Hi Global Recap readers,

Today, I have written quite a long response to yesterday’s poll result. I tried to keep it as short as possible, but it still ended up being a long scroll of words.

It’s really the shortest I could make it…

Let’s get into today’s news.

📈 Top News

🇺🇦 NATO’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg downplayed his chief of staff’s comments about Ukraine possibly ceding land to be accepted into NATO. He insists that Ukraine should decide when to negotiate peace with Russia on its own accord.

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🚨 ECOWAS is ready to invade Niger. The defense chiefs of ECOWAS nations met in Accra on Thursday as part of the latest efforts to overturn the removal of Mohamed Bazoum. The bloc said the majority of member states are prepared to engage in a standby force, with the exception of those under military rule and Cape Verde.

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👨‍⚖️ Moscow fines Google for failing to remove videos that supposedly contained “incorrect information” about the conflict.

How much? $32,000.

Did Russia miss couple of 0s there?

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🇸🇪 Sweden has raised its terrorism alert level to the second-highest after a series of Quran burnings by anti-Islam activists sparked angry protests across the Muslim world. Sweden is now a “priority target” for violent Islamists, according to its security service.

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✍🏻 In-Depth

🙏 Thank you for sharing your thoughts in yesterday’s poll. Regarding the question about whether the promise of US Republican presidential candidate Ramaswamy to safeguard Taiwan only until the US achieves semiconductor independence would potentially alleviate China's hostility towards both the US and Taiwan:

• 8% answered “Yes.”

• 92% of you answered “No.”

💡 To be transparent, I strongly lean toward “No.” This is because I believe that there is no way China would simply stand down for a few years, just to nicely wait for the US to secure semiconductor independence.

Ramaswamy also vowed to abandon the US policy of “strategic ambiguity” to attain this outcome. In simpler terms, this entails unequivocally communicating to China about the US' military dedication to Taiwan prior to achieving chip independence, while also maintaining transparency about the US's non-commitment post-independence. This would undoubtedly involve moving more forces to the South China Sea to drill down the message.

Considering this, would China really back off while the US is committed to Taiwan’s security like Ramaswamy claims? I bet this transparency would tick Xi Jinping off even more.

🔴 But one of you who selected “Yes” have pointed out that “standing in the way” of other nations’ issues may lead to a larger conflict. I whole-heartedly agree with this. This viewpoint also highlights the fact that Ramaswamy’s policy appeals to voters who wish to keep the US away from other nations’ wars.

However, we must keep in mind that the main objective of Ramaswamy’s position is for the US to safely secure semiconductor independence. Standing aside will not help the US to achieve this goal, nor does it guarantee that Ramaswamy’s abandonment of “strategic ambiguity” would not escalate tensions even further.

Needless to say, this issue is nuanced and very complex. I would love to discuss every single response, but please understand that I have to drop the pen here before this newsletter gets any longer.

🙏 Thank you once again for sharing your opinions!