Hello, everyone. Today at WPR, we’re covering the challenges that Gen Z protest movements in Asia face in fostering political change and a rising tide of opposition to Viktor Orban’s regime in Hungary. | But first, here’s our take on today’s top story: | Trump Gets Tough on Putin Again |  | U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Aug. 15, 2025 (AP photo by Jae C. Hong). |
| It can feel a bit head-spinning trying to track President Donald Trump’s evolving stance on the war in Ukraine, with his position on critical issues often apparently determined by whom he most recently spoke with. | European leaders were elated when, ahead of Trump’s summit with Russia’s Vladimir Putin in mid-August, he endorsed Ukraine’s position that a ceasefire along the current battle lines was a necessary condition for any talks about a permanent settlement. But Trump soon abandoned that stance when it became clear that it was a non-starter with Putin. | Since then, Trump has blown hot and cold on the issue. Following a call with Putin last week, he even briefly endorsed a Russian proposal for Kyiv to cede the entirety of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk province in exchange for Russian troops withdrawing from much of southern Ukraine—an idea that Trump pushed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to accept during a tense White House meeting last Friday. | Now, Trump is back on the same track as Kyiv and its European allies in demanding a ceasefire with Ukraine’s territory “cut the way it is,” as Trump put it to reporters Sunday, even as Russia has refused to budge. The ceasefire issue has now become the main . . . Purchase a subscription now to get the paid edition of the Daily Review, which includes the full top story. | | This is the free edition of our Daily Newsletter. If you believe you are a paid subscriber and are receiving this edition by mistake, please reply to this email and we’ll make sure you receive the paid edition going forward. |
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| |  | | The world has seen a wave of mass protests in recent years, often led by Generation Z, including in many countries across South and Southeast Asia. Local and global media have often portrayed these demonstrations as transformational for policymaking and governance, which is understandable given the impact they have had in forcing changes in government in countries like Nepal and Bangladesh. But these demonstrations, unlike large-scale protests in, say, the late 1980s, will not necessarily lead the protesters to wield influence over their governments, Josh Kurlantzick and Annabel Richter argue. |  | Can Asia’s Gen Z Protests Foster Lasting Change? | Recent Gen Z-led protest movements in South and Southeast Asia have struggled to exert political influence, with notable exceptions. | www.worldpoliticsreview.com/gen-z-protests-nepal-indonesia-sri-lanka-bangladesh |
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| | For years, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has enjoyed the admiration of his right-wing peers in other democratic countries. The method he used to gradually consolidate power and weaken his critics has become a model for other populist leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump, who see in his rise a playbook for expanding their political power and eroding the tenets of liberalism they most dislike. But now, as Hungary’s national elections approach next year, Orban is up against the toughest challenge he has faced in his 15 years of consecutive rule, Frida Ghitis writes in her weekly column. | | | East Timor to Join ASEAN | East Timor will become the 11th member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations this weekend, 14 years after it first applied for membership and just 23 years after it became a state following independence from Indonesia. With a population of 1.4 million people, it is the smallest country in the region and the poorest. | In a WPR briefing in June, Shannon Brincat examined the implications of East Timor’s accession to ASEAN. She wrote that membership will allow East Timor “to benefit from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, the world’s largest free trade agreement,” further boosting the country’s economic diversification and facilitating foreign investment. It also “highlights the value of multilateralism for small states amid the current challenges created by great power competition,” Brincat noted. |
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| | | ICJ Tells Israel to Cooperate With U.N. Relief Efforts in Gaza | The International Court of Justice on Wednesday issued a non-binding opinion advising Israel to cooperate with United Nations relief efforts in Gaza and the West Bank and refrain from impeding them. The Hague-based court issued the opinion at the request of the U.N. General Assembly. It follows Israeli efforts during the war in Gaza to ban the U.N. agency in charge of Palestinian aid amid claims by Israel that the organization, known as UNWRA, had been infiltrated by members of Hamas. | As Jonathan Lincoln wrote in WPR in April, the past two years have seen “an unprecedented deterioration in relations between Israel and the United Nations.” Given the depth of the U.N.’s involvement not only in Gaza and the West Bank, but also in helping to stabilize Israel’s neighbors Syria and Lebanon, repairing the relationship between the international body and Israel “will be vital for the maintenance of any ceasefire and for a stable post-conflict environment, which is in everyone’s interests,” Lincoln argued. |
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| | | The paid edition of today’s newsletter includes two additional On Our Radar items. Purchase your subscription now to make sure you don’t miss anything. | If you believe you are already a paid subscriber and are receiving this free edition by mistake, please reply to this email and we’ll make sure you receive the paid edition going forward. | | More from WPR | | Read all of our latest coverage here. | |
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Welcome to my geopolitics blog site. This is a Hawaii Island news site focusing on geopolitical news, analysis, information, and commentary. I will cite a variety of sources, ranging from all sides of the political spectrum.