What Actually Mattered This Week: Iran and Israel’s Not-So-Escalatory Escalation
An anti-missile system operates after Iran launched drones and missiles toward Israel, April 14, 2024. Credit: Reuters

What Actually Mattered This Week: Iran and Israel’s Not-So-Escalatory Escalation

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WHAT ACTUALLY MATTERED THIS WEEK

Israel Reports Light Damage After Iran Launches Large Strike

Last week, an Israeli strike killed the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps leader of Iran in Syria.

This week, Iran retaliated with an unprecedented drone strike against Israel—for the first time.

On the one hand, this was a very dangerous thing to do.

On the other hand, minimal damage means this could have been a hell of a lot worse.

Israel hits central Iran in apparently limited retaliatory strike

Did anyone think the Israeli war cabinet would just sit on their hands after a direct strike on their territory?

This response was restrained, especially compared to attacks on Damascus that precipitated the crisis.

That makes the strike…actually deescalatory.

In the short term: Iran’s response (denying key details) is a clear effort to not further escalate.

In the long term: both countries remain in an extremely dangerous situation without a deterrence reset.

House advances Ukraine, Israel aid as Dems help Speaker Johnson, GOP

Turns out Speaker Johnson is a Reagan-republican on foreign policy.

Who knew?

Kamala Harris Is Almost as Popular as Beyoncé, New Poll Shows

Rough day for Beyonce.

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TRUTHS, DAMNED TRUTHS, AND STATISTICS

One of the world’s most commonly celebrated holidays: independence from Britain.


THE GZERO WORLD WE’RE JUST LIVING IN

THE GRAPHIC TRUTH

YOUR GZERO WORLD

How stable is the US-China relationship, really? It felt like frosty relations might finally be thawing after a meeting between President Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in San Francisco last November. However, there’s still a lot of daylight and no trust between the two. On GZERO World, I sit down with US Ambassador to China Nick Burns for a frank conversation about how US-China has changed since Biden took office, what the two countries agree on, and where they’re still miles apart.

Burns doesn’t see a major shift in the status quo any time soon, with the US and China competing for military superiority, security in the Indo-Pacific, and trade and investment well into the next decade. But he also points to the $575 billion two-way trade relationship between the two countries, explaining why the US doesn’t favor a total decoupling of their economies. Later, Burns and I discuss challenges surrounding Taiwan, aggression in the South China Sea, Congress’s proposed TikTok ban, and the risk for American companies in the People’s Republic as Beijing continues to prioritize national security.

For a longer, wider-ranging version of my interview check out the GZERO World podcast .

WORLD IN 60

Does the Iran-Israel crisis offer a unique opportunity for diplomacy?

Is Germany's Scholz meeting with Xi in Beijing indicating a shift in Europe-China trade tensions?

Why has Sudan's year-long conflict gone largely unnoticed?

Find out in this week’s World in 60 Seconds!

Do you like what you’ve seen??Sign up for GZERO Daily by Ian Bremmer

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BECAUSE THE INTERNET

Share this pic to confuse an environmentalist (or a wrestling fan)

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WHAT TO READ THIS WEEK

New Cold Wars: China’s Rise, Russia’s Invasion, and America’s Struggle to Defend the West by David E. Sanger

Pulitzer Prize-winner David Sanger is that rare American journalist who recognizes the big story of the moment in international politics and knows how to frame it. His latest, "New Cold Wars," offers genuine insight and the engaging prose he's known for.?

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DEEP THOUGHTS

“Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.” — Truman Capote

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Thanks for reading!?Please subscribe to GZERO Daily for coverage of global politics. And make sure to read my latest book?The Power of Crisis ?for a roadmap of this decade's great crises and how they might help us build a better world.

I am president of Eurasia Group and GZERO Media and foreign affairs columnist at TIME. I currently teach at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and previously was a professor at New York University. You can follow me on?X , Threads ,?Facebook , and?Instagram .

Sumaidi Angale

"Content creator and youth leader passionate about empowering communities through permaculture, creativity, and sustainable development. Driving positive change for all

7 个月
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Sumaidi Angale

"Content creator and youth leader passionate about empowering communities through permaculture, creativity, and sustainable development. Driving positive change for all

7 个月
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Joanne Francis, MSW

HARP Care Manager at Sun River Health

7 个月

Thanks for the update ??

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Michael Berger

Connecting hard facts with soft skills

7 个月

If Israel′s response to Iran air strike is completed with those drones near Iafahan, you can imaging a well done example of deescalation while answering to an escalation. Adequate, intelligent, and balanced reacting to prior action. An example of the art of conflict management.

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Guy Mansour, Ph.D., P.E.

Principal - Artifex Engineering, Inc.

7 个月

Israel/US vs Iran latest round, Iran’s cost $80-$100 million, Israel/US cost $1-1.2 billions. Speaker Johnon Reagan Republican?! Not at all, it’s merely both Republicans and Dems agree only on servitude to Israel “thanks” to AIPAC’s $ (amazing how cheaply they can buy US politicians) Gun violence in the US Guns are now the leading cause of children death but… maybe just need “prayers” Independence from Britain — Britain was once an empire… get the hint US?

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