MUST-READS

• Zelenskyy Summarizes Talks With U.S. in Saudi Arabia: Ceasefire, Elections, and Territorial Integrity

  On March 12, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a press conference summarizing recent discussions between Ukrainian and U.S. delegations in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The meeting focused on de-escalation efforts, Ukraine’s security, and the broader framework for a potential resolution to the ongoing war. Zelenskyy described the talks as a significant step toward strengthening Ukraine-U.S. relations despite Russian attempts to sow discord. He emphasized that the meeting reaffirmed the partnership between the two countries and countered narratives suggesting diplomatic isolation for Ukraine.

• Ukraine agrees to U.S. ceasefire plan. ‘Hopefully Russia agrees to it,’ Trump

  The United States will resume military and intelligence assistance to Ukraine after Ukrainian negotiators today agreed to a U.S. proposal for a 30-day interim ceasefire, which the US will now discuss with Moscow, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. “We’ll take this offer now to the Russians, and we hope that they’ll say yes,” Rubio told journalists after the conclusion of talks with the Ukrainians in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, tonight. “The ball is now in their court.” President Trump “wants the war to end,” Rubio said. “Today, Ukraine has taken a concrete step in that regard. We hope the Russians will reciprocate.” “The Ukrainian delegation today made something very clear: that they share President Trump’s vision for peace,” US National Security Advisor Michael Waltz said. “They share his determination to end the fighting.”

• Zelenskyy arrives in Saudi Arabia to meet prince ahead of summit with U.S.

  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived Monday in Saudi Arabia for a visit with its powerful crown prince ahead of his team’s meeting with America’s top diplomat. While Zelenskyy won’t be there, his team will try to repair the damage done when his Feb. 28 visit to Washington descended into an Oval Office argument with President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance. At stake is the military aid and intelligence previously offered by the United States that had helped Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Zelenskyy landed a few hours apart in Jeddah, a port city on the Red Sea where the Ukraine-U.S. summit will take place Tuesday.

• Steady 66% Want Leading or Major World Role for U.S.

  Sixty-six percent of Americans want the U.S. to take either the leading role (19%) or a major role (47%) in trying to solve international problems. That combined percentage remains lower than Gallup readings between 2001 and 2009, which averaged 75%, and is essentially tied with 2023 (65%) and 2011 (66%) as the low in the trend. Twenty-eight percent of Americans say the U.S. should take a minor role in world affairs, and 3% say it should have no role at all. Over time, most of the shifts in opinion have come in the shares of U.S. adults favoring a major versus a minor role. Compared with the 2001-2009 averages, the current percentage of Americans wanting the U.S. to take a major role is down seven percentage points, while the percentage favoring a minor role is up nine points.

• Less Than Half in U.S. Now Sympathetic Toward Israelis

  Although Americans remain more likely to say their sympathies in the Middle East situation are with the Israelis rather than the Palestinians, the 46% expressing support for Israel is the lowest in 25 years of Gallup’s annual tracking of this measure on its World Affairs survey. The previous 51% low point in this trend of Americans’ sympathy for Israelis was recorded both last year and in 2001. At the same time, the 33% of U.S. adults who now say they sympathize with the Palestinians is up six percentage points from last year and the highest reading by two points.

• These countries could lose the most, if U.S. stops aid

  The U.S. Agency for International Development, Washington's primary humanitarian aid agency, has been a top target of a government reduction program spearheaded by billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk since President Donald Trump took office on January 20. Hours after he was sworn in, Trump ordered a 90-day pause to all U.S. foreign assistance pending assessments of efficiencies and consistency with his foreign policy. Four days later, on January 24, the U.S. State Department issued a "stop-work" order for all existing foreign assistance and paused new aid with the exception of waivers for military financing for Israel and Egypt. While the government gave an exemption for emergency food assistance and issued waivers for certain life-saving aid, uncertainty around most other programs has put thousands of jobs and millions of dollars’ worth of aid material in jeopardy. The effects of shutting foreign aid down permanently could have impacts globally, especially for countries in Africa and the Middle East. The U.S. has contributed the largest foreign assistance among countries, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. The majority of USAID programs across the world are non-military in nature. Nearly one-third of all disbursements were for programs in the health sector. Aiding communities living with HIV or AIDS, providing sustainable access to drinking water and sanitation services, improving maternal and child health were among the top programs.

• Discovering New Gold: Culture and the Future of Saudi-U.S. Relations

  American culture has long found a welcoming audience in Saudi Arabia. Hollywood films, bestselling novels, and global music icons have shaped Saudi perspectives on the world. Yet, culture is not a one-way street. Over the past few years, Saudi Arabia has emerged not just as a consumer of culture but as a global cultural contributor. This shift is evident in the unprecedented international presence of Saudi creatives. Solo U.S. exhibitions, such as Ahmed Mater’s “Symbolic Cities” and Abdulnasser Gharem’s “Hospitable Thoughts,” have challenged outdated narratives and placed Saudi contemporary art at the heart of the global artistic conversation. Meanwhile, Saudi cinema is undergoing a renaissance, led by studios such as Telfaz11, whose productions capture authentic Saudi stories that have long been absent from the international screen. With Saudi Arabia now boasting the world’s fastest-growing box office, it is on a path to become a powerhouse in the global film industry. Saudi music, too, is making its mark. The Saudi National Orchestra and Choir’s historic performance at the Metropolitan Opera House in September 2023 introduced New York audiences to the kingdom’s rich and multifaceted musical traditions and showcased its deep connections with the global music scene.

• Why Is Saudi Arabia Seeking To Mediate A Deal Between U.S. And Iran?

  “Riyadh is looking for a way to address concerns around Iran's nuclear program, as well as its regional activities and its support for proxies,” says Gregory Brew, senior analyst at the U.S.-based Eurasia Group. “Given Riyadh's interest in avoiding an escalation in the Gulf, it probably sees diplomacy as a more effective means of addressing these issues, rather than military action,” he added. “Saudi Arabia's willingness to moderate between Tehran and Washington was not borne of a political vacuum,” said Behnam Taleblu, senior director of the Iran Program at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). “By stylistically accommodating Tehran through diplomatic normalization but substantively remaining in the Western orbit, Riyadh is hoping to insulate itself from being the place where a larger regional conflict involving Iran is adjudicated.”

• What We Learned From High-Stakes U.S.-Russia Talks In Saudi Arabia

  The more than four-hour meeting in Riyadh -- which was attended by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov -- is part of a major diplomatic push by the United States to bring the war to an end. The discussions were framed by U.S. officials as exploratory talks that could pave the way for a potential in-person meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. These comprise fully restoring their diplomatic missions in Washington and Moscow after years of sanctions and expulsions, appointing a high-level team to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, exploring further "geopolitical and economic cooperation that could result from an end to the conflict in Ukraine," and ensuring that the U.S. and Russian delegations present in Riyadh will remain engaged in discussions moving forward.

• Why Is Saudi Arabia Hosting U.S.-Russia Talks? And Why Now?

  Experts see the talks as a sign that Saudi Arabia is seeking to assume a central role in international diplomacy while deepening its ties with longtime ally Washington. The discussions will be an opportunity for the oil-rich Arab nation to assert its political clout after it rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to relocate Gaza’s residents while resisting any normalization of relations with Israel. “Riyadh wanted to have a bigger diplomatic footprint,” said Amin Tarzi, an adjunct professor of International Relations at the University of Southern California’s Washington, D.C. Program. He says that Riyadh is seeking to “revive the relationship” that Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman built with U.S. President Donald Trump during his first administration. In May 2017, Trump made his first foreign visit to Saudi Arabia. “Both Riyadh and Washington would like to expand relations under the current U.S. administration,” said Tarzi.

• 10 of 2643 results1 2 … 265 >>