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"Lebanon's attempt to disarm Hezbollah and China-US decoupling."

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View this email in your browser. April 19, 2025 Hi, everybody. This is a free preview of our Weekly Review newsletter, which recaps the highlights from our coverage this week and previews what we have planned for next week. To get the full version of Weekly Review, along with access to all of our coverage, subscribe to WPR. WPR Weekly Quiz The latest installment of the WPR weekly quiz is out now. Test your knowledge for a chance to get a free month of full access to WPR. Click here to take the quiz. Top Stories This week, in our Daily Review newsletter, we took a look at the week’s major developments: Ecuador: President Daniel Noboa handily won reelection in a runoff vote Sunday, less than two years after winning a shortened term. (Subscribe to WPR to read our analysis of the election.) China: President Xi Jinping completed a three-country tour of Southeast Asia this week that included stops in Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia. (Subscribe to WPR to read our analysis of the trip.) U.S.-Europe: Italian PM Giorgia Meloni met with U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday at the White House. (Subscribe to WPR to read our analysis of the meeting.) This Week’s Highlights Lebanon Needs Help From the U.S. to Finish Disarming Hezbollah. On Tuesday, Bilal Y. Saab looked at U.S., Israeli and Lebanese efforts to implement the terms of the ceasefire agreement that calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah in Lebanon. For the first time in the history of relations between Lebanon, Israel and the United States, all three agree on a common end state for Lebanon: The Lebanese state and army should gain a monopoly on the use of force in that country. Upgrade to a paid subscription to get the full bulleted breakdown of this article or listen to it in audio form. There’s a Better Way for the U.S. to Decouple From China. And on Thursday Nicholas Creel examined what a smart strategy of economic decoupling from China might look like. U.S. President Donald Trump’s barrage of steep tariffs against Chinese imports represent the most dramatic shift in the U.S. economic relationship with China in decades. Trump has correctly identified a genuine problem: The United States’ dangerous dependency on a strategic rival. But his approach reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of both basic economics and sensible strategy. Upgrade to a paid subscription to get the full bulleted breakdown of this article or listen to it in audio form. This Week’s Most-Read Story To Survive Its Existential Crisis, the U.N. Must Learn From the Past. And in this week’s top story by pageviews, Richard Gowan examined how international institutions have fared in past existential crises to find insights into how the U.N. can survive its current troubles. What’s On Tap And coming up next week, we’ve got: A briefing by John Boyce on Europe’s water wars. A briefing by Zikora Ibeh on the use of drones in conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa A briefing by Eduardo Arcos on Ecuador’s recent presidential election. That’s it for this week. And if you have any comments or feedback, just hit reply to send them along, or contact me on BlueSky at @judah-grunstein.bksy.social. —Judah Grunstein This Week On WPR: Africa In Tanzania, Samia’s Facade of Reform Is Crumbling By Nicodemus Minde Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan once championed progressive and democratic reforms. As elections draw near, that period is over. The Americas Paraguay’s Pena Is Using One Dam Scandal to Hide Another By James Bosworth Paraguay’s over-the-top reaction to revelations of Brazilian spying was likely shaped by a separate but related scandal closer to home. Asia-Pacific China Will Have Trouble Cashing In on Trump’s Global Trade War By Mary Gallagher Many observers assume China will be the big beneficiary of the Trump administration’s global trade war. This will be difficult for two reasons. In South Asia, Women Will Bear the Brunt of Trump’s Tariffs By Bansari Kamdar Women are the backbone of South Asia’s massive textile industry. Trump’s trade war could result in significant job losses and wage cuts for them. Europe Europe’s Far Right Is Winning Over Young Voters By John Boyce Five years after young voters gave Green parties their best-ever EU election results, “Generation Greta” swung notably to the right. Middle East & North Africa Lebanon Needs Help From the U.S. to Finish Disarming Hezbollah By Bilal Y. Saab Lebanon and Israel are at an impasse when it comes to disarming Hezbollah. U.S. engagement can help them break through it. United States There’s a Better Way for the U.S. to Decouple From China By Nicholas Creel The U.S. needs a sophisticated strategy to reduce its dependence on China. Trump’s approach fails that test, but there is a better path forward. Global To Survive Its Existential Crisis, the U.N. Must Learn From the Past By Richard Gowan The U.N. system will likely be able to ride out its current existential crisis, but only if its members agree on what that crisis is. Nuclear Proliferation Fears May Be Overblown By Paul Poast Several states that had long been under the U.S. nuclear umbrella are considering developing their own nuclear weapons. That may not be a bad thing. Copyright © 2025 World Politics Review LLC, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you signed up to receive the free version of the Weekly Review. Our mailing address is: World Politics Review LLC 401 E. Jackson St, Ste 3300 Tampa, FL 33606 USA To be sure this email isn't filtered as spam, add newsletter@worldpoliticsreview.com to your address book or contacts list. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your email settings or opt out of all WPR emails.