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Climate talk invite the one good thing this week in US-Russia-China relations

Future cooperation between these major carbon producing powers is essential, and frankly, would be refreshing.

Asia-Pacific

President Biden's invitation to the Chinese and Russian presidents to attend climate talks is welcome news. Global climate cooperation among all of the world's major economies and carbon emitters is absolutely essential if the world is to realize its goals of limiting global warming below catastrophic levels.

Furthermore, Biden's invitation to Putin and Xi accompanies his emphasis on climate change progress in discussions with allies and partners, including the Quad nations of Japan, India, and Australia. It is encouraging that Biden is not counterproductively dividing the world into democracies and autocracies in the context of vital coordination on a globally shared interest such as climate change.

Moving forward, the United States should combine multilateral coordination and negotiation with bilateral initiatives between the United States and other major economic powers, especially China, given that country's status as the largest emitter of new carbon dioxide. Such initiatives should include efforts by the U.S. and China to coordinate joint carbon emissions reduction and clean transportation targets, as well as to pledge joint investments in research, development, and deployment of deep decarbonization technologies that will help the developing world to grow their economies in a less carbon-intensive way.

The climate change regime is one of the many aspects of the global order where U.S.-China coordination and cooperation is essential, as a means of ensuring that economic competition remains healthy and constructive, rather than devolving into beggar-thy-neighbor trade restrictions that actually inhibit innovation in green technology.


Asia-Pacific
Capital Washington D.C. Pentagon Department of Defense DOD
Top photo: credit Shutterstock. A 5% hike in US military spending would be absolutely nuts
A 5% hike in US military spending would be absolutely nuts

Report: Pentagon will likely fail audits through 2028

Washington Politics

The Defense Department has not taken adequate measures to address “significant fraud exposure,” and its timeline for fixing “pervasive weaknesses in its finances” is not likely to be met, according to a recently released government report.

The Government Accountability Office conducted the report to assist the Pentagon in meeting its timeline for a clean audit by 2028. DOD has failed every audit since it was legally required to submit to one each year beginning in 2018. In fact, the Pentagon is the only one of 24 federal agencies that has not been able to pass an unmodified financial audit since the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990.

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Turkey earthquake
Top photo credit: Hatay Turkey - February, 09,2023 : Aid is distributed to earthquake victims. (Shutterstock)/ BFA-Basin Foto Ajansi)

Americans strongly support basics but are split on other foreign aid

Global Crises

An overwhelming majority of voting-age Americans support providing humanitarian and food aid to developing countries, but they are more divided along partisan lines on other forms of U.S. assistance to nations of the Global South, according to new poll results released by the Pew Research Center.

The findings come as the White House last week released a “skinny budget” that proposed a nearly 48% cut to total foreign aid, including a 40% reduction in humanitarian assistance, for next year and signaled its intent to rescind nearly half the current year’s aid budget appropriated by Congress but not yet spent.

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George Simion Romania
Top photo credit: Bucharest, Romania. 13th Jan, 2025: George Simion (C), the leader of the nationalist Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) lead the rally against the annulment of the presidential elections (LCV/Shutterstock)

he presidential elections

A nationalist bucks pro-EU status quo, wins big in Romania

Europe

The head of Romania’s “sovereigntist” camp, George Simion won Romania’s first round presidential race on Sunday with 41% of the vote in a field of 11 candidates.

Simion leads the Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) party, the leading opposition force in parliament. Simion — who as president would have substantial powers in the realm of foreign and security policy — supports Romania’s NATO commitments, but is not an enthusiastic supporter of sending further military aid to Ukraine. His victory could strengthen the dissident camp on this issue within the EU.

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