| Hi, everyone, and welcome back to the Daily Review. | Today at WPR, columnist Mary Gallagher looks at the uncomfortable realities that the flash flood in the Nepal-China border region revealed for Beijing. And Andrey Sapozhnikov examines Vladimir Putin’s unprecedented decision to bar an anti-war political party from this month’s already stage-managed Duma elections. | Scroll down for more on those items. But first, here’s our take on today’s top story: |  | Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks as then-Army Secretary Dan Driscoll listens during a press briefing at the White House, Aug. 11, 2025, in Washington, U.S. (AP Photo by Mark Schiefelbein) |
| U.S. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll resigned yesterday after months of tensions with his boss, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. His resignation as the Army’s top civilian official now leaves the service branch with no civilian secretary and no Senate-confirmed generals serving as its chief of staff (the top-ranking officer), its officer in charge of operations and its commander of Army troops stationed in Europe and Africa. | The vacancies come at a time when the Army is playing a central role in the air-defense missions protecting U.S. personnel in the Persian Gulf, as well as in the Europe-based mission of gathering and analyzing intelligence in support of U.S. operations against Iran. | Driscoll’s departure came as little surprise to observers, given the widely reported tensions between him and Hegseth. In April, Hegseth forced … |
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| | Among the casualties of last week’s flash floods in the Nepal-China border region was the Gyirong Port customs building, a major border crossing and trade link between the two countries. The multilevel concrete structure that once stood over the confluence of two Himalayan rivers was destroyed by a torrent of water, ice, rock and mud. | The disaster is a symbol of many things—first and foremost, nature conquering engineering. For China, it also exposed the contradictions in its clean energy transition and the risks of building massive infrastructure projects in a region that is being indelibly altered by climate change, Mary Gallagher writes. | | | On Aug. 10, Yabloko, Russia’s only registered anti-war party, was disqualified from parliamentary elections on charges of copyright infringement—grounds that seem absurd even by the standards of Russia’s politicized justice system under President Vladimir Putin. | Were Yabloko’s chances of success so high that the Kremlin decided to take such an extreme measure? Absolutely not. But just a few days after its official registration, the party saw an impressive surge in popularity, driven by people who were hungry for hope. That, rather than its electoral prospects, may have been what alarmed the Kremlin, Andrey Sapozhnikov writes. For Moscow understands just how potentially explosive hope can be, particularly when it collides with growing discontent across Russian society. |  | Putin’s Greatest Fear Is Hope | Russia’s only anti-war party posed little electoral threat. But a sudden burst of popularity got it barred from upcoming elections. |
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| | Germany, Russia: Berlin on Tuesday accused Moscow of an attempted “hybrid attack” on the Leipzig/Halle Airport in eastern Germany last month, where airport authorities discovered a drone laden with explosives near a Ukrainian cargo plane. The German government announced new travel restrictions on Russian nationals in response, and said it would propose additional sanctions at the European Union. | The incident in Leipzig is only one of a growing number of suspected Russian sabotage operations targeting NATO territory since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. As Candace Rondeaux wrote in a WPR column last month, European governments have struggled to coordinate an effective response. It remains to be seen whether Germany’s decision to publicly blame Russia will deter future attacks. | | China: Blue-collar workers helped fuel China’s economic rise during the 1990s and 2000s, but they are now being increasingly left behind. Factory work that used to be plentiful has … Purchase your premium subscription now to make sure you don’t miss important news and analysis. | U.S., Venezuela: The White House on Monday released more details of the unprecedented oil deal between the U.S. and Venezuela that Trump announced last week. According to Reuters, the deal calls for … Purchase your premium subscription now to make sure you don’t miss important news and analysis. | G20: Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov attended this year’s U.S.-hosted G20 ministerial meeting in North Carolina, the first time Russia has been represented at the … Purchase your premium subscription now to make sure you don’t miss important news and analysis. | | 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.