Security risks in Europe are shifting rapidly; consideration of an autonomous and credible European nuclear deterrent needs to be part of the conversation
Nuclear deterrence is set to be a hot topic at the Munich Security Conference, which starts on Friday. Europe depends on the US for its so-called nuclear umbrella, comprised of American weapons based on the continent and NATO's mutual defense pact. If the US can no longer be trusted, Europe is faced with the sinister prospect of being home alone with a neighbor, Russia, that owns the world's largest nuclear arsenal. Bloomberg's Andrea Palasciano reports.
The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that President Donald Trump violated federal law when he unilaterally imposed sweeping tariffs across the globe, a striking loss for the White House on an issue that has been central to the president’s foreign policy and economic agenda.
The decision is arguably the most important loss the second Trump administration has sustained at the conservative Supreme Court, which last year repeatedly sided with the president in a series of emergency rulings on immigration, the firing of the leaders of independent agencies and deep cuts to government spending.
0:00 SCOTUS rules that Trump's emergency tariffs are illegal
1:28 What happens to the $150 billion collected in tariffs?
2:56 "It's a monumental ruling": CNN senior legal analyst
4:59 How big of a mess does this ruling create?
6:13 Quoting from Chief Justice Roberts' majority opinion
7:03 Do the tariffs immediately go away?
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美國最高法院判決全文 PDF：
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
Syllabus
LEARNING RESOURCES, INC., ET AL. v. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, ET AL.
CERTIORARI BEFORE JUDGMENT TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT
No. 24–1287. Argued November 5, 2025—Decided February 20, 2026*
Why is Taiwan so unprepared for a cross-strait war?
Goldstein: Taiwan has made some good investments in the last few years, including in Stingers and Javelins, the same asymmetric weapons that have proven successful in the Russia-Ukraine War. Still, the larger picture is not particularly encouraging. Entrenched interests, both in Taipei and in Washington, have made bountiful riches from the trade in showy weapons like F-16 fighters and old U.S. frigates. These weapons will be all but useless against the PLA firepower onslaught.
Runways will be destroyed, preventing Taiwan fighters from ever taking off, while the bulk of Taiwan’s navy is expected to be destroyed at the pier or otherwise bottled up in port. Some of Taiwan’s most extravagant projects, whether building submarines or large amphibious ships or anti-submarine aircraft, defy any coherent strategic explanation.
Beyond profit, there is a long-standing and deeply entrenched bias in Taiwan toward the so-called elite service branches of the Air Force and the Navy, while ground forces have been neglected for decades. It is unclear whether the buildup of mobile, ground-based anti-ship missiles will be effective. Similarly, the new focus on recapitalizing Taiwan’s armored forces may not reflect changes in warfare that are demonstrating the vulnerability of such systems.
More fundamentally, Taiwan has resisted total militarization, despite some talk about “whole of society resilience.” Taipei’s leaders seem to hope that, on the one hand, China would not dare attack, and on the other, the United States would “send in the cavalry” as necessary. Neither assumption is justified.
It’s quite understandable that people in Taiwan do not want to massively fortify their island. A relatively simple and cheap fix is to reorganize military reserve training to make these formations more robust. But there seems to be little appetite in Taiwan for adopting the level of militarization that genuine defense would require against a rising superpower just 100 miles away.
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