracy. – New York Times
Patrick Mccormack writes: Seventy-five years after the first shots were fired across their border, North and South Korea have yet to sign a formal peace treaty. Hostility between Russia and Ukraine may last even longer, but an end to the fighting now seems like an essential step toward achieving that goal. The Korean War, not World War II, should be Ukraine’s template for ending this tragedy. – The Hill
Syria
Many former residents of the Qaboun neighborhood in the capital, Damascus — like Ms. Labaad, her husband, Da’aas, and their 8-year-old son — are trying to come back. After the 13-year war ended suddenly with the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad in December, the frozen front lines dividing the country melted away overnight. – New York Times
The United Nations Security Council has agreed to a statement condemning widespread violence in Syria’s coastal region and calling on Syria’s interim authorities to protect all Syrians, regardless of ethnicity or religion, diplomats said on Thursday. – Reuters
Russia castigated Syria’s new leaders in a closed United Nations briefing this week, two sources briefed on the meeting told Reuters, warning against the rise of jihadists in Syria and comparing sectarian killings of Alawites to Rwanda’s genocide. – Reuters
Syria kept a central role for Islamic law in a constitutional declaration issued on Thursday which guarantees women’s rights and freedom of expression during a five-year transitional period, according to a summary read on TV. – Reuters
Russia’s air base at Hmeimim in Syria is sheltering about 9,000 people seeking refuge from a wave of sectarian violence, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday. – Reuters
The head of the Druze community in Israel on Thursday hailed plans for the first visit by a Druze religious delegation from Syria in five decades, despite escalating cross-border tensions underscored by an Israeli airstrike on Damascus. – Reuters
Turkey’s top diplomat, defense minister and intelligence chief paid a sudden visit to Damascus on Thursday, days after Syria’s interim government reached a deal to integrate a U.S backed Kurdish-led armed group into the country’s army. – Associated Press
One of the senior Druze leaders in Syria, Sheikh Akl, Dr. Sami Abi Al-Muna, said he opposes an agreement with Syria’s new regime – led by Ahmed al-Sharaa – due to the regime’s “extremism,” Al-Arabiya/Al-Hadath reported on Thursday. – Jerusalem Post
Sally Michael writes: Syria’s future depends on precisely these nuanced policies and tactics evolving behind closed doors. Al-Sharaa’s government should de-escalate sectarian tensions now and develop policies that, unlike those of Bashar Assad, uphold the individual rights and freedoms of all Syrians — rights that were denied for more than five decades. – The Hill
Qatar began supplying natural gas to Syria through Jordan, the latest boost to the war-torn country’s interim government following the fall of former president Bashar al-Assad. – Bloomberg
Steven A. Cook writes: Rather, my point is to observe that like their neighbors in Lebanon and Iraq, Syrians are likely to struggle with the social structures that history bequeathed to them. There are few models for the Syrians to follow. Lebanon’s confessional political system contributes to fragmentation, and Iraq’s to a circus of spoils and dysfunction. Sharaa has said the right things about Syria being for all Syrians. It is a positive vision of Syria’s future, to which so many of his fellow citizens no doubt agree. But beyond giving voice to the sentiment, the Syrian leader has not offered an actual way forward. For now, Syrians can fairly ask, “To which Syrians is he referring?” – Foreign Policy
Turkey
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday that Ukraine saw Turkey as a partner in security guarantees for his country, and added that Kyiv was ready to ratify a free trade agreement between the states. – Reuters
Turkey is seeking to extend a US waiver from sanctions, which would allow it to continue buying Russian natural gas, according to Turkish officials with knowledge of the matter. – Bloomberg
The Turkish Navy has conducted a successful firing test of the submarine-launched variant of the Atmaca anti-ship missile, according to Haluk Görgün, head of the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB). – Defense News
Middle East & North Africa
For more than a year, Houthi rebels in Yemen attacked merchant vessels and warships in the Red Sea with missiles, drones and speedboats loaded with explosives, disrupting global trade through one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes. – New York Times
Lebanon appointed a new army chief and heads of three security agencies on Thursday as the government seeks to firm up state authority, especially in the country’s south, following the militant Hezbollah group’s devastating war with Israel. – Associated Press
A delegation of Israeli leaders from the West Bank visited the United Arab Emirates this week on their first trip organized by the Yesha Council—an umbrella organization of municipal councils of Jewish settlements in the West Bank—to a Muslim country, in an effort to foster new alliances, the organization announced Thursday. – Algemeiner
Korean Peninsula
South Korea’s acting President Choi Sang-mok called on Friday for the nation to respect and accept any decision, ahead of a Constitutional Court’s ruling on the impeachment of leader Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived martial law order. – Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he still has a good relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, with whom he held several summits during his first term, and referred to North Korea once again as a “nuclear power.” – Reuters
South Korean investors loaded up on US leveraged exchange-traded funds this week, continuing to plow into a popular trade amid a rout that has plunged the market into a correction. – Bloomberg
Keith Johnson writes: Finally, there is the practical aspect that North Korea’s new submarine, even if it is nuclear-powered, will not be best-in-class or anything near it. Even China’s boats are relatively noisy, in part due to their clumsy construction to accommodate a dozen missiles. […] There are all sorts of other potential pitfalls, from propeller cavitation to the workings of the reactor itself and noise-damping systems onboard. North Korea’s home-brewed boomer is likely a throwback to earlier eras. – Foreign Policy
China
Taiwan’s president signaled a widening divide with Beijing in remarks in which he said the island would step up efforts to combat Chinese espionage and influence, including by reinstating military courts to handle spy cases and scrutinizing the activities of Chinese citizens. – Wall Street Journal
Australia is scrambling to deploy new long-range missiles as the recent arrival of powerful Chinese warships off the Australian coast delivers a sharp reminder of Beijing’s growing naval muscle. – Reuters
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said on Thursday China has deepened its influence campaigns and infiltration against the democratic island, pledging measures to tackle Beijing’s efforts to “absorb” Taiwan. – Reuters
The U.S. State Department said it will install a senior diplomat to oversee its 1,300-strong embassy in Beijing and consulates in China while Washington’s ambassadorial pick David Perdue awaits Senate confirmation. – Reuters
U.S. President Donald Trump threw a curve ball at China by linking the fentanyl issue to his tariffs on imports. The Chinese government is swinging back. – Associated Press
Daniel Byman and Seth G. Jones write: Even as the United States helps Taiwan address its military weaknesses, it should also recognize that gray-zone threats can complement or even substitute for an outright invasion. A mix of subversion, disinformation, and limited attacks could create enough chaos and confusion that Taiwan would not be able to respond effectively, making it far easier for Beijing to subdue the island. If Taipei and Washington fail to act with greater urgency, Beijing may well take advantage of the opportunity to secure its control. – Foreign Affairs
South Asia
The Indian government has asked a local court to deliver a summons issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to billionaire Gautam Adani over alleged securities fraud and a $265 million bribery scheme, according to a letter seen by Reuters. – Reuters
More than a million people in Myanmar will be cut off from lifesaving food assistance provided by the World Food Programme (WFP) from next month because of critical shortfalls in funding, the United Nations’ food agency said on Friday. – Reuters
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres is getting a first-hand look at the situation of more than 1 million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh as fears mount of serious aid cuts across the world following Washington’s decision to shut down USAID operations. – Associated Press
Pakistan’s prime minister on Thursday commended the country’s armed forces for successfully rescuing 339 passengers after a deadly train hijacking by insurgents in the southwest. A total of 25 people were killed by the attackers. – Associated Press
Andy Mukherjee writes: Modi’s third term in power may be the 74-year-old prime minister’s last, but not necessarily his party’s. While the administration in New Delhi is distracted by US President Donald Trump’s trade war, sputtering domestic demand and falling stock prices, the BJP is still determined to win. After all, the decadal census scheduled for 2021 was never conducted, even though the pandemic, the original reason behind the delay, is long over. As commentators have speculated, that’s perhaps because new data for redistricting must come from a population count taken after 2026. – Bloomberg
Asia
Armenian and Azerbaijani officials said on Thursday that they had agreed the text of a peace agreement to end nearly four decades of conflict between the South Caucasus countries, a sudden breakthrough in a fitful and often bitter peace process. – Reuters
Former Philippines leader Rodrigo Duterte will make his first appearance at the International Criminal Court on Friday at 1300 GMT, the court said on Thursday. – Reuters
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba apologised on Friday for giving gift certificates to some ruling party lawmakers, a move that could hurt his administration’s already low approval ratings and risk delaying passage of next fiscal year’s budget. – Reuters
A Singapore-based company has been slapped with US sanctions for links to the Iranian oil trade, becoming the first in the city-state to be penalized for assisting with oil transfers at sea. – Bloomberg
Europe
A massive military buildup across Europe could achieve what governments have failed to do in years: jump-start a sluggish economy, seed new innovations and create new industries. – Wall Street Journal
Belgian authorities said they detained several people as part of an investigation into alleged corruption within the European Parliament that they say was committed for the benefit of China’s Huawei Technologies. – Wall Street Journal
European leaders, buoyed by progress in talks between Washington and Kyiv and enjoying praise from U.S. officials, are pushing for a larger role in President Donald Trump’s drive to halt the war between Russia and Ukraine and discussing how their forces can help secure a post-conflict landscape. – Washington Post
Sixteen Bulgarian lawmakers lost their seats on Thursday after the Constitutional Court found they were wrongly elected during a partial recount of the October election. – Reuters
Greece’s former parliament speaker Constantine Tassoulas, a lawyer and lawmaker of the centre-right ruling party, was sworn in as the new president on Thursday. – Reuters
Poland’s president has called on the U.S. to transfer nuclear weapons to its territory as a deterrent against future Russian aggression, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. – Reuters
The European Union ’s enlargement commissioner on Thursday hailed Albania’s progress in its membership negotiations and as a “champion” of regional cooperation. – Associated Press
A British jury on Thursday convicted a United Nations judge of forcing a young woman to work as a slave after tricking her into coming to the U.K. – Associated Press
The future of an ambitious electricity cable linking the power grids of Greece, Cyprus and Israel by the end of the decade is on track despite a series of setbacks, Greece’s Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis said Thursday. – Associated Press
Joseph C. Sternberg writes: Hashing out the details will take weeks and may prove disappointing. But the two parties have agreed in principle to reforms of Germany’s flagship welfare program. These would include a renewed emphasis on pushing benefit claimants into work and paring payments for those who refuse. Such reforms could be transformative for Germany’s economy, in the same way labor reforms under Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder revived what was then the “sick man of Europe” 20 years ago. – Wall Street Journal
Léonie Allard writes: France continues to maintain means of action that allows it to operate in strategic depth, far from Europe for its sovereign interests, but also because the Indo-Pacific is important in the context of the war in Ukraine. Europe needs to develop its own response to the manifold challenges generated by intensified Sino-Russian cooperation and Russian-North Korean co-belligerence. An update of its 2019 Indo-Pacific defense strategy may be necessary. Some of those answers may be in the Indo-Pacific. – War on the Rocks
Africa
The conflict in Sudan has created the “largest and the most devastating humanitarian crisis in the world” as the warring parties lay siege to towns and block aid deliveries, top aid officials told the U.N. Security Council on Thursday. – Reuters
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) said on Thursday that a summit of regional heads of state had terminated the mandate of its troop deployment in the Democratic Republic of Congo and decided on a “phased withdrawal”. – Reuters
Democratic Republic of Congo is considering sending representatives to peace talks with the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group that Angola plans to host next week, two government sources said on Thursday, as the rebels listed demands to the mediation team. – Reuters
European Union leaders announced a 4.7 billion euro ($5.10 billion) investment package during a visit to South Africa on Thursday, at a time when both are on worse terms with the United States than they have been for decades. – Reuters
The interim government of Ethiopia’s Tigray region appealed for the Ethiopian federal government to intervene after a faction of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front seized control of two major towns, leaving several people wounded and raising fears of a return to civil war. – Associated Press
The Americas
A panel of five judges on Brazil’s Supreme Court will gather on March 25 to decide whether they will accept or deny charges against former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro for an alleged coup attempt, the court said on Thursday. – Reuters
Venezuela and the United States have agreed to resume flights of migrants deported from the U.S., senior officials from each country said on Thursday, after an apparent pause in the repatriation flights which kicked off last month. – Reuters
Peru’s Congress has approved a controversial reform to the country’s international cooperation law which imposes sweeping restrictions on civil society organizations in a move human rights groups warn could cripple efforts to defend vulnerable communities and fight corruption. – Associated Press
As the United States government works to effectively extend its border security objectives south into Central America, countries like Guatemala have come under renewed scrutiny and pressure to step up their own border enforcement. – Associated Press
North America
Top diplomats from the world’s industrial democracies gathered here with an extraordinary question looming: How to respond to President Trump’s threats to economically target, and potentially absorb, the meeting’s host, Canada. – Wall Street Journal
As President Donald Trump reiterated his intent to escalate a trade war with Canada and Mexico and said again he wants America’s northern neighbor to become a U.S. territory, his picks to serve as ambassadors to both countries sought Thursday to temper the president’s confrontational rhetoric while facing the Senate panel weighing their nominations. – Washington Post
Armed men set fire overnight to a building in Haiti’s capital that had long served as headquarters for the nation’s oldest radio station, as an alliance of gangs continues to grow its power despite efforts by local security forces. – Reuters
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that cooperation with Mexican authorities has improved and he sees tangible results on migration, but that work still needs to be done on curtailing the flow of illegal drugs. – Reuters
President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the U.S. ambassador in Ottawa said on Thursday he views Canada as an independent nation, pledging to respect its sovereignty amid a global trade war and hostile rhetoric that has roiled diplomatic relations. – Reuters
Canada has requested WTO dispute consultations with the U.S. over its imposition of import duties on certain steel and aluminium products from Canada, the trade body said on Thursday. – Reuters
Mexico’s Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard said on Thursday his government was having intensive talks with the United States over Washington’s threats to impose tariffs on goods from its No. 1 trade partner by April 2. – Reuters
The number of migrants apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol after entering the United States from Canada dropped to the lowest point since 2022 last month, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics published on Thursday. – Reuters
Diplomats from the G7 nations were set to negotiate late into the night over a joint statement to show a united front in Canada on Thursday after weeks of tension between U.S. allies and President Donald Trump over his upending of Western trade and security policy. – Reuters
United States
The leader of Senate Democrats moved to take the threat of a government shutdown off the table, following a grueling intraparty fight in which lawmakers struggled with how best to resist President Trump’s fast-paced efforts to slim down federal agencies. – Wall Street Journal
Two judges on Thursday blocked the Trump administration’s firing of probationary employees at several federal agencies, allowing thousands of workers to get their jobs back for now. – Wall Street Journal
The Trump administration is demanding Columbia University make far-reaching changes, from banning masks to overhauling undergraduate admissions, to restore roughly $400 million in federal grants and contracts to the New York school. – Wall Street Journal
The Trump administration is planning to invoke a sweeping wartime authority known as the Alien Enemies Act in an effort to speed up deportations, according to an official familiar with the discussions. – Wall Street Journal
About two months after President Trump announced he would send up to 30,000 migrants to Guantanamo Bay, an expansive tent city on the naval base sits vacant. Hundreds of troops are still deployed to the base to guard the facilities and prepare them for use, even though the nearly 300 migrants who were briefly detained on the island in two separate structures are now gone. – Wall Street Journal
U.S. Vice President JD Vance said on Thursday he would be shocked if President Donald Trump wanted nuclear weapons extending further east into Europe. – Reuters
President Donald Trump told NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Thursday that U.S. control of Greenland is necessary to enhance international security, escalating his campaign to annex the strategic Arctic island. – Reuters
The U.S. military must work to provide options to ensure the United States has full access to the Panama Canal, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Thursday. – Reuters
Investors are the most bullish on Treasuries relative to stocks for at least three years, as President Donald Trump’s tariff policies threaten to end the era of US exceptionalism, the Bloomberg Markets Live Pulse survey showed. – Bloomberg
Natasha Sarin writes: Beyond the revenue losses, such a tax system is inequitable. Americans who earn wages would still be fully compliant with their tax obligations, as their taxes are withheld. But those who earn income in opaque ways would have carte blanche to cheat, with a paucity of tax police on the beat. Those are disproportionately higher earners: Nearly 30 percent of unpaid taxes, or about $200 billion annually, comes from the top 1 percent. (The bottom 20 percent underpays by just $2 billion.) – Washington Post
Matthew Ormsbee writes: The time has come to align international space law, especially the concept of harmful interference, with the era of autonomous and AI-enabled space operations. The United States should update its legal frameworks to account for autonomous systems while upholding the Outer Space Treaty’s core principles of international cooperation and mutual benefit in space activities. Maintaining the status quo risks rendering Article IX meaningless, precisely at a time when the United States should have strong legal frameworks to manage an increasingly complex space environment. – War on the Rocks
Eugene Kontorovich writes: This was at the time portrayed as a major commitment and diplomatic win for the Jewish State. They lost strategic territory in Gaza but won American protection. Yet when President Barack Obama took office, he fully disclaimed the letters, and insisted they do not obligate the U.S. Needless to say, Gaza went on to fundamentally undermine Israel’s security, and President Biden demanded that Israel cease military operations far short of victory. The Heritage Foundation
Scott Kennedy writes: The world is at a dangerous fork in the road. Given the broader illiberal turn in U.S. foreign policy, there is no realistic chance for any sort of soothing scenario in U.S.-China relations in the coming few years. Not only is it likely that U.S.-China relations will further deteriorate, but a deal that could stabilize relations would be far from an unambiguous good for the United States and others. – Center for Strategic and International Studies
Aroop Mukharji writes: McKinley offers a final cautionary tale for Trump. Over the course of his presidency, McKinley’s initial theory of U.S. security fell apart. A growing fear of instability in nearby Cuba (mixed with humanitarian concerns for Cubans suffering from Spanish oppression) led him to declare war on Spain in 1898. After defeating Spain in just a few months, the United States acquired former Spanish colonies as far away as the Philippines—where, facing a rebellion, McKinley then waged his own colonial war. – Foreign Affairs
Cybersecurity
Current and former government officials told StateScoop they’re concerned by cuts at two information sharing organizations widely used by state and local governments to protect IT and election systems from cyberattacks. – Statescoop
One of the four states that make up the Pacific nation of Micronesia is battling against ransomware hackers who have forced all of the computers used by its government health agency offline. – The Record
Ukraine’s major annual cybersecurity conference looked and sounded different this year, as U.S. government support was gone and Ukraine’s second-biggest ally, Europe, had to take the lead. – The Record
Defense
For the past year, the Space Force has been working closely with the Air Force and Navy to learn from their experience developing an advanced, realistic training and testing environment for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter — with an eye on one day creating a similar capability for the space domain. – Defense News
Sailors who identify as transgender will have until March 28 to request voluntary separation from the service, according to Navy policies released Thursday. – USNI News
As advancements in artificial intelligence capabilities proliferate, the Air Force is using a series of capstone events in 2025 to serve as a proving ground for how the technology can be incorporated into future battle management operations. – Defensescoop
The Marine Corps, gung-ho on technology that can shield its forces from enemy drones, is planning to acquire a slew of AI-enabled systems from Anduril to protect the service’s installations. – Defensescoop