Sources: Council on Foreign Relations; Defense News; Defense One; Politico; UN News
Around and beyond the war in Iran
(UN News) Re-opening the Strait of Hormuz would bring vital relief for many economies, but developing countries will continue to grapple with increased food and fuel costs, according to a new UN report released on Tuesday. Following the shaky ceasefire in the US and Israeli war with Iran, commercial shipping through the strait quickly began to rebound in mid-June, but has slowed in recent days as Washington and Tehran have exchanged strikes in the region. Iran has reportedly rejected an effort by France and Oman to remove mines from the strait and safeguard international trade as well as a suggestion by the UN’s International Maritime Organization (IMO) to open a new shipping lane off the coast of Oman. While the report from the UN Trade and Development agency (UNCTAD) expects oil shipments to recover, it warns that freight contracts, supply chains and food systems would take longer to adjust and that high food costs could contribute to acute malnutrition in developing countries. – Strait of Hormuz: Gradual re-opening is no quick fix for developing nations, UN warns | UN News
Europe
(Jacopo Barigazzi – Politico) Former EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has delivered his sharpest public criticism yet of the European Commission’s growing role in diplomacy and defense, arguing that it is straying beyond its treaty powers and creating confusion over who speaks for Europe on the world stage. In an interview with POLITICO, Borrell said the increasingly overlapping roles of the Commission and the European External Action Service, the EU’s diplomatic arm, which he led from 2019 until late 2024, have created “quite a mess” within the bloc’s foreign policy machinery. “The Commission doesn’t speak representing the European Union; the Commission represents only the Commission,” Borrell said. The comments amount to the clearest public rebuke yet from a former EU top diplomat of a long-running institutional struggle that has simmered under Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. While current and former officials have privately complained that the Commission has steadily expanded its diplomatic footprint, Borrell is the first former high representative to argue so directly that the EU’s executive branch, the guardian of the treaties, has actually crossed the line laid down in EU law. – ‘A mess’: EU Commission accused of overstepping on foreign policy – POLITICO
(Francesca Micheletti – Politico) Volkswagen’s plan to cut up to 100,000 jobs and close four factories in Germany is exactly the kind of industrial crisis Brussels says it wants to avert. But EU countries and lawmakers are still arguing over how to respond. By the end of this year, European leaders want to complete work on a landmark bill, the Industrial Accelerator Act, which would channel billions in public procurement spending to European companies with the goal of helping them withstand an onslaught of cheap exports from China. – Europe wants to save its industry. It still can’t agree how. – POLITICO
Latvia – Ukraine
(Linus Höller – Defense News) Latvia and Ukraine plan to build a joint drone manufacturing facility in the Latgale region of eastern Latvia, near the country’s borders with both Russia and Belarus, Latvian Prime Minister Andris Kulbergs said June 29 during a visit to a military base in the region. The announcement gives operational shape to the so-called “Drone Deal” signed on June 9 between Kulbergs and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the Nordic-Baltic Eight summit in Tallinn, the first meeting between the two leaders. Latvia is the sixth country to join Ukraine’s bilateral drone cooperation framework. – Latvia and Ukraine to open drone factory right on Baltic nation’s border with Russia
NATO
(Liana Fix, Anna Terkhorn – Council on Foreign Relations) European allies thought the July 7-8 summit in Ankara, Turkey, was going to be about the achievements they have made since last year’s gathering at The Hague—a “scorecard” on how far European NATO allies have come in raising defense spending. The result would have looked respectable. Not only have European allies reached their targets of spending 2 percent of their GDPs on defense, they have made real progress toward the new goal of 3.5 percent (+1.5 percent on related infrastructure spending) by 2035. Through the European Commission’s ReArm Europe initiative [PDF] and SAFE defense loans, European Union (EU) member states have greater fiscal flexibility to reach these goals. Germany, Poland, and the Baltic states are leading in spending [PDF]: Berlin will reach 3.5 percent by 2029 already with debt-financed rearmament spending, Poland is heading toward 5 percent, and the Baltic states are at or already above the 3.5 percent. All appear propelled by the need for Europe to bolster its forces against a Russian military currently facing a vigorous defense from Ukraine. The plan for Ankara was to transform Europe’s ramped-up spending into “real capabilities.” As NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said on June 25 in Washington: “Russia is not afraid of commitments, but of capabilities.” – In Ankara, Europe Faces an Accelerating U.S. Decoupling From NATO | Council on Foreign Relations
Russia – Ukraine
(Veronika Melkozerova – Politico) Ukraine believes it has wrested back the initiative on the battlefield by striking Russian troops, logistics hubs and oil infrastructure. Now it is racing to secure billions more in Western military aid before Moscow adapts. Kyiv is asking its allies to seize what officials describe as a fleeting opportunity: fund a new wave of drones, missiles and military technology that could keep Russia off balance and deepen Ukraine’s recent gains. The goal is to force Vladimir Putin to realize he can’t win. “We need the next level of aid to be able to finish the job,” Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov told POLITICO. “If we have enough resources to launch a new cycle of war innovations before Russia adapts to the current one, we will get another six months.” – Ukraine needs cash to keep Russia on the run, defense minister tells POLITICO – POLITICO
US
(Diana Roy – Council on Foreign Relations) The United States is one of a few dozen countries that guarantees citizenship to any individual born within its territory—a policy that has been in place since Congress ratified the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868. But efforts to end the practice have increased as critics say it encourages unauthorized migration. Hours after being sworn in for his second term in January 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order seeking to reinterpret the Fourteenth Amendment’s Citizenship Clause. If implemented, it would deny automatic birthright citizenship to children born in the United States to undocumented immigrants and temporary visa holders, potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of children born annually on U.S. soil. The order triggered multiple legal challenges and led several district courts to issue nationwide (“universal”) injunctions blocking its implementation anywhere in the country. After ruling in June 2025 that district courts generally lack the authority to issue universal injunctions, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in April 2026 in a separate case, Trump v. Barbara. The landmark case challenged the administration’s executive order, raising broader questions about the use of nationwide injunctions. In June, the court ruled 6–3 against Trump’s executive order, effectively upholding a more than century-old interpretation of birthright citizenship. – Birthright Citizenship in the United States: What to Know | Council on Foreign Relations
(David J. Scheffer – Council on Foreign Relations) On June 23, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Cisco Systems, a major U.S. multinational technology corporation, in a civil suit brought by victimized members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement. These members alleged in 2011 that Cisco aided and abetted the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) by developing customized software dubbed “Golden Shield” at its California offices and selling it to Chinese authorities, who used it to identify, arrest, torture, and otherwise commit international crimes against thousands of Falun Gong practitioners. The Court could have remanded the case to the lower courts to examine the proffered evidence of Cisco aiding and abetting the actual commission of such crimes. Instead, the Court’s majority chose to eliminate any such inquiry by denying the possibility under law of corporate liability, even if the evidence were to prove the nefarious character of Cisco’s involvement. The Court’s judgment in Cisco Systems, Inc., et al. v. Doe I, et al. will join earlier ones that have made it far more difficult to hold U.S. corporations accountable under federal law for committing or being complicit in atrocity crimes or other human rights violations overseas. The implications are particularly significant given the vast global footprint of U.S. technology companies. In plain language, the Supreme Court effectively cleared the way for U.S. corporations to enable foreign governments, particularly repressive regimes, that would surveil individuals and violate their human rights. – The Supreme Court’s Cisco Ruling Clears the Way for U.S. Tech to Aid Repression Abroad | Council on Foreign Relations
(Patrick Tucker – Defense One) A new agentic-AI tool set will continuously scan intelligence feeds and operational networks to provide U.S. military commanders with targeting options “within seconds,” the Pentagon announced Thursday. Dubbed Agent Network, the new tools will employ “agents”—artificial-intelligence entities that perform tasks on behalf of a user, such as running a scheduled search or executing an email campaign—to “continuously scan defense intelligence and operational systems, translating findings into clearly presented options,” said a press release, which added: “Agent Network does not autonomously select or strike targets; it ensures commanders remain in charge of every decision”. The network is one of seven “pace-setting” projects originally unveiled in January along with a new Pentagon AI strategy. Key contractors in the Agent Network effort include Lumbra and Palantir, which already handles much targeting analysis through its Maven Smart Systems contract. – Agentic-AI tools aim to give US commanders new target options ‘within seconds’ – Defense One
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