Fdd's overnight brief

Israel

When Hamas-led militants sprang from Gaza last year, leaving 1,200 people dead in southern Israel and 250 more held hostage in the enclave, it set off a chain of events that has moved the Middle East into a dangerous spiral of conflict and perilously close to all-out war. – Wall Street Journal

Israel’s punishing airstrike against Iran last month shredded Tehran’s strategic air defenses and severely damaged missile production facilities, leaving it badly exposed to future attacks, U.S. and Israeli officials said. – Wall Street Journal

Israelis and Palestinians are looking ahead to the U.S. presidential election with weary resignation, unsure of how the vote on Tuesday might affect the region — and their lives. The wars in the Middle East, in which the United States has backed Israel, including with weapons shipments, have haunted the campaign. – Washington Post

Nearly 94,000 children in Gaza City received a second dose of polio vaccine this weekend in an effort that was delayed by intense Israeli bombardment and mass evacuation orders in northern Gaza, the Gazan health ministry said. – New York Times

Israeli warplanes struck near Beirut for the first time in several days and airstrikes killed at least 52 people in central Lebanon on Friday, according to the Lebanese authorities, as diplomatic efforts to reduce the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah showed no sign of success. – New York Times

Israeli troops recently detained an individual in Syria it said was an Iranian operative who had gathered intelligence on Israeli troops in the border area, the Israeli military said on Sunday. – Reuters

Israel has officially notified the United Nations that it was cancelling the agreement that regulated its relations with the main U.N. relief organization for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) since 1967, the country’s foreign ministry said on Monday. – Reuters

A suspected leak of classified Gaza documents involving an aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has jolted Israeli politics and outraged the families of hostages held by Hamas who have been pushing for a deal to get their loved ones home. – Reuters

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 31 people in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, Palestinian medics said, with nearly half of the deaths in northern areas where the army has waged a month-long campaign it says is aimed at preventing Hamas from regrouping. – Reuters

Israel’s military announced updates to its Home Front Command’s defensive guidelines on Saturday, raising the alert level in the Lower Galilee and southern Golan regions from “partial” to “full”. – Reuters

The Israeli cabinet approved a long-delayed wartime budget package on Friday that includes a raft of tax increases and spending cuts to pay for a war that has entered its second year with no immediate end in sight. – Reuters

Hamas is expected to reject any renewed effort to finalize a hostage agreement until such time as the war in Gaza ends, a security source told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday. – Jerusalem Post

Finally acknowledging terror leader Muhammad Deif was killed in a July airstrike in Gaza, Hamas has interrogated two people on suspicion that they led Israel to him, Asharq al-Awsat reported Saturday. – Times of Israel

Editorial: Einav Zangauker, the mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, called the allegations a “cynical scam operation, taken from the handbooks of dictatorships. This classified information was passed from people in Netanyahu’s circle to foreign media, in a manner that supports his lies regarding the failing of a hostage deal. “This information lit the match in the poisonous campaign against the hostage families, to mark us as enemies and stick holes in the wheels of the deal. This is a knife in the back of the nation!” What Israel requires now, more than ever, is a tightening of its system of checks and balances, so that this never happens again. – Jerusalem Post

Zalman Shoval writes: Another view holds that there will be splits, not only between Gaza and the outside but also within Gaza itself, with some factions focusing on rebuilding Hamas’s organizational and functional capabilities, while others may want to continue, even more strenuously, with terrorism against Israel in order to preserve the “legacy” of a leader who saw himself as the new Saladin (who wasn’t Arab), opposing the very existence of Israel, not just practically but also ideologically, and based on faith. It is from them that the danger to the hostages now looms. The elimination of Sinwar should indeed be seen as an important victory, but not yet a full achievement of Israel’s security and peace strategy. – Jerusalem Post

Micah Halpern writes: Even in Iran, where leadership and the official media downplayed the success of Israel’s attack, local Iranians learned the truth. They learned how devastating the attacks were, how precise Israel’s retaliation was. A mission so successful that 150 or so fighter jets, flying 1,500 kilometers each direction, launched hundreds if not 1,000 rockets, and only five Iranians were killed – four soldiers and one civilian. That is called mojo. – Jerusalem Post

Benjamin D. Giltner writes: None of this suggests that the world should simply disregard concerns over a nuclear Iran. These weapons are the most destructive in human history, and we have to be wary when any new nuclear actor enters the scene. But to paraphrase Machiavelli, prudence involves choosing the least of the worst options. And in this case, Israel’s and America’s least-worst option is avoiding preemptive strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities. – The National Interest

Russia & Ukraine

Aerial-drone pilots are the deadliest soldiers on the modern battlefield, just as machine-gunners or snipers were in the last century. They can deliver the explosive power of a rocket-propelled grenade with the precision of a sniper, at the range of an artillery gun. In Ukraine, they’ve created a no man’s land forward of front lines that has stopped the massive Russian army from overrunning defenses this year. – Wall Street Journal

Ahead of a U.S. presidential election that is expected to have major implications for Ukraine — especially in terms of the vital U.S. security assistance — a number of Ukrainian officials are suggesting that maybe a drastic change would be good. – Washington Post

The Kremlin has been showering cash on men who enlist. It wants to avoid an unpopular draft, while also addressing the lack of men with sufficient patriotic zeal to join up. There are large signing bonuses, fat monthly salaries and what Russians call “coffin money,” a substantial payment to the families of the tens of thousands of soldiers killed in battle. – New York Times

Debris from destroyed Russian drones sparked park and grass fires in Kyiv, the mayor of the Ukrainian capital said on Monday, in what was Moscow’s third drone attack on the city in as many nights. – Reuters 

Russia’s military said on Sunday that its forces had taken control of the village of Vyshneve in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region as they pursue their advance toward the logistical centre of Pokrovsk. – Reuters

Ukrainian forces are restraining one of Russia’s most powerful offensives since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion on its smaller neighbour, the top commander of Kyiv’s forces said on Saturday. – Reuters

Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian parliament’s commissioner for human rights, called on Russia on Sunday to provide a list of Ukrainian prisoners of war ready for exchange after Moscow accused Kyiv of sabotaging the exchange process. – Reuters

Russia unleashed its latest overnight drone strike on Ukraine, targeting the capital Kyiv in an attack that lasted into midday and wounded at least one person, city officials said on Saturday. – Reuters

A U.S. citizen who was spirited out of eastern Ukraine by Russian special forces after helping the Kremlin target Ukrainian troops said in Moscow on Saturday he had asked for Russian citizenship. – Reuters

Kyiv called on Moscow on Sunday to provide a list of Ukrainian prisoners of war ready for a swap after Russia accused Ukraine of sabotaging the exchange process. – Reuters

Alexander Temerko writes: Only a strong Ukraine, integrated into the Western bloc to one degree or another could eventually ensure the return of territory either as a result of diplomatic efforts by Ukraine and the West, or as a result of the collapse of Russia (like Germany in 1945), or the coming to power of new democratic forces in Russia — with which Ukraine must begin to build special relations now. To achieve the first stage of the ceasefire, and the breathing room, opportunity and security for Ukraine that would follow from it, Trump only needs to make a public offer — or ultimatum — to both parties. Russia and Ukraine would have no choice but to accept this condition. Everything else is catch-22 for them. – The Hill

Neville Teller writes: A closer look at the list of BRICS members reveals the presence of Abraham Accords partner, the UAE, while hovering in the wings, invited to join, but as yet uncertain, is Saudi Arabia. Other countries enjoying good relations with Israel, such as Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Belarus, are also possible new members. Putin himself has a nuanced attitude toward Israel – a position that could be affected by the result of the forthcoming US presidential election. Self-interest could well override any demand by Iran, South Africa, or Turkey (another possible new member) for a permanent anti-Israel stance. – Jerusalem Post

Richard Haass writes: Biden would also be wise to embrace a diplomatic settlement following a Donald Trump victory. Trump, after all, is on record advocating for one himself. But by outlining a new strategy for Ukraine, one predicated on advancing a reasonable diplomatic proposal coupled with the promise of long-term military support, Biden could help set the bar for U.S. policy in a manner that would help protect Kyiv’s core interests from an individual less inclined to back Ukraine against Russia. And hopefully, Trump would ultimately see that continuing to support Ukraine while pushing for diplomacy is actually necessary to ending the conflict. – Foreign Affairs

Lloyd J. Austin III writes: Ukraine does not belong to Putin. Ukraine belongs to the Ukrainian people. And Moscow will never prevail in Ukraine. Putin thought Ukraine would surrender. He was wrong. Putin thought our democracies would cave. He was wrong. Putin thought the free world would cower. He was wrong. And Putin thinks he will win. He is wrong. As a military man, I’ve learned to never underestimate the strategic advantage of a just cause. And I’ve learned that free people will always refuse to replace an open order of rules and rights with one dictated by force and fear. – Foreign Affairs

Edward Lucas writes: It highlights the 561st Special Purpose Naval Intelligence Point based in Parusnoye, where Russian special forces are trained for operations on the Baltic Sea coast. An alarming, well-sourced section of the Lithuanian journalists’ report suggests that this unit may already have carried out a mission, undetected at the time, on Lithuanian soil in 2015. Russia’s aim is clear: to use such stunts to pose a sharp strategic dilemma to NATO decision-makers. Whether the frontline states can develop the defence and deterrence that they need to stop this will determine the safety and freedom of all Europe. – Center for European Policy Analysis

Turkey

Turkey stripped three elected pro-Kurdish mayors of their posts in southeastern cities on Monday, for convictions and charges on terrorism-related offences, the interior ministry said, appointing state officials in their places instead. – Reuters

Turkey’s inflation eased slightly less than expected last month, likely reinforcing the view among many economists that an interest-rate cut is off the table this year. Inflation slowed to 48.6% annually in October from 49.4% in September, according to official data released on Monday. – Bloomberg

Turkey’s foreign minister said Sunday that it had submitted a letter to the United Nations, signed by 52 countries and two inter-governmental organizations, calling for a halt in arms deliveries to Israel. – Agence France-Presse

Egypt

Senior officials of the rival Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas are meeting in Cairo to discuss forming a committee to manage Gaza’s post-war governance, an Egyptian security source was quoted as saying by Egypt’s Al Qahera News TV on Saturday. – Reuters

The International Monetary Fund will begin its review of Egypt’s loan programme on Tuesday, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said on Sunday at a press conference with IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva. – Reuters

Credit ratings agency Fitch raised Egypt’s rating to “B” from “B-” on Friday, citing the country’s stronger finances on the back of several foreign investments and support, and tighter monetary conditions. – Reuters

Gulf States

For Saudi Arabia, the summit, known as the Future Investment Initiative, is meant to showcase ambitious plans to reshape its economy — trying to pitch itself to global investors as a hub for artificial intelligence, finance and tourism, despite a record of leveraging technology for repression and spying on dissidents. – Washington Post

The United Arab Emirates opened its annual oil-and-gas summit on Monday with pledges to increase energy output even as global prices have fallen and world politics remain uncertain ahead of the U.S. presidential election. – Associated Press

Saudi Arabia and allied oil producing countries said on Sunday they would postpone a plan to gradually increase oil output until the end of the year, extending their output cuts by one month. – Associated Press

Shuli Ren writes: Hong Kong’s closer ties with Riyadh offer a good example of the two-way commitments that MBS wants. An index fund tracking Hong Kong-listed shares raised $1.2 billion and debuted in Riyadh last week, making it the biggest exchange traded fund in the Middle East. But this listing only completes the loop of capital flows — as of last November, Hong Kong residents were already able to purchase Saudi shares, including those of Aramco, via ETFs. You scratch my back and I will scratch yours. The crown prince surely doesn’t want his grand Vision 2030 to turn into a failure, and will strong arm skeptics if necessary. The days of him writing $45 billion blank checks are long gone. – Bloomberg

Korean Peninsula

The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell holds talks on Monday with his South Korean counterpart Cho Tae-yul, amid growing concerns in Seoul over the dispatch of North Korean troops to Russia for its war with Ukraine. – Reuters

North Korean state media released a white paper on Sunday accusing South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol of exposing his country to the danger of nuclear war through his policies toward the North. – Reuters

The foreign ministers of North Korea and Russia reaffirmed their commitment to implement provisions agreed in June between the leaders of the two nations, North Korean state media KCNA reported on Saturday. – Reuters

North Korea said on Saturday it has no choice but to continue efforts to build up capabilities for self-defense and accused the United States and South Korea of pushing the Korean Peninsula into war scenarios. – Reuters

South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul, asked on Friday whether Seoul could send weapons to Ukraine in response to North Korea’s aiding Russia, said all possible scenarios were under consideration. – Reuters

North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, in a Moscow meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, accused the United States and South Korea of plotting a nuclear strike against her country. – Reuters

The United States flew a long-range bomber in a trilateral drill with South Korea and Japan on Sunday in response to North Korea’s recent test-firing of a new intercontinental ballistic missile designed to strike the U.S. mainland, South Korea’s military said. – Associated Press

Editorial: A deadly axis of hostile anti-American and anti-Western powers is deepening military cooperation and is determined to challenge U.S. global primacy.Russia, China and North Korea are nuclear powers, and Iran is an aspirant to the nuclear club. Isolated geopolitical flash points in Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific could converge. Steadfast diplomacy, strong alliances and firm deterrence will be needed to meet this growing threat. This is the main challenge facing the next president, who will take office Jan. 20. – Washington Post

Editorial: Japan and South Korea should add that any such Russian aid will only prompt them to build up their own military capabilities along China’s borders — and to allow US forces wider access to their bases, runways and shipyards. For its part, the US should threaten secondary sanctions if China continues to do business illicitly with its partners. While China may not be able to dictate their actions, it does have leverage — it supplies North Korea with ingredients needed for munitions, for example — and can work to develop more. – Bloomberg

Bruce E. Bechtol writes: One must realize, to the Kim family regime, that special operations forces are just like artillery systems or ballistic missiles, a weapons system that can be proliferated for profit to benefit the regime. According to press reports, Russia is paying $2,000 a month to each North Korean soldier. But this is paid to the North Korean government, not the soldiers. Thus, the more troops North Korea sends to fight the war in Ukraine, the more money it makes for the regime.  Pyongyang has never had a better deal. – The National Interest

South Asia

Inside India, the Sikh cause to carve out a land called Khalistan from the state of Punjab largely fizzled out decades ago. Yet the Indian government still frames the Khalistan movement as a threat to national security — for reasons more mundane but no easier to weed out. – New York Times

India’s foreign ministry said on Saturday it had lodged a protest with Canada for linking its home minister to alleged plots against Sikh separatists on Canadian soil. The ministry also accused Ottawa of surveillance of some Indian consular staff. – Reuters

Authorities in India’s capital and surrounding areas handed out fines to the owners of thousands of vehicles and construction sites for infringing pollution rules, in a bid to counter a slump in air quality during the last three weeks. – Reuters

At least 11 people were injured when militants threw a grenade at Indian security forces on Sunday in a crowded flea market in Srinagar, capital of India-administered Kashmir, a police official said. – Reuters

Mihir Sharma writes: A new strategy for negotiators might go some way toward addressing these problems. It could allow, for example, for a permanent cell of negotiators, or the addition of outside expertise. It might empower trade negotiators to discuss issues and regulations that normally are the bailiwick of other bureaucrats. It’s a pretty paradox: The absence of rules has long meant that Indian negotiators were notoriously inflexible. Giving them a new set of guidelines might allow them to cut a deal or two. – Bloomberg

Europe

On Saturday, hundreds of rescue teams were still trying to drain water and mud from underground garages in several towns south of the city of Valencia. At least 214 people died in the floods, 211 of them in the region of Valencia alone. Officials have yet to disclose how many people remain missing. – Wall Street Journal

Britain’s Conservative Party announced on Saturday that it had selected Kemi Badenoch as its leader, putting a charismatic, often combative, right-wing firebrand at the helm of a party that suffered a crushing election defeat in July. – New York Times

Germany’s three-party coalition government, wracked by infighting and policy paralysis over a stagnant economy, is teetering on the brink of collapse. It does not look likely to last until the next scheduled elections in September 2025 and could fall imminently over a nasty budget debate that comes to a head this month, analysts say. – New York Times

The pro-Western president of Moldova, Maia Sandu, won re-election on Sunday in a high-stakes runoff vote in the former Soviet republic against a rival candidate she had denounced as “Moscow’s man.” – New York Times

Greece’s anti-terrorism unit has accused three people of participating in a terrorist group, following a bomb explosion which killed a 36-year-old man and seriously hurt a woman in an apartment in Athens this week, police said on Saturday. – Reuters

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Monday that Ukraine needs support to ensure its very survival as Kyiv heads into its third winter of war exacerbated by North Korean weapons aid and massive Russian airstrikes on civilian infrastructure. – Reuters 

Five months after the European Union lurched to the political right, the influence of nationalist and populist parties will go on public display in Brussels on Monday when lawmakers vet the proposed new members of the EU’s increasingly powerful executive branch. – Associated Press

Albania hopes to join the European Union by 2030, Prime Minister Edi Rama told a crowd of some 2,000 supporters at a hotel in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki on Sunday. – Associated Press

Viktor Orban made his loyalties clear when he landed in Georgia this week. As protesters disputed an election victory for its pro-Russian leadership, Hungary’s prime minister congratulated the country for choosing not to become the next Ukraine. – Bloomberg

Martin Ivens writes: On Saturday Badenoch adopted a more apologetic tone, pledging a root-and-branch policy review. Labour’s first budget, which saw the Tories take the slenderest of opinion poll leads for the first time since the election, offers a fruitful line of attack; a big state, tax-and-spend government that fails to deliver on growth will make an easy target. Policies are of course important — when you’re in power. But personality counts for much. Unlike her grey opponent Starmer, Badenoch is a livewire character. No-one doubts her qualities as a fighter; now, she must persuade the voters and her party that she can be inclusive, too. – Bloomberg

Ed Owen writes: The row about political party volunteers involved in the election campaign will not affect these relationships and nor should they. The alliance between the U.K. and U.S. has been an essential pillar of global security and prosperity for decades and is even more important in the unpredictable world of today. The issue has proved an embarrassment and an unwanted distraction to a British prime minister who has experienced a bumpy start to his premiership in the U.K. But a few red faces in London does not a new army of redcoats make. – The Hill

Sumantra Maitra writes: The simple fact is that France, Germany, and other western European states will never seriously invest in their militaries until they can no longer free ride off the United States for protection. They need Washington to partially pull back before they will better coordinate with central and eastern Europe. Europeans will certainly grouse about a partial U.S. retrenchment. But ultimately, a dormant NATO would benefit all its members. If Europe better shares the burden of logistics, armor, intelligence, and infantry, the United States will have an easier time guaranteeing European peace and unity with its overbearing nuclear and naval might. And NATO would finally become closed, minimalist, and defensive—as its founders originally intended. – Foreign Affairs

The Americas

Largely shut out of the U.S. and facing punitive tariffs in Europe, Chinese makers of electric and hybrid vehicles have flooded Latin America and other regions with cheap cars after ramping up production at home—a strategy that threatens some of the world’s largest automakers at a time of deepening global trade tensions. – Wall Street Journal

Bolivian President Luis Arce accused followers of his former mentor-turned-rival, Evo Morales, of being behind an armed takeover of military posts and holding soldiers hostage on Friday, ramping up tensions in the already restive Andean nation. – Reuters

Brazil Finance Minister Fernando Haddad canceled a trip to Europe this week, the ministry said in a statement on Sunday, amid pressure from market participants for the government to present spending-cut measures that had been promised. – Reuters

The Brazilian foreign ministry said in a statement on Friday it was taken by surprise by an “offensive tone” that Venezuelan authorities used against Brazil, the latest development of a diplomatic row between the two leftist-led countries. – Reuters

Indigenous environmental defenders in Ecuador are suffering an increasing number of threats and sometimes deadly attacks amid spiraling violence in the country, activists said during U.N. COP16 nature talks in Colombia this week. – Reuters

Petrochemical firm Braskem and 19 people were formally accused by Brazil’s police following an investigation into sinking ground in the city of Maceio related to salt mining activities, according to the police and documents seen by Reuters. – Reuters

Venezuelan journalist Nelin Escalante said he was returning to work in a video posted on his Instagram account on Friday, a week after press advocates reported him missing, alleging he had been detained by authorities in the country’s capital Caracas. – Reuters

Venezuela’s oil exports rose to a four-year high, approaching 950,000 barrels per day in October, boosted by growing crude output and more sales to India and the United States, according to shipping data and documents from state firm PDVSA. – Reuters

Argentina’s central bank cut its benchmark interest rate to 35% in a surprise move on Friday, boosting local markets and signaling growing optimism by the government that it can tame the country’s triple-digit inflation. – Reuters

United States

The Biden administration is on heightened alert for foreign attempts to threaten or destabilize the United States during the presidential transition period, as officials seek to ensure that efforts to exploit a vulnerable interval — made more perilous by America’s hyperpolarized politics — are unable to succeed. – Washington Post

It was the final Sunday of the campaign for president, and Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald J. Trump were continuing to race across battleground states in their search for support. But in message and demeanor, Ms. Harris, the Democrat, and Mr. Trump, the Republican, could not have been more different. – New York Times

A year ago, the Biden administration accused one of China’s largest solar manufacturers of evading American tariffs. Now the company is building a massive panel factory in Texas — and it could receive more than $1 billion in tax subsidies under President Joe Biden’s signature climate law. – Politico

Editorial: All of this is a danger to America. Today the court is after Israel, which doesn’t belong to the ICC, for actions in Gaza, which isn’t a state, in a defensive war against terrorists. Tomorrow the ICC could do the same to the U.S., another nonmember. The ICC still hasn’t closed its investigation of the Afghanistan war, and Hamas isn’t the only group to violate all laws of war and seek to win via international pressure. – Wall Street Journal

Elliot Kaufman writes: Mr. Trump would likely restore his old policies, and he pledges to revoke the visas of antisemitic foreign students. From Ms. Harris, Israel can expect more sanctions and deference to international bureaucrats. Forget her snub of Mr. Netanyahu’s speech to Congress; Israel would worry about being abandoned at the U.N. Security Council. Israel isn’t the central issue in the U.S. election. But those who care about it will recognize that it was one of Mr. Trump’s strongest policy areas as president. It could be one of Ms. Harris’s weakest. – Wall Street Journal

Josh Rogin writes: Based on what is already known, this breach represents a major failure of the telecom companies and the U.S. government to protect critical infrastructure, as is their joint responsibility. But the blame game can wait. Right now, the American people need to know more about the ongoing threat to their privacy. And the Chinese government needs to pay a cost, or Beijing will conclude there is no risk in continuing to surveil Americans’ private communications. – Washington Post

Ivan Eland writes: Thus, the ICBM and bomber modernization programs could be scrapped. Building only those twelve submarines would cost $130 billion instead of the $1.7 Trillion to modernize the entire triad force, according to the Times report. Critics will label this nuclear “monad” unilateral disarmament, but it is really just eliminating the costly and wasteful massive overkill in our current nuclear forces. The foolish nuclear arms race among the great powers may continue, but the United States safely can unilaterally choose to opt out of it. – The National Interest

Defense

Army criminal investigators are reviewing an “incident” involving the top U.S. general overseeing military affairs in the Middle East, defense officials said Friday, a potential complication for the Biden administration as it continues to grapple with a region-wide crisis spawned by the war in Gaza. – Washington Post

The United States said on Friday it will deploy B-52 bombers, fighter jets, refueling aircraft and Navy destroyers to the Middle East, in a readjustment of military assets as the Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group prepares to leave the region. – Reuters

On Saturday, Israeli F-35 stealth fighter aircraft penetrated highly defended Iranian airspace, struck a broad number of military targets and returned home safe. Days earlier, U.S. B-2 stealth bombers struck multiple deeply buried Houthi arms caches. These missions illustrate a key point: Despite trendy arguments to the contrary, the United States still requires the most advanced fighters and bombers in our arsenal if we want to win in future conflicts. – Defense News

In response to rising tensions with China, the U.S. Navy will extend the service life of 12 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, preserving their critical role amid challenges in fleet expansion. – The National Interest