This is the introduction to The War Room, a weekly, subscriber-only newsletter bringing exclusive insights into defence and security.
After decades of rising secularism, Christianity is holding its ground—and gaining among the young
Its plan was to hold off a Chinese attack until America turned up. What now?
MAGA-world flirts with forces that once tore Europe apart
His regime uses payouts to salve Russian families’ grief
EVERYTHING’S POSSIBLEat Harrods, proclaims the website of Britain’s glitziest department store. Alas, on May 1st this universe of possibilities included an attempted cyber-attack that forced the company to restrict internet access at its sites, it said. The attempted intrusion came just days after hackers took down computer systems at Marks & Spencer (M&S), a supermarket and clothing retailer which says the disruptions will cost it some £300m ($405m). These breaches, which also hit the Co-op supermarket chain, were more than just costly cyber-attacks. They are worrying examples of how crime is evolving beyond simple street thuggery, or even the work of small groups of clever hackers, into a global service economy where anyone with cryptocurrency can buy the tools to paralyse a multinational corporation.
This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “The Uber of the underworld”
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
After decades of rising secularism, Christianity is holding its ground—and gaining among the young
Its plan was to hold off a Chinese attack until America turned up. What now?
MAGA-world flirts with forces that once tore Europe apart
His regime uses payouts to salve Russian families’ grief
This is the introduction to The War Room, a weekly, subscriber-only newsletter bringing exclusive insights into defence and security.
After decades of rising secularism, Christianity is holding its ground—and gaining among the young
Its plan was to hold off a Chinese attack until America turned up. What now?
MAGA-world flirts with forces that once tore Europe apart
His regime uses payouts to salve Russian families’ grief
JUNE IS turninginto an ill-fated month for Russia’s armed forces. It started with adaring Ukrainian drone attackon airfields stretching from Siberia in the east to Murmansk in the north that Ukraine claims destroyed 41 large planes, or about one-third of Russia’s strategic-bomber fleet. (Analysts viewing satellite pictures of some of the airfields reckon the real number is about half that.) But another momentous statistic looms. Before the month ends, Russia will probably suffer its millionth casualty since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, based on current trends of about 1,000-1,200 soldiers killed or injured every day.
This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Vladimir Putin’s “deathonomics””
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
After decades of rising secularism, Christianity is holding its ground—and gaining among the young
Its plan was to hold off a Chinese attack until America turned up. What now?
MAGA-world flirts with forces that once tore Europe apart
ACORE SKILLinMAGAdiplomacy is the making of offers that cannot be refused.Karol Nawrocki“needs to be the next president of Poland. Do you understand me?” Kristi Noem, America’s Homeland Security Secretary, urged voters in Poland on May 27th. Ms Noem was addressing a rally in Jasionka, a logistics hub near the frontier with Ukraine, days beforea presidential electionpitting Mr Nawrocki, a nationalist historian, against the progressive, pro-European mayor of Warsaw.
This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Trumpworld tells allies to elect nationalists”
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
After decades of rising secularism, Christianity is holding its ground—and gaining among the young
Its plan was to hold off a Chinese attack until America turned up. What now?
His regime uses payouts to salve Russian families’ grief
This is the introduction to The War Room, a weekly, subscriber-only newsletter bringing exclusive insights into defence and security.
After decades of rising secularism, Christianity is holding its ground—and gaining among the young
Its plan was to hold off a Chinese attack until America turned up. What now?
MAGA-world flirts with forces that once tore Europe apart
His regime uses payouts to salve Russian families’ grief
IF TAIWAN CANresist Chinese invasion forces for a month, then Communist Party leaders in Beijing can be deterred. That calculation has long guided war planners and politicians in Taiwan. The democratically ruled island would need to survive weeks of bombardment, blockade or even amphibious landings by the People’s Liberation Army, to give America time to turn up and save the day.
This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Ukraine’s long war, seen from Taiwan”
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
After decades of rising secularism, Christianity is holding its ground—and gaining among the young
MAGA-world flirts with forces that once tore Europe apart
His regime uses payouts to salve Russian families’ grief
FOR DECADESAmerica’s fastest-growing religious affiliation was no religion at all. In 1990 just 5% of Americans said they were atheists, agnostics or believed in “nothing in particular”. By 2019 some 30% ticked those boxes. Those who left the pews became more socially liberal, married later and had fewer children. Churches, where once half of Americans mingled every Sunday, faded in civic life. Yet for the first time in half a century, the march of secularism has stopped (see chart 1).
This article appeared in the International section of the print edition under the headline “Not losing my religion”
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Its plan was to hold off a Chinese attack until America turned up. What now?
MAGA-world flirts with forces that once tore Europe apart
His regime uses payouts to salve Russian families’ grief
This is the introduction to The War Room, a weekly, subscriber-only newsletter bringing exclusive insights into defence and security.
After decades of rising secularism, Christianity is holding its ground—and gaining among the young
Its plan was to hold off a Chinese attack until America turned up. What now?
MAGA-world flirts with forces that once tore Europe apart
His regime uses payouts to salve Russian families’ grief
Thousands of troops will march through Washington, D.C. as a part ofPresident Donald Trump’s national military paradeon Saturday to honor the 250th birthday of the U.S. Army. The day also coincides with the President’s 79th birthday. But the parade arguably couldn’t come at a more precarious time. The Trump Administration is engaged in alegal battlewith California, afterdeploying National Guard troopsto Los Angeles without the request or approval of Gov. Gavin Newsom. There is also grave concern about what’s happening overseas, asIsrael and Iran trade deadly missilesafter Israel launched a military operation targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities and personnel.
Amid all this, protests are expected throughout the country as organizations and individuals take part in“No Kings Day”demonstrations. While the protests have long been arranged, they’ve been largely spurred on by Trump’s actions regarding the L.A. protests, which have since spread to other cities across the U.S. The protests are “taking action to reject authoritarianism—and show the world what democracy really looks like,” per the “No Kings” website, which also states “in America, we don’t do kings.”
Dissent against the parade is also coming partly from within one of Trump’s most reliable support bases: veterans. Although former U.S. military personnel have historically voted with wide margins in favor of Trump and the Republican Party, there is a growing discontent among some within the community.
Read More:Veterans Condemn Trump’s ‘Misuse of Military Power’ Amid L.A. Protests
On Friday,a group of roughly 60 veterans and military family membersprotesting both the deployment of the National Guard in L.A. and Saturday’s military parade were arrested by the Capitol Police, after they breached a police line of bike racks.
“President Trump threatened Americans coming to exercise their first amendment rights would be met with ‘great force,’”said Michael T. McPhearson, veteran and director of Veterans for Peace, an organizer of the protest. “We are the actual people who put uniforms on because we believe in the freedoms this country is supposed to be about and we will not be intimidated into silence.”
McPhearson’s words echo the sentiments of others, including Chris Purdy, a U.S. Army National Guard veteran who served from 2004 to 2012 and was deployed to Iraq in 2011.
Purdy maintains the values of military might and respect set to be displayed in the parade exist in “stark contrast” to how Trump is treating both veterans and also “our neighbors and our allies that have helped build the peace.”
“[Veteran Affairs] announced anend to the VASP [Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase] program. This is a program that kept around 13,000 veterans in their homes last year, and there are 90,000 vets who are at financial risk through their [VA] loans that would have benefited from this program,” says Purdy, highlighting the reported $45 million cost of the parade. “I'm seeing a lot of attacks on the apolitical nature of the military, on the veteran community itself. And then, to kind of wrap it all up in this parade, it feels gross.”
Purdy recounts a lesson from a sergeant in the Army, who told him that “respect is built by coalitions, by relationships.” Purdy points to a defining factor of Trump’s first months of Presidency, which has included contentious relationships with multiple U.S. allies, including Canada.
“I think about my time in Iraq and the coalition partners that I served alongside—the British, Polish, and Lithuanian soldiers—we built these coalitions to help us accomplish the mission,” Purdy says. “We [veterans] believe that America can lead the world without being oppressive. So this kind of ostentatious display of American might feels unnecessary. It feels like the bully on the playground that needs to kind of go around and flex his muscles to prove like he's the biggest kid on the block.”
And Purdy is not alone in his concerns. Asurveyby Data for Progress and Common Defense, conducted in April, found that around 70% of the veterans approached said they are opposed to the Trump Administration “ordering active-duty U.S. military troops to perform a parade in honor of President Trump’s birthday.”
Janessa Goldbeck, who served as a Marine Corps combat engineer officer and is now the CEO of veteran engagement group VetVote Foundation, agrees with Purdy’s assessment. Goldbeck points to both the VASP termination, as well as Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill,” which proposes cuts to Medicaid and theSupplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), that she says many military and veteran households “rely on.”
“And then you pair that with this complete endangerment and misuse of the National Guard and the active-duty military. Clearly, there's no regard for veterans or people in uniform from this Administration,” Goldbeck claims. “All of this is an attempt to reshape the United States military as a tool of domestic power for the sitting President… it is certainly not in line with the principles enshrined in the Constitution that I swore to uphold and defend.”
But not all veterans are in agreement that the parade is a “gross” display of strength.
Read More:What To Know About Trump’s Military Parade
Many veterans have traveled to Washington, D.C. for the festivities to celebrate the active-duty military members who are choosing to serve their country.
“It's good for Americans to see what their tax dollars are paying for and what the troops who are protecting them are using,” said veteran John Norton, who was on the bomb squad in the Army and served in Athens, Greece, and Vicenza, Italy. Norton was referencing the Army tanks and aircraft that will be displayed during the parade, during an interview withABC News.
Veteran Ana Salazar is attending the parade to “thank” the active-duty military members for their service. “Proud to be a fellow brother and sister-in-arms with my fellow veterans and active-duty service members,” she said. Salazar served in the military from 2003 to 2014, and was stationed in Belgium, Kansas, Missouri, and Hawaii, and did tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Still, Libby Jamison, military spouse and former President of the Military Spouse J.D. Network, says veterans she knows may agree with different aspects of Trump’s policies, but those “across the political spectrum” in her community are “concerned about this level of spending on this type of pageantry.”
Currently, Jamison is working onbringing down the 20% unemployment rateamong active-duty spouses, and says the messaging of the parade as a celebration feels in conflict with the conditions she sees many veterans and military personnel existing in.
“I think if you ask [those] families what they need at this moment, it wouldn't be a parade. It would be, ‘I need a job’ or ‘I need child care,’” Jamison argues. “Who is this parade really for? Because it doesn't feel like it's for service members or families.”
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