While Ukraine fights on and continues making small gains in its incursion into Kursk Oblast against Russia, this offensive has revealed many topics of interests for the Four Pillars:
- Ukraine keeps crossing Russia’s red lines. Putin keeps blinking. [Washington Post]
- The US is sending $125 million in new military aid to Ukraine [AP]
- U.S. Investigating Americans Who Worked With Russian State Television [New York Times]
- Modi’s Kyiv Trip Signals a Subtle Shift [Foreign Policy]
- Decoding Kursk: Is the End in Sight in Ukraine? [RUSI]
This incursion demonstrates that Russian red lines and fear-mongering of escalation continues to be proven false. Deterrence is essential to managing escalation with not just Russia, but China as well. This incursion has also made it more likely for peace to happen, as it should incentivize Russia to sue for peace (however, Russia is not a normal rational actor). It gives Ukraine a bargaining chip at the negotiating table, and to demonstrate to the Pillars about their willingness to fight on. Furthermore, Russia cannot be beaten back just on the battlefield, but also in the more invisible theaters of war – information warfare and sabotage warfare. The Pillars outside of the US, notably EU and India, have a role to play and own interests in dealing with these issues. And thus, it is important that the Pillars collaborate with each other in finding real lasting solutions to the Russia issues.
Additionally, some interesting pieces from other theaters of the world:
- Japan says Chinese military violated territorial airspace for first time [Japan Times]
- Start-up incubator Y Combinator backs its first weapons firm [Financial Times]
- There Are No Magic Beans: Easy Options to Deter China Militarily Do Not Exist [War on the Rocks]
ABACA/Reuters Connect