Applebaum: Trump does not think strategically and does not have an endgame.
He began the war without clear goals, never asked the American people, never spoke to Congress, and assumed it would be some kind of two-day operation that would end fast. 1/
Applebaum: Trump did not think through the second and third-order consequences — oil, the world economy, other Middle Eastern states.
He even seemed surprised Iran could use drones against the Gulf states. If he heard warnings, he did not absorb them. 2/
Applebaum: When an American plane went down in Iran, Trump’s fear was not for the pilot, the crew member, or the soldiers.
It was for himself and his reputation. That is why his presence unnerved people in the room making the actual rescue decisions. 3/
Snyder: We'e normalizing a world where one country tries to wipe out another nation. Americans have a hard time understanding that we're losing this war and are not in a position to tell Iranians what to do. No amount of targeting civilian infrastructure is going to change that. 1/
Snyder: Orban stood between Putin and Trump. Orban was the European who legitimated international networks of ideas, of personal contacts and of money. The American right, especially MAGA, is much more cosmopolitan and international than people realize. 2/
Snyder: Orban formula was the Trump formula. Be an oligarch, have oligarchs around you, divert tax money and EU money to you and your friends. Give people an enemy. If you make the connection between corruption at the top and the failure of the economy, then you can win huge. 3X
Gen. Hertling: Ukraine just used nothing but robotics to make Russians surrender and take ground.
It is mixing drones, battlefield robots, grit, and leadership in ways nobody expected. The country refuses to be demoralized and keeps inventing new ways to fight. 1/
Hertling: The US is learning from Ukraine, but not nearly enough.
Europe is integrating closely with Ukraine’s defense industry, and Gulf states now want Ukrainian missile and drone defense because Ukraine knows how to stop threats modern systems still miss. 2X