What Caught My Eye (no. 12)
Some interesting articles and podcasts that caught my eye this week
Here’s this week’s edition of articles that I thought worth reading and sharing. Don’t hesitate to recommend your own reads; I may include some as well.
Adam Entous, The Partnership: The Secret History of the War in Ukraine, New York Times, March 29, 2025. A masterpiece of investigative reporting on how the US military and intelligence assisted Ukraine in its war against Russia. Despite its length, it deserves to be read by everyone. Pulitzer material
Alex Horton and Hannah Natanson, Secret Pentagon memo on China, homeland has Heritage fingerprints, Washington Post, March 29, 2025. An insightful look at the Pentagon’s interim defense guidance, which underscores that those who believe the singular threat to counter is China are ascended, at least in the Defense Department.
Aryn Baker, ‘They Will Label Us as Spies’: The Afghan Students Abandoned by America, New York Times, March 30, 2025. This story puts a human face on the Trump Administration’s decision to halt refugee entries into the United States—Afghan students, many women, who were promised entry after completing their studies now face the prospect of returning home to the Taliban
Davide Serra, America cannot afford to break global investor trust, Financial Times, March 31, 2025. The CEO of an investment firm details how trust in America’s economic soundness at the core of its economic dominance—and how recent actions threaten to break that trust.
Timothy Snyder, Twenty Lesson On Tyranny, read by John Lithgow, Thinking About …, March 30, 2025. The great actor reads the twenty lesson on Tyranny from Snyder’s extraordinary book On Tyranny.
Timothy Martin, Ming Lee, and Rogue Ruiz, How a New Axis Called CRINK Is Working Against America, Wall Street Journal, March 28, 2028. An insightful look at how China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea (the “Crink”) have supported each other economically, militarily, and other ways.
Sam Fleming and Delphine Strauss, Trump’s aggressive push top roll back globalization, Financial Times, April 4, 2025. If you read only one thing about the tariffs announced by President Trump on “Liberation Day,” this article by two stellar FT reporter is the one.
Finally, in case you missed it here are links to articles I wrote, interviews I did, and a synopsis of my weekly podcast on world news.
Council on Foreign Relations Rita Hauser Symposium, The Four-Power Threat: How the U.S. Should Respond to China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, March 27, 2025.
EXCLUSIVE: Inside the Ukraine PC Small Group, America Abroad, April 2, 2025.
Happy reading and listening!
You write, "An insightful look at the Pentagon’s interim defense guidance, which underscores that those who believe the singular threat to counter is China are ascended, at least in the Defense Department."
This is a good topic to explore. The logic is there, China is ascending, while Russia is descending. China is larger than the US and EU put together, while Russia is smaller than both.
On the other side of the coin, China has never really been an expansionist power, and it may view it's competition with the West more in economic terms.
How one views China would seem to have significant implications for American policy elsewhere, like Europe and the Middle East.