WPR Daily Review

"The fracturing of Latin America" and "China's military purges."

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February 08, 2026 In partnership with Hi everyone, this is Elliot Waldman, WPR’s editor-in-chief. Welcome back to our Weekly Review, where we recap the highlights from our coverage over the past week and preview what’s on deck. (This is the free, limited version of the Weekly Review. Purchase an all-access subscription to get the unlimited version.) If you have any comments or feedback, just hit reply to send them along. Top Stories Here are some of the week’s major developments that we covered in our Daily Review newsletter: Trump Goes From ‘Coup Curious’ to ‘Coup Friendly’: Last Friday evening, the State Department quietly announced in a social media post that its senior diplomat for Africa, Nick Checker, was traveling to Bamako “to convey the United States’ respect for Mali’s sovereignty and desire to chart a new course in the bilateral relationship and move past policy missteps.” The statement added that Washington looks forward to engaging with other governments in the region, specifically Burkina Faso and Niger, “on shared security and economic interests.” In one sense, the department is formally declaring … Read more here or purchase an all-access subscription to get the full top story roundup in the Weekly Review. Is Taiwan’s Opposition ‘Playing With Fire’?: Taiwan’s opposition-controlled legislature continues to hold up President Lai Ching-te’s proposal for a $40 billion special defense budget. Instead, lawmakers voted to advance an alternative defense budget put forth by the opposition Taiwan People’s Party, or TPP—which holds a majority of seats along with its larger coalition partner, the KMT—that would limit additional military spending to $12.7 billion, 68 percent less than what the Cabinet called for. With the legislature now adjourned for a break … Read more here or purchase an all-access subscription to get the full top story roundup in the Weekly Review. A Scandal Brews Around Trump’s Spy Chief: The recent U.S. federal law enforcement raid at the elections office of Fulton county, Georgia, was controversial from the start. The county, which includes Atlanta, has been a primary target of President Donald Trump’s false claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 elections.  So when FBI agents on Jan. 28 … Read more here or purchase an all-access subscription to get the full top story roundup in the Weekly Review. The Week’s Highlights Three since-purged officers—He Weidong, Zhang Youxia and Li Shangfu—in Beijing, March 11, 2023 (Yomiuri Shimbun photo by Ohara Ichiro via AP Images). Xi’s Military Purge Makes War Over Taiwan More Likely. On Tuesday, Mary Gallagher looked at how the purge of China’s highest-ranking military officer, Gen. Zhang Youxia, earlier month increases the chances of war over Taiwan. Zhang’s purge stands out amid what has been the period of greatest instability atop the People's Liberation Army since the 1970s. While unprecedented, the purge of Zhang is not a complete surprise, as Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign has taken down several dozen high ranking Communist Party “tigers” in addition to the lower-level "flies" targeted by previous campaigns. Since his third term as party leader began in 2022, five out of seven members of the Central Military Commission have been removed. With the purge of Zhang Youxia … Purchase an all-access subscription to get the full highlights in the Weekly Review each week. The Trump Corollary and the Fracturing of Latin America. And on Wednesday, Benjamin N. Gedan and Nicolás Albertoni examined how the Trump administration’s policy toward Latin America in general, and the U.S. raid on Caracas on Jan. 3 in particular, has reshaped U.S. relationships throughout Latin America and accelerated regional fragmentation. Latin America was already riven by divisions between leaders. But Trump’s stunningly confrontational and ideological approach to the region has deepened these fault lines. In some ways, the U.S. assault on Venezuela did not fit neatly into the narrative of a polarized region. Maduro had few allies, and it was Venezuela’s dictatorship, not Trump, that dismantled the country’s democratic institutions and forced 8 million people into exile. But Trump’s framing of the U.S. mission—as a resource grab, undergirded by a self-proclaimed license to meddle under his “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine—played into regional polarization and shifted the conversation away from Venezuela’s government toward the conduct of the United States. For Washington, this regional fragmentation … Purchase an all-access subscription to get the full highlights in the Weekly Review each week. The Week’s Most-Read Story People walk down a street during a blackout in Havana, Cuba, Sept. 10, 2025 (AP photo by Ramon Espinosa). Will Trump’s Pressure Campaign Bring Cuba to the Table? And in this week’s top story by pageviews, James Bosworth looks at the situation in Cuba and sees the right conditions for a compromise. [W]hile history shows sanctions don’t cause regime change, they can achieve more modest goals. The sudden strengthening of sanctions and the lack of fuel could drive the Cuban leadership to the negotiating table, where President Miguel Diaz-Canel and others among the Cuban leadership may be willing to make moderate concessions. With its Venezuela policy since the seizure and rendition of Maduro in January, the Trump administration has shown that it, too, is flexible enough to work with an illegitimate regime run by interim President Delcy Rodriguez, rather than demanding an immediate return to democracy. In other words, the reason this time could be different in Cuba is not because Havana’s lack of a foreign ally will allow Washington to topple the regime with economic sanctions, but rather because the Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine is indifferent to whether democracy prevails in the Western Hemisphere. Rather, the administration simply wants countries to accept U.S. influence and reject that of other powers, particularly China. What’s On Tap And coming up next week, we’ve got: A briefing by Jared Ward looking at how China’s foothold in the Caribbean was shaken up by the ouster of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. A briefing by Matthew Kavanagh on the Trump administration’s self-defeating withdrawal from the World Health Organization. A briefing by Ali Sargent on Mexico’s efforts to solve its water crisis. That’s it for now. Until next week, —Elliot Waldman Sponsor Unlock ChatGPT’s Full Power at Work ChatGPT is transforming productivity, but most teams miss its true potential. Subscribe to Mindstream for free and access 5 expert-built resources packed with prompts, workflows, and practical strategies for 2025. Whether you're crafting content, managing projects, or automating work, this kit helps you save time and get better results every week. Get Your Free Resource Kit This Week On WPR Africa   The African Union’s Confounding Absenteeism With the African continent facing one crisis after another, the AU has not played a meaningful role in tackling any of them.   Trump Goes From ‘Coup Curious’ to ‘Coup Friendly’ By dispatching a senior State Department official to Mali, the Trump administration is formalizing a policy of reengagement with military regimes in West Africa. Americas   The United States vs. Canada Prominent political figures in Canada are calling for unity in response to threats to the country’s sovereignty from its southern neighbor.   The Trump Corollary and the Fracturing of Latin America Trump’s Jan. 3 attack on Venezuela has accelerated regional fragmentation at a time of deep ideological polarization.   Will Trump’s Pressure Campaign Bring Cuba to the Table? Just because Cuba has no remaining allies doesn’t mean oil sanctions will cause the government to collapse. But it may negotiate. Asia-Pacific   Japan’s Takaichi Is Poised for an Election Blowout Thanks to her soaring approval ratings, Japan’s first female prime minster is set to lead her party to a landslide election victory.   Is Taiwan’s Opposition ‘Playing With Fire’? The opposition coalition that controls Taiwan’s legislature has refused to consider a $40 billion defense budget, even as it seeks deeper ties with Beijing.   Xi’s Military Purge Makes War Over Taiwan More Likely Turmoil at the senior echelons of China’s military make U.S.-China communication even more difficult and increase the risk of miscalculation.   America Can’t Rebuild Its Sea Power Without Asia’s Shipyards Without industrial cooperation with Japan and South Korea, U.S. naval expansion in the Indo-Pacific will remain a pipe dream. Europe   Europe Needs to Wean Itself Off Chinese Drones Europe’s dependence on foreign-made drones and parts—especially from China—is a national security risk.   Europe’s IRGC Sanctions Show It’s Learning to Fight a Gray-Zone War Europe is countering gray-zone competition with legal clarity about covert networks that prop up autocracy and enable military aggression. Middle East & North Africa   Iran’s Protests Have Raised the Profile of a Surprising Figure The Iranian regime’s ruthless response to recent protests was predictable. More surprising was the rise of the exiled crown prince’s popular appeal. United States   Trump Is a Case Study for Realism, Not of Realism Characterizations of Trump’s foreign policy as realist raise two questions: What exactly is Realism? And does Trump’s foreign policy actually resemble it?   A Scandal Brews Around Trump’s Spy Chief Tulsi Gabbard’s involvement in a domestic investigation into the results of the 2020 elections raises profound concerns for U.S. democracy. Global   The Private Sector Alone Can’t Fill the Development Aid Gap Private capital has a role to play in development, but it cannot fill the entirety of the void left by cuts in official development assistance.

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