What Caught My Eye (no. 16)
Some interesting articles and podcasts that caught my eye this week
I was away — in Alaska — last week so skipped the regular weekly post. Some pictures of an amazing trip.
I still had some time to read, so 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.
David Brooks, Can We Please Stop Lying About Obama? New York Times, May 22, 2025. The Times columnist argues, convincingly, that the reigning populist critique of globalization and trade are wrong. The last forty years have been a time of great prosperity, which the protectionist trend so favored by populists risks at all our peril.
John Hudson, Natalie Allison, Adam Taylor and Liz Goodwin, Inside Marco Rubio’s meteoric — and precarious — rise in Trumpworld, Washington Post, May 14, 2025. Secretary of State Marco Rubio didn’t start out as a clear favorite in Trump World, but he has emerged as the most powerful foreign policy voice within the administration. “When I have a problem, I call up Marco,” Trump said earlier this month. “He gets it solved.”
Brian Spegele, The Fortress That China Built for Its Battle With America, Wall Street Journal, May 21, 2025. An excellent examination on how China under Xi has been preparing to battle America by reducing its dependence on foreign supply chains and dominating key industries of the future. Unsaid, but certainly true, is that this helps explain why, so far, Xi has gotten the better of Trump in the trade war.
Bob Davis, How China Captured Apple, Foreign Policy, May 223, 2025. The former, longtime Wall Street Journal reporter reviews a new book on how Apple became so dependent on China for making its products. Trump may threaten the company with 25% tariffs, but the reality is that iPhones produced in America will cost much more and will take years of building and training to begin bearing fruit.
Bojan Pancevski and Laurence Norman, European Officials Say Trump Tells Their Leaders Putin Isn’t Ready to End War, Wall Street Journal, May 22, 2025. In a major scoop, the Journal reported that Trump told European leaders Putin wasn’t interested in ending the war after the two leaders talked. He said something different publicly, signaling a quiet acceptance that the peace effort may have run its course.
David Ignatius, Trump’s road to failure in Ukraine, Washington Post, May 23, 2025. The Post’s foreign affairs columnist details exactly how the Trump administration’s effort to end the war in Ukraine failed, mainly because the key interlocutors never understood that Putin wasn’t interested in ending the war short of victory.
Finally, in case you missed it here are links to articles I wrote, interviews I did, panels I joined, and a synopsis of my weekly podcast on world news.
'You don't end wars by phone,' says former US Ambassador to NATO, CNN Amanpour, May 19, 2025
World Review: Trump-Putin Call, Taiwan-China Dialogue, Syria Sanctions, May 25, 2025.
Happy reading, watching, and listening!