Welcome again to Overseas Coverage’s Scenario Report, the place we’ve gone trans-Atlantic this week. Rishi is in Lisbon attending Net Summit, keeping track of Europe’s—and China’s—tech scene there (extra on that beneath) whereas having fun with some wonderful Portuguese seafood.
Alright, right here’s what’s on faucet for the day: A rising worldwide backlash to Trump’s Caribbean boat strikes, extra energy for Pakistan’s military chief, and a few conversations round EU-U.S. tech fights.
Welcome again to Overseas Coverage’s Scenario Report, the place we’ve gone trans-Atlantic this week. Rishi is in Lisbon attending Net Summit, keeping track of Europe’s—and China’s—tech scene there (extra on that beneath) whereas having fun with some wonderful Portuguese seafood.
Alright, right here’s what’s on faucet for the day: A rising worldwide backlash to Trump’s Caribbean boat strikes, extra energy for Pakistan’s military chief, and a few conversations round EU-U.S. tech fights.
The escalating U.S. operation in opposition to alleged drug trafficking vessels close to Latin America, which is extensively believed to be linked to an effort to foster regime change in Venezuela, is step by step starting to face worldwide pushback—together with from prime allies of Washington.
This week, CNN reported that the UK has stopped sharing intelligence with the USA about suspected drug boats within the area over considerations in regards to the legality of the strikes. If confirmed, this might mark a serious rebuke of the U.S. operation from its closest ally on the earth.
When contacted for a touch upon the report, the White Home directed SitRep to latest feedback from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. “It’s a false story. It’s a pretend story,” Rubio instructed reporters on Wednesday in response to a query on the matter.
“Now we have very sturdy partnerships with the U.Okay. and different international locations,” Rubio added. “Once more, nothing has modified or occurred that has impeded in any manner our capacity to do what we’re doing, nor are we asking anybody to assist us with what we’re doing.”
After the CNN report emerged, Colombian President Gustavo Petro introduced that he had ordered Colombia’s safety forces to droop intelligence sharing with the USA till the strikes cease. “The struggle in opposition to medicine should be subordinated to the human rights of the Caribbean individuals,” Petro stated in a submit on X. Petro has been among the many sharpest critics of the strikes, elevating tensions between Washington and Bogotá.
Colombia, lengthy thought to be an essential U.S. ally in South America, is the world’s prime producer of cocaine, and the 2 international locations have collaborated on counternarcotics efforts for years; the transfer to droop intelligence sharing is a giant signal that such cooperation is breaking down amid President Donald Trump’s Latin America intervention.
It didn’t cease there. At a G-7 international ministers’ assembly in Canada this week, French Overseas Minister Jean-Noël Barrot stated the boat strikes are breeding instability within the area and “violate worldwide legislation.” In an obvious effort to distance her authorities from the U.S. operation, Canadian Overseas Minister Anita Anand instructed reporters on the assembly that Ottawa has “no involvement.”
Doubtful justifications. Since early September, the USA has carried out 19 strikes on alleged drug boats within the Caribbean Sea and jap Pacific, killing at the least 75 individuals. The Trump administration has stated that the strikes have focused “narcoterrorists” transporting illicit and lethal substances to the USA however has not offered laborious proof to again up these assertions.
Critics of the strikes, together with members of Congress and prime authorized consultants, have stated that the operation is unlawful underneath each home and worldwide legislation—rejecting the Trump administration’s effort to painting drug traffickers as enemy combatants who may be focused with deadly pressure. Congress has not licensed the operation, however legislative efforts to cease the strikes from persevering with and block Trump from taking motion in Venezuela have fallen quick.
Consultants on Latin America and counternarcotics operations have additionally emphasised that utilizing deadly pressure in opposition to suspected drug vessels is unlikely to place a major dent within the stream of unlawful narcotics into the USA. Such elements, mixed with the size of the U.S. navy buildup within the Caribbean, have elevated hypothesis that the Trump administration is laying the groundwork for an operation to carry down Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Amid the U.S. navy buildup and reviews that Trump is privately contemplating what choices to take in opposition to the Maduro regime, Venezuela has ordered a huge mobilization of its navy forces.
Although there’s rising international criticism of the U.S. operation, together with from the United Nations, the response in Latin America itself has been pretty disjointed up to now. John has extra on that right here.
What needs to be excessive in your radar, if it isn’t already.
MBS in D.C. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (generally referred to by his initials, MBS) is about to go to Washington subsequent week for the primary time since 2018, the place he’ll reportedly be feted with a lavish dinner and will safe a protection pact with the USA. Trump’s rolling out of the purple carpet for Mohammed bin Salman is all of the extra hanging provided that U.S. intelligence companies beforehand decided that the crown prince personally authorized the 2018 killing of Washington Submit columnist and U.S. resident Jamal Khashoggi on the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. (The Biden administration decided in 2022 that Mohammed bin Salman has authorized immunity for that killing.)
Navy man. Pakistan’s parliament voted to vastly develop the remit of its already highly effective military chief on Wednesday, placing him accountable for all three branches of the navy and giving him authorized immunity for all times. Area Marshal Asim Munir, solely the second individual in Pakistan’s historical past to realize that rank, will assume the newly created title of chief of protection forces from his present position as chief of the military workers, bringing the nation’s navy and air pressure underneath his command.
Ukraine audit. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko introduced on Thursday that the federal government will conduct an audit of all state-owned enterprises. The transfer comes amid a corruption scandal that has engulfed the nation, even because it fights to retain management of the jap metropolis of Pokrovsk from invading Russian forces.
Ukrainian anti-corruption watchdogs on Monday accused at the least a dozen individuals of conspiring to embezzle $100 million from Ukraine’s power sector, the results of a monthslong investigation that implicated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s former enterprise associate. Zelensky stated he would assist the probe and referred to as on the nation’s power and justice ministers to resign, which Svyrydenko stated that they had accomplished.
Irish President Catherine Connolly takes half in an inspection of an honor guard following her inauguration ceremony, at Dublin Citadel in Dublin on Nov. 11. Paul Religion/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
European tech rules have lengthy rankled the USA’ largest tech firms, who say they’re overly onerous and stifle innovation. The Trump administration, and notably Vice President J.D. Vance, has amplified that argument, and it appears to have at the least partially landed. The European Union is making ready amendments to its landmark EU AI Act subsequent week that intention to simplify the authorized necessities of tech firms working in Europe, EU tech commissioner Henna Virkkunen stated at Net Summit.
Though the main points of the proposed amendments haven’t been finalized, some European officers and politicians cautioned in opposition to bending too far to Trump and Massive Tech. “The voices from the USA are getting more and more loud,” Michael O’Flaherty, the commissioner for human rights on the Council of Europe, the continent’s principal human rights watchdog, instructed Rishi onstage at Net Summit. And O’Flaherty rejected the U.S. tech firms’ criticism: “It’s not a zero-sum recreation between good regulation and innovation,” he stated, utilizing China for example of a case the place innovation and heavy regulation coexist.
Michael McNamara, an Irish member of European Parliament who co-chairs the parliament’s AI working group, echoed the decision for Europe to be extra assured in standing as much as Washington on tech. “Our function isn’t just to facilitate firms,” he stated. “That’s actually essential on the earth during which we stay … however so is the safety of basic rights of our residents, so is the safety of European regulation, and regulating your markets is a key aspect of sovereignty.”
Sunday, Nov. 16: Chile holds a basic election.
Tuesday, Nov. 18: Trump hosts Mohammed bin Salman on the White Home.
Germany hosts a summit on European digital sovereignty in Berlin.
Friday, Nov. 21: G-7 inside and safety ministers meet in Ottawa.
Saturday, Nov. 22: South Africa hosts a G-20 leaders’ summit.
$2 billion: How a lot it may price to formally rename the Division of Protection to the Division of Conflict, based on a report from NBC Information that cited six individuals who had been briefed on the numbers. Altering the division letterhead and signage alone may require round half that quantity. Trump signed an government order with the identify change in September, and his administration has been utilizing it informally, however formally altering the identify would require an act of Congress.
One of many oft-repeated fears about synthetic intelligence is the potential for creating out-of-control killer robots (suppose Terminator or I, Robotic). But when they’re something just like the humanoid robotic that Russian firm AIDOL demoed this week at a tech showcase in Moscow, humanity appears protected for now. The Russian bot staggered onstage to the Rocky theme music earlier than faceplanting and hurriedly being carried off by human handlers whereas their colleagues unsuccessfully tried to cowl the stage with a black fabric. Rishi did witness a extra agile robotic made by Chinese language agency Unitree at Net Summit, however its “killer” actions had been restricted to bop strikes.
