Amit Dave/Reuters

Kashmir

The latest attack on tourists in Kashmir was one of the worst in the region since 2019. India and Pakistan’s tit-for-tat reprisals have raised fears of a potential military incursion.

India

India

India’s Muslim communities have faced decades of discrimination, which experts say has worsened under the Hindu nationalist BJP’s government.
Canada

Canada

Canadians head to the polls today as Ottawa’s tensions with Washington are high. This timeline tracks major events throughout the countries’ shared history.

Canada

Canadians are heading to the polls at the most fraught moment in U.S.-Canada relations in eighty years.

United States

President Trump has threatened new tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico. His trade plans threaten the future of the United States’ largest free trade agreement.
War in Ukraine

Ukraine

Senior U.S. and French officials are meeting in Paris this week as part of President Donald Trump’s effort to negotiate a cease-fire in Ukraine—but the chances of that deal becoming a reality appear increasingly slim.

Daily News Brief

Welcome to the Daily News Brief, CFR’s flagship morning newsletter summarizing the top global news and analysis of the day.  Subscribe to the Daily News Brief to receive it every weekday morning. Top of the Agenda Russia proposed a three-day ceasefire in Ukraine next month after a weekend of diplomacy that included fresh criticism of Moscow by U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Saturday on the sidelines of Pope Francis’s funeral. Trump praised Zelenskyy afterward and posted on social media that Russia’s continued military attacks suggested Russian President Vladimir Putin might have “to be dealt with differently” via sanctions. Putin said today that Russia’s May 8–11 truce “based on humanitarian considerations” would also mark the anniversary of the end of World War II. He similarly declared an unexpected short truce over Easter, but Moscow and Kyiv accused each other of violations. The latest diplomacy. Zelenskyy traveled to the Vatican with a counterproposal to a U.S.-backed plan that would end the war on less favorable terms for Russia and include reparations for Ukraine, unnamed Ukrainian officials told the New York Times. Zelenskyy also held talks with several other world leaders at the funeral, and with the Vatican Secretary of State, whom he said was supporting efforts toward a ceasefire. U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Putin discussed the possibility of direct Russia-Ukraine talks during their Moscow meeting on Friday, a Kremlin foreign policy aide said. Washington will decide this week whether to keep working toward a Russia-Ukraine peace deal, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said yesterday. On the battlefield. Russia’s military said on Saturday it took the last Ukrainian-held city in its Kursk region, though Ukraine said it was still fighting in the area. In an interview that aired Sunday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia would continue to strike Ukraine.   North Korea publicly acknowledged for the first time today that it had sent troops to fight for Russia. “Negotiating a cessation of hostilities requires disabusing Putin of the notion that Ukraine will fall into his lap if he only fights on. That requires giving Ukraine enough military and intelligence support to defend itself both to bring about and sustain a ceasefire, not strong-arming Kyiv into accepting unreasonable concessions that will endanger its security and independence.” —CFR President Emeritus Richard Haass on Substack Across the Globe South China Sea claims. China proclaimed sovereignty and displayed its flag on Sandy Cay, a sandbank in the South China Sea, state media reported late last week. The sandbank is categorized as a rock, which could give the nation controlling it claim over surrounding waters. The Philippines disputed that China had seized Sandy Cay, visiting yesterday and displaying their own flag “to uphold the country’s sovereignty” and prove a lack of Chinese presence. China’s move came as the United States and the Philippines prepared to start joint naval drills nearby. Efforts at India-Pakistan mediation. The United States is urging India and Pakistan to work toward a “responsible solution” after India publicly blamed Pakistan for an attack last week in Kashmir, a State Department spokesperson said. Pakistan denies responsibility; meanwhile, India’s navy tested missiles yesterday. Iran port blast. An explosion at the port of Bandar Abbas in southern Iran on Saturday killed at least forty people and injured hundreds more. An official said the explosion was caused by chemicals but did not specify which; an unnamed person with ties to Iran’s military told the New York Times that sodium perchlorate, an ingredient in solid fuel for missiles, exploded. Reduced trade at U.S. ports. The Port of Los Angeles estimates that the volume of goods arriving in the week beginning May 4 will be a third lower than the same period last year. Container tracking service Vizion said that bookings of twenty-foot shipping containers from China to the United States in mid-April were 45 percent lower than the year before. Traders appear to be “kicking decisions down the road” amid Washington and Beijing’s trade war, the International Chamber of Commerce’s secretary-general said. Trump expands canal sights. Trump posted on social media Saturday that U.S. military and commercial ships should be able to transit both the Panama and the Suez canals for free. He wrote that he tasked Rubio with “immediately” addressing the situation. Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino said Saturday that fees were regulated by the autonomous Panama Canal Authority. The president of Egypt, who controls the Suez Canal, did not immediately comment. South Korea’s opposition candidate. Former presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung overwhelmingly won the primary for the country’s opposition Democratic Party, which leads polls ahead of the June 3 election. Lee has taken more centrist positions than the party’s pro-labor standard in recent months; he also supports dialogue with North Korea. A senior South Korean trade official said Seoul would not reach a trade deal with Washington before the election. Reported strike on migrant center. A U.S. strike overnight on a detention center in Houthi-controlled Yemen killed at least sixty-eight African migrants, the Houthi television channel reported. The U.S. military did not immediately comment. U.S. Central Command said yesterday that its strikes against the Houthis had hit more than eight hundred targets and killed hundreds of Houthi fighters since March 15. Somalia’s new defense minister. Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre appointed a new defense minister yesterday as the country struggles to push back against gains by the militant group al-Shabaab. Ahmed Moallim Fiqi Ahmed, who previously served as foreign minister and national security chief, will hold the position. Al-Shabaab captured villages within thirty miles of the capital, Mogadishu, last week before being pushed back by government forces. What’s Next Today, Canada and Trinidad and Tobago hold elections. Today, BRICS foreign ministers meet in Brazil. Today, European Union countries that border the Adriatic, Baltic, and Black seas begin a connectivity summit in Poland. Tomorrow, Japan’s Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru begins a visit to the Philippines. 

Ukraine

The Trump administration is signaling that European allies need to take the lead in securing Ukraine. How they respond has a crucial bearing on Ukraine’s fate and the future of the transatlantic partnership.
Iran

Middle East and North Africa

Onetime allies, the United States and Iran have seen tensions escalate repeatedly in the four decades since the Islamic Revolution.

Iran

The two countries held their first meeting in seven years to discuss Iran’s contentious nuclear program. Here’s what could come next.

Iran

Iran’s nuclear program and missile arsenal have garnered increased international scrutiny amid its flaring conflict with Israel.
IMF

Trade

Tariffs and the bleak prospects for global trade dominated discussions at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Spring Meetings this week in Washington, DC. 

World Trade Organization (WTO)

World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala discusses the future of global trade and the WTO's role in the rules-based international system.  The C. Peter McColough Series on International Economics brings the world’s foremost economic policymakers and scholars to address members on current topics in international economics. This meeting series is presented by the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies. This meeting is presented by RealEcon: Reimagining American Economic Leadership, a CFR initiative of the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies. If you wish to attend virtually, log-in information and instructions on how to participate during the question and answer portion will be provided the evening before the event to those who register. Please note the audio, video, and transcript of this hybrid meeting will be posted on the CFR website.

Brazil

President Donald Trump’s aggressive trade war—which has effectively stopped trade with China—means that everyday goods could become harder to find, cost more, or come from new sources. 
CFR experts provide timely analysis on the trade-offs and costs associated with U.S. President Donald Trump’s economic policies.

Events

United States

Former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer shares his firsthand perspective on the Trump administration’s bold trade agenda, reflecting on the lasting impact of these policies and what they mean for the future of U.S. trade policy in an increasingly competitive global landscape.The C. Peter McColough Series on International Economics brings the world’s foremost economic policymakers and scholars to address members on current topics in international economics. This meeting series is presented by the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies.  If you wish to attend virtually, log-in information and instructions on how to participate during the question and answer portion will be provided the evening before the event to those who register. Please note the audio, video, and transcript of this hybrid meeting will be posted on the CFR website. 

Europe

European Commissioner, Valdis Dombrovskis, discusses macroeconomic trends, the impact of universal tariffs on the global trading system, and the state of transatlantic relations.  Please note there is no virtual component to the meeting. The audio, video, and transcript of this meeting will be posted on the CFR website. The C. Peter McColough Series on International Economics brings the world’s foremost economic policymakers and scholars to address members on current topics in international economics. This meeting series is presented by the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies. This meeting is presented by RealEcon: Reimagining American Economic Leadership, a CFR initiative of the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies.

United States

Cloudflare Cofounder and CEO Matthew Prince discusses developments in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity technologies, countering national security threats and advancing technological research through public-private partnerships, and his perspective on navigating geopolitical crises as the leader of a multinational company. The Bernard L. Schwartz Annual Lecture on Economic Growth and Foreign Policy series focuses on two areas: the evolution of the relationship between business and government in the making of foreign policy, and ways for government to make better use of business in solving foreign policy problems. If you wish to attend virtually, log-in information and instructions on how to participate during the question and answer portion will be provided the evening before the event to those who register. Please note the audio, video, and transcript of this hybrid event will be posted on the CFR website.

World Trade Organization (WTO)

World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala discusses the future of global trade and the WTO's role in the rules-based international system.  The C. Peter McColough Series on International Economics brings the world’s foremost economic policymakers and scholars to address members on current topics in international economics. This meeting series is presented by the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies. This meeting is presented by RealEcon: Reimagining American Economic Leadership, a CFR initiative of the Maurice R. Greenberg Center for Geoeconomic Studies. If you wish to attend virtually, log-in information and instructions on how to participate during the question and answer portion will be provided the evening before the event to those who register. Please note the audio, video, and transcript of this hybrid meeting will be posted on the CFR website.

Explainers

Expert Spotlight

Max Boot
Max Boot

Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow for National Security Studies

U.S. Foreign Policy Defense and Security Military History

Michael Froman
Michael Froman

President, Council on Foreign Relations

Trade Globalization Economics

Multipolar Muscle

Featured Publications

International Law

Few Americans have done more than Jerome A. Cohen to advance the rule of law in East Asia. The founder of the study of Chinese law in the United States and a tireless advocate for human rights, Cohen has been a scholar, teacher, lawyer, and activist for more than sixty years. Moving among the United States, China, and Taiwan, he has encouraged legal reforms, promoted economic cooperation, mentored law students—including a future president of Taiwan—and brokered international crises. In this compelling, conversational memoir, Cohen recounts a dramatic life of striving for a better world from Washington, DC, to Beijing, offering vital first-hand insights from the study and practice of Sino-American relations. In the early 1960s, when Americans were not permitted to enter China, he met with émigrés in Hong Kong and interviewed them on Chinese criminal procedure. After economic reform under Deng Xiaoping, Cohen’s knowledge of Chinese law took on a new importance as foreign companies began to pursue business opportunities. Helping China develop and reconstruct its legal system, he made an influential case for the roles of Western law and lawyers. Cohen helped break political barriers in both China and Taiwan, and he was instrumental in securing the release of political prisoners in several countries. Sharing these experiences and many others, this book tells the full story of an unparalleled career bridging East and West.

Public Health Threats and Pandemics

A detailed exploration of the most sweeping government border closures in human history during the COVID-19 pandemic and the implications for the future of global mobility.

United States

Son of the Midwest, movie star, and mesmerizing politician—America’s fortieth president comes to three-dimensional life in this gripping and profoundly revisionist biography.