“The Middle East is undergoing a dramatic realignment—just not the one U.S. and regional leaders envisioned less than two years ago,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Before the Hamas-led attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, years of painstaking negotiations brought Saudi Arabia to the cusp of a landmark deal for diplomatic recognition of Israel. That would have solidified an Israeli-Arab coalition against Iran, locked in U.S. support for Saudi security and opened the door to greater acceptance of Israel in the Arab and Muslim worlds.”

“This month, Israel’s thrashing of longtime enemy Iran scrambled the calculations underpinning that proposed agreement in just 12 days.”

“The U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities unfolded half a world away from North Korea. But for dictator Kim Jong Un, the attacks were a clear lesson: Nuclear weapons are critical for his survival,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The American and Israeli attacks likely hammered home for Kim how intertwined his country’s nuclear weapons are with the fate of his regime.”

“As such, the strikes potentially hardened his determination to hold on to—and expand—his nuclear arsenal as a deterrent to any attack on North Korea, security experts say. Kim can point to other countries, such as Iraq, Libya and Syria, whose nuclear ambitions invited military attacks aimed at stopping them from fully developing atomic weapons.”

Foreign Affairs: “The United States now faces a Category 5 hurricane of nuclear threats. After decades of maintaining only a minimal nuclear capability, China is on pace to nearly quintuple its 2019 stockpile of some 300 nuclear warheads by 2035, in a quest to attain an arsenal equivalent in strength to Russia’s and the United States’. Far from being a partner in arms reductions, Russia is using the threat of nuclear weapons as a shield for its aggression in Ukraine. Meanwhile, North Korea continues to expand its arsenal, which now includes missiles capable of hitting the continental United States. Iran is closer than ever to producing a nuclear weapon. And in May, the world witnessed India and Pakistan, two nuclear-armed powers, strike each other’s heartlands with conventional weapons in the aftermath of a terror attack, a confrontation that—already unprecedented—could have escalated to a nuclear standoff.”

“These multiplying threats have not just brought nuclear strategy back to the center of U.S. defense concerns; they have also introduced new problems. Never before has the United States had to deter and protect its allies from multiple nuclear-armed great-power rivals at the same time.”

President Trump said a “very big” trade deal could be signed soon that would open up the Indian market to American business, as negotiators meet in Washington to break a recent deadlock over key issues, Bloomberg reports.

Said Trump: “We are having some great deals. We have one coming up, maybe, with India, a very big one, where we are going to open up India.”

“The European Union is considering lowering tariffs on a range of U.S. imports in a bid to clinch a speedy trade deal with President Trump,“ the Wall Street Journal reports.

“EU leaders debated how much they are willing to sacrifice to win over Trump at a meeting in Brussels on Thursday evening. Other concessions under consideration include lowering nontariff barriers, buying more American products including liquefied natural gas, and offering to cooperate with the U.S. to tackle its economic concerns about China.”